Spotlight Interview: Schuyler Feigen — Meeting the Challenge of Asperger
Schuyler Feigen, a twelve-year-old K12 student from New Jersey, is a professional actor who aspires to work some day on the Disney Channel with actors like Miley Cyrus, Jason Earles, and Demi Lovato.
At the age of six, the Woodstock-Johnson test revealed that Schuyler could read at an eighth-grade level and had the vocabulary of a graduate student. Schuyler has Asperger Syndrome, a mild form of autism in which some areas of the brain—particularly those used to process static information such as memorization and logic—are better developed than in the average person. Schuyler’s mom, Tera, explains more.
“People with Asperger’s tend to have a harder time with social skills, such as identifying emotions in themselves and others. Those with Asperger’s also have difficulty picking up on subtle social cues, like when to enter a conversation or anticipating how someone else might perceive what you are about to say.”
Though Schuyler says Asperger’s has its ups and downs, it certainly hasn’t held him back from accomplishing a great deal in his twelve years. He took a few minutes out of his busy day to tell us about using the K¹² curriculum and working in a professional tweens acting company.
Editor
: Schuyler, tell us about some of the challenges you face with Asperger’s.
Schuyler
: First, I’d like to say that I have overcome most of the challenges of Asperger Syndrome, so it doesn’t affect me like it used to. I do need more breaks between subjects than the average kid. My mom says this is probably because my brain takes everything in, every detail, when I do my school work. I also have trouble with handwriting. I write well, but my hands get tired pretty fast.
Editor
: Do you think K¹² is a good choice for someone with Asperger’s? And if so, why?
Schuyler
: Yes, I do. With K¹², you can complete lessons at your own pace and make your own schedule. I study on weekends plus the weekdays to get more breaks between subjects. We spread it out. I can also type my essays, and I rock at typing! K¹² is a good choice for someone with Asperger’s because it lets you go at your own pace, you can see your progress, and it’s on the computer.
Editor
: So what do you do when you’re not doing school?
Schuyler
: Lots of creative stuff—like make my own videos and put them on YouTube, write scripts, and draw things.
Editor
: Tell me about your involvement in theater.
Schuyler
: I am in a professional tweens acting company here in New Jersey, which I got involved in after I studied acting at The New Jersey School of Dramatic Arts for years.
Editor
: What is a typical schedule for you when you’re doing a show?
Schuyler
: After we eat, we do school all day with breaks in between subjects. On days when I have an acting class or a rehearsal, which are usually scheduled for after school hours, I go to that. Then I do more school at night after dinner.
Editor
: What have been some of your favorite roles?
Schuyler
: A sketch we did called “The Hot Chocolate Shop” where I played a hyperactive, desperate hot chocolate salesman. I got to wear this ridiculous looking beanie hat with a Styrofoam cup on top of it that moved, in place of the propeller. One time I did a comedy sketch for the “Funniest Kid in New Jersey Competition” where I played a boy whose parents were trying to make him into a girl. I wore a pink tutu and my name was “Chris . . . tine”. I was a runner-up in that competition.
Editor
: Is it hard to memorize your lines? How do you do that?
Schuyler
: No, it’s not hard. I record them with my parents on an MP3 player and then listen to them over and over and over and over . . .
Editor
: Is there a particular role you’d like to do?
Schuyler
: I am a huge Disney Channel fan, and I would love to be on the Disney Channel with Miley Cyrus, Jason Earles, and Demi Lovato.
Editor
: If you could be on stage with anyone in the world, who would it be?
Schuyler
: Moises Arias, who plays “Rico” on “Hannah Montana” because he’s a good comedic actor and he’s around my age.
Editor
: Any words of encouragement or advice for other students who’d like to audition for a show?
Schuyler
: If you can get the script ahead of time, record and memorize it. It’s also important to play your character’s objective and come in with a lot of energy.
Editor
: What does it mean to “play the character’s objective”?
Schuyler
: Every character in any show (theatre, film, TV) has an “objective," a thing that they are trying to get or achieve through all of their words and actions throughout the course of the show. For example, in The Odd Couple, Oscar’s objective was to be loose and have fun, and Felix’s objective was to keep his world under control at all times, and to be perfect in order to be loved. If you just memorize the words and say them on stage or try to say the words just with a certain emotion, your character will not be believable because it’s so superficial. But if you utter every word your character says with that character’s objective clearly in mind, that objective gives life and meaning to each word and the audience buys into it as real.
Editor
: Very interesting. Schuyler, thank you for sharing some of your experience with Asperger’s, and for giving us a glimpse of your life as an actor. Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Schuyler
: I’d like to tell everyone that all of my friends are actors I work with, and a lot of them wish they were used K12. K¹² rocks!
