Round II: Disney's Mary Poppins on Broadway, #Autism, #Broadway

As many here know, we are BIG supporters of Autism due to our son Dustin and Katie Sweeney is a huge Broadway fan. Both came together last fall:

Katie and Dustin Sweeney @ Disney's Lion King for Autism

Now Round II is coming with Disney's Mary Poppins:

"Theatre Development Fund (TDF), the nation's largest not-for-profit service organization for the performing arts, is proud to continue serving the autism community with our Autism Theatre Initiative, making theatre accessible to children and adults on the autism spectrum and their families. Following the tremendous success of our autism-friendly performance of Disney's THE LION KING, TDF is delighted to offer an autism-friendly performance of Disney and Cameron Mackintosh's MARY POPPINS on Sunday, April 29, 2012 at 1pm.

Now in its 6th phenomenal year on Broadway, MARY POPPINS is one of the biggest stage musical successes to emerge from London and New York in recent years. For this special performance, accommodations will be made, including a supportive audience environment, designated quiet areas, adjustments to lights and sound, and online resource materials."

Tickets are available here.

Lion King follow-up, # Autism the power of Katie, Google, Disney, and Social Media

Just as a quick follow up, when you combine a good cause with good people it really gets viral these days. Google has 685,000 results as this article was picked up by thousands of news distribution sites:

"Sweeney Broadway Strikes an Autism-Friendly Chord" @ Google

Katie Sweeney and Dustin Sweeney @ The Lion King Broadway, #Autism

Katie, Dustin, Mike and Dylan Sweeney were featured in a very nice article about our Sunday trip to The Lion King on Broadway:

For most Americans, attending the theater is just one more form of entertainment. But for Katie Sweeney and her family, a recent trip to Broadway was true cause for celebration.

"It was absolute redemption," said Sweeney, recalling the afternoon in October when she, her husband Michael, 16-year-old son Dylan, and 14-year-old son Dusty -- who has autism -- caught a unique performance of "The Lion King."

"It was a special, special moment," she said, because the performance was the first-ever staging of a Broadway musical specially adapted for an audience of people with autism.

Watching Dusty take in the show in an environment that understood his needs was "among the highlights of my life," said Sweeney.

According to organizers, the performance in the 1,600-seat theater had quickly sold out (with another 1,000 families on a waiting list for tickets), pointing to a real need for accessible theater for the autism-spectrum community.

That's because more typical performances aren't suited to people with autism, explained Geraldine Dawson, chief science officer of the advocacy group Autism Speaks."

See the full story at US News.

60 Minutes - Apps for Autism

As many know, we have an Autistic son and he has been using the iPad for over a year now: