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Jordan Butterfield

Jordan Butterfield is the Director of Education and a Teaching Artist at Trinity Rep. She teaches classes on-site, oversees the general curriculum planning for the department and leads workshops at schools throughout Rhode Island. She also is the founder of TRAIN (Trinity Rep Active Imagination Network), a theater program specially designed for children and adults on the autism spectrum and with other cognitive or physical disabilities. Through TRAIN, she is the drama instructor at Bradley Hospital, The Autism Project, Hasbro Partial Hospitalization Program and Seven Hills RI. Jordan co-directs the Young Actors Summer Institute, one of the most comprehensive arts programs in New England. She also manages the Young Actors Studio and adult studio classes which run during the theater’s season from September to May. Jordan served on the steering committee of the Rhode Island Teaching Artists Center (RITAC) in its pilot year, was a core member of the Arts and Healthcare committee for the RI Department of Health and serves on the steering committee for Theatre Forward Impact Creativity education directors. She is a graduate of Brandeis University, where she double majored in history and theater arts with concentrations in acting and dramaturgy.

Photo from Peter Pan.
Autism & Theater Techniques to Increase Social Skills
Essay

Autism & Theater Techniques to Increase Social Skills

28 April 2014

We produced "A Christmas Carol" and adapted our own versions of "Peter Pan" and "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe". The students reveled in the attention from their sold-out audiences. These children weren’t just spectators; they were the stars of the show. To a child who is constantly told, "You won’t be able to do that," by teachers or medical professionals, this was an unexpected feat.