We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Gena Sims. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Gena below.

Gena, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So, let’s start with a hypothetical – what would you change about the educational system?

I think the most important thing for schools to focus on is believing in students’ ability to surprise them. We put them in these categories- gifted, regular, special education, etc.- and I think the way those categories are stereotyped makes a lot of students believe that, whatever level they’re at in high school, is the level they’ll stay at for life.

And especially from my own experience with special education students, I’ve learned that faith in their ability to do what you haven’t seen them do yet is essential. Because they can tell… Children- including those who don’t speak much- are always listening. And through my non-profit the Autism Theater Project, I’ve talked to a lot of ex-special ed students who felt underestimated in school. When they finally found someone who really believed in them, that made all the difference.

I’ll admit that faith in what I can’t see isn’t always easy for me. I believe faith is action- it takes work to maintain. For example, in 2017, my sister was really struggling to read. And I was starting to feel my own doubts creep in, but then I turned that feeling around by thinking, “one day, my sister will read this book to me.” I visualized it and wrote it down.

Then New Year’s Eve 2020, I looked in my sister’s room and saw her reading a book, out loud, completely on her own, totally unprompted for the first time. I learned my lesson: have faith, put in the work, and a miracle might happen.

On another note, for students in general, we need to give them more freedom to come to their own conclusions about what’s going on the world. And encourage respectful, well-thought-out debate with people who have different opinions.

Gena, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations? Tell us your story. 

For sure, hey everyone! I am the founder of the Autism Theater Project, a 501(c)(3) non-profit. I’m also a professional actress, singer, and dancer. With the Autism Theater Project, I teach drama workshops to help children, with and without disabilities, develop emotional intelligence. And I create our original theater and film productions.

Based on real stories, our productions show that people with serious challenges have the power to succeed. And ultimately, our goal is to help the next generation manage their mental health, overcome personal challenges, and connect with people of all abilities.

I’ll go ahead and tell you the story behind my company and our mission.

When I started my company at 17, my goal was to teach the world what my autistic sister taught me: everyone has voice, whether or not they can easily speak. And we can learn a lot from people with few words. I believe joy is a skill, and my sister is an expert. I think that’s because she’s like “love personified”– she’s so non-judgmental. Her view of people is pure, and she immediately sees the best in them.

I think there are two ways to look at disability: it can be heartbreaking, or it can be the ultimate success story. And honestly, some days it’s both. But as a kid, I found hope in my sister’s autism by seeing every word she spoke and every obstacle she overcame as a victory.

When we respect how autistic people overcome obstacles, invisible to us, everyday, to function at their best, we see that they’re champions, not helpless victims of disability. And that’s the perspective the Autism Theater Project inspires.

Since I started my company with students at New World School of the Arts, we’ve taught drama workshops at Kia Kidz Martial Arts Center, Great Heights Academy, We Rock the Spectrum Gym, and Alexander Montessori School. And when I went to Carnegie Mellon University, I was encouraged to grow my company by Barbara Mackenzie-Wood, an acting professor who also has an autistic sibling. So there, I developed a play about my sister with CMU students, called “In the Life of a Child”. And the Autism Theater Project went on to produce the play in South Florida, at Actors’ Playhouse and Miami Children’s Theater.

Outside of the Autism Theater Project, I’ve acted in several films in South Florida, sung on Oprah’s tour, worked Off-Broadway in NYC, and won acting awards with the National Society of Arts and Letters, an organization that now sponsors my non-profit.

But my proudest moments have to do with the play about my sister, “In the Life of a Child”.   A recent example is when my 2nd grade student, suffering the 7-year old blues, went from angrily isolating himself to lighting up, when I showed him a video of “In the Life of a Child”. During a scene where this Ingrid Michaelson song “Blood Brothers” plays, in awe, my 2nd grader actually said out loud, “they’re all blood brothers”. He got it: we’re more alike than we are different. And we can help each other get through life’s rough patches. So at the end of class, he gave me- the teacher he was so mad at for telling him to put away his toys- a big hug. It felt like a thank you.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Yes, 2020- everyone’s pivot year. Before the pandemic, I was performing live, and had music gigs and a Gablestage play lined up. But after everything closed down, autism became my main focus. I started homeschooling my little sister, which was life-changing. And that experience made me more aware of what disabled teenagers’ needs are. They need to believe they can successfully transition to adulthood. and that we have the power to help them. And they need the rest of the world to get on board.

Then in May 2020, something really tragic happened. I found out a nonverbal autistic boy was killed by his own mother, 15 minutes away from where I live. Unable to sleep that night, I was reading articles about the story, when I saw the boy’s picture, and realized he was my student.

I felt like I needed to do something, which felt naive, because nothing could bring him back.

But I still kept getting this feeling that I needed to create something online, to help disabled children and their families. Something that shows children like that little boy are capable. And everyone has a voice, whether or not they can speak.

I also wanted to find a way to address the mental health crisis going on right now. This crazy, isolating pandemic did a number on a lot of people’s mental health, especially on children’s. But I notice the conversations around mental health focus more on negative statistics than practical solutions. Pop culture calls my generation, (millennial/Gen Z), “the anxiety generation”, instead of empowering us to take control of our mental state.

We need to teach children how to have power over negative thoughts and emotions. If we help them resist falling victim to those feelings, we might prevent them from falling dangerously off-track as adults.

So I decided to create “The Voice Inside”, with the Autism Theater Project. It’s a web-series based on real stories about teens, with and without disabilities, overcoming challenges in their lives. “The Voice Inside” details how teens overcome negative thoughts to accomplish their goals.

And as I’ve collected stories for the series, I’ve met disabled adults who make me feel like I can handle whatever life throws at me. I’m very excited for “The Voice Inside” to make teenagers around the world feel the same way.

Any advice for managing a team?

Keep a common vision, and get your team fired up about it. Even when disagreements come up, listen patiently. But at the same time, be totally honest when you think an idea won’t work. And when you mess up, own it. Show up, put your heart into the work, and expect your team to do the same.

Most importantly, work with people who inspire you! They make collaboration exciting. Here’s what a couple people on our team have to say about working with us:

“What excites me [about ‘The Voice Inside’] is the collaboration of different artists to tell a uniquely autistic story! As a playwright on the spectrum from Canada, I love that we all can bring something to the table, even though we are from different parts of the world and are different.” – Matteo Esposito

“I was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder at the age of 6. I decided to join the Autism Theatre Project to help bring joy to others and bring awareness to others around. What I hope teens will learn from our webseries is that everyone is different and we can learn from each other’s experiences in life.”- Olivia Nguyen

Contact Info:

• Website: www.autismtheaterproject.org
• Instagram: @genasims19, @autismtheaterproject
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/AutismTheaterProject, www.facebook.com/genasings
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/autismtheaterproject, www.youtube.com/genasims
• Other: www.genasims.com

Image Credits
Robert Mannis