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‘Pancakes and the Lobster Tank’
If you go
What: “Pancakes and the Lobster Tank: Living with Autism, Loving Alex,” a one-woman performance about the experiences of a mother raising her child on the autism spectrum.
When: Show starts at 8 p.m. Friday and April 23.
Where: Kent State University Trumbull Campus Theater, 4314 Mahoning Ave., Champion.
Cost: Tickets are free but on a first come-first served basis, so reservations are recommended. Call (330) 675-8887 or go to www.trumbullboxoffice@kent.edu. The theater is asking patrons for a $2 donation.
‘Pancakes and the Lobster Tank’
By SEAN BARRON
What do you do if you take the family to dinner at a Red Lobster restaurant and your young son orders pancakes?
Well, if you’re anything like Rebecca Maher, you use the experience as a basis for a one-woman play.
The dinner outing was actually one in a collection of experiences — some humorous, others gut-wrenching — that fused and became the launching pad for “Pancakes and the Lobster Tank: Living with Autism, Loving Alex.” The one-woman play is the brainchild of Maher, the mother of Alex, 11, who was diagnosed at age 2 with autism.
Shows are at 8 p.m. Friday and April 23 at Kent State University-Trumbull Campus Theater, 4314 Mahoning Ave., Champion.
“Pancakes” promises to take the audience through a frustrating, poignant and yet funny journey of Maher’s day-in-the-life account of what it’s like to raise and live with a child with autism while trying to unlock the mysteries surrounding many of her son’s behaviors. Scenes include Alex’s getting the diagnosis and Maher’s fighting for needed services, as well as a confrontation between mother and son. It ends with a trip to Wal-Mart.
“I wanted to give a slice of life to people who may not be aware of what it’s like to have a child on the spectrum,” said Maher, of Warren. “There are times when a child can have a meltdown and it may not be funny, but you come to accept it and see what a normal life for us is.”
About one in 110 births result in a diagnosis on the autism spectrum, according to the latest figures by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Symptoms vary in number and severity but include a profound lack of eye contact, unusually intense sensory problems, deficits in social skills and language development and an abnormal resistance to change, experts say.
The two shows are timely because April is Autism Awareness Month.
Many children on the spectrum appear on the surface to want to be left alone in their own world, and often their speech and language reflects this “disconnect.” So it was refreshing and deeply touching to Maher when Alex recently made a statement that penetrated this sense of nearly perpetual isolation, she said.
“Last night for the first time, Alex climbed on me, and I said, ‘My belly hurts,’ and he said, ‘Do you need to go to the doctor?’” Maher recalled.
Another hope, she said, is that the show will put into perspective the reality that despite best-selling books by some parents who claim that a miracle cured their children, they are in a minority. For most, simply getting a pet or taking special supplements, for example, won’t suddenly transform their children on the spectrum, Maher noted.
“I want to tell parents that it’s OK if their child’s not cured, and not to give up, but to learn to make it more manageable and be more accepting,” she added.
Another goal of “Pancakes” is to help people in public places better understand what’s really happening when, for example, a child with autism is having a tantrum. Many strangers are quick to criticize and judge the parents, she offered.
“I want people to see that we’re families with autism and to see we’re trying and doing the best we can, and if they see a mother in Target, to keep that in mind and not make nasty judgments,” said Maher, who is also working on a memoir.