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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tStomping Ground Comedy Theater in the Design District offers hyper-specific comedy events. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tStomping Ground Comedy Theater in the Design District offers hyper-specific comedy events. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Stomping Ground Comedy Theater<\/p>\n
Dating is hard for everyone. Dating is especially hard for people who are neurodivergent<\/a>, which is an umbrella term applied to people on the autism spectrum, those with anxiety, or hyperactivity and attention disorders. But if Netflix\u2019s hit show Love on the Spectrum taught us anything, it\u2019s that everybody wants to love and be loved.\u00a0<\/p>\n Two local psychotherapists, Barbara Crowley and Andrea Baum, were discussing the importance of the show with clients when they decided to create their own, modified version. Both women specialize in working with mostly independent adults who can maintain things, jobs and driving, but have difficulty in social settings. The two, in conjunction with Stomping Ground Comedy Theater,<\/a> are hosting a Neurodiverse Dating Social, an event that fuses elements of improv and traditional speed dating to help the neurodivergent community make social (and maybe even love) connections.<\/p>\n \u201cI wouldn\u2019t say [dating] was a grievance,\u201d said Crowley when speaking about her clients\u2019 experiences. \u201cIt was more of a longing, maybe, that they would like to have friends and they would like to date. Several of my clients would say, \u2018If you had a dating group, I would go as long as you were there as the wingman.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Baum and Crowley soon found their solution. Baum is a co-founder of Stomping Ground, a comedy space in the Design District that offers improv classes for a variety of hyperspecific groups, like dementia caregivers, as well as other comedy events.<\/p>\n \u201cImprov can be really incredible for people. Anyone, really, but specifically for people who are neurodivergent,\u201d Baum said. \u201cIt can be incredibly helpful to practice a lot of social skills without forcing people to do anything that they don\u2019t want to because it\u2019s in a very playful environment.\u201d<\/p>\n Crowley says improv is especially beneficial for people who are used to using the tool of masking, a conscious suppression of autistic traits for social acceptance. The quick tempo of improv offers little time to hesitate, creating unquestioned authenticity that facilitates connection.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want to force them to be a square peg in a round hole,\u201d she said. \u201cI want them to be a square peg for somebody who appreciates a square peg. It\u2019s also just giving people a space to be themselves without having to second-guess everything they\u2019re saying. It\u2019s low stakes.\u201d<\/p>\n The event will start with entry-level improv games, led by an experienced member of Stomping Ground. No experience is needed, and the games are developed to encourage conversation rather than wholly improvised scenes. After the games conclude and participants are comfortable with one another, the group will open into a free-mingle time. At the end of the night, the improvisers are invited to write down the names of the three people they connected with the most, and if it\u2019s a match, they\u2019ll receive contact information.\u00a0<\/p>\n Baum and Crowley say the improv portion is essential to making the night work and to create comfort before the social portion.<\/p>\n \u201cSpeed dating isn\u2019t exactly great for anybody. You have to have a lot of communication skills to be able to do that well,\u201d said Baum. \u201cWe started talking about this idea of using improv because there are so many different exercises, and improv can help people get to know one another.\u201d<\/p>\n Baum and Crowley discourage loved ones from registering neurodivergent individuals in their lives for the event without their consent. Mostly because it would meddle with \u201cromantic kismet,\u201d but also because it\u2019s really not cool to do that, obviously. <\/p>\n