This might look like a typical Saturday matinee on Broadway…But the fact that Annmarie Scotti is here with her son Nick, tells you it's anything but…Hey Nick, you ready?And tickets for this particular performance weren’t available to the general public; they were only sold to families like hers…we are in row fBecause this performance of“Spiderman, Turn Off the Dark”was specially tailored for people with autism…People like 10-year-old Nick Scotti, who often has a very difficult time going to any kind of show.I'm very excited! You're excited!When you're on the spectrum, some kids either flap their hands, or scream. They have impulses.When you go to places, I always feel like I’m on guard. I have to be, like, okay, my son has autism.I'm sorry if he does something to, you know, to bother you or upset you, but I want him to be able to enjoy this as well.see right there, the ladyAnnmarie Scotti says her family has walked out of performances, wasting hundreds of dollars because of disapproving stares and comments from other audience members.Nick actually wanted to see Spiderman in the worst way.And that, I gotta tell you, is one play I was not gonna go take them to.That's where the Theater Development Fund stepped in…This is a way of ensuring a warm, welcoming environment, judgment-free,so that families can come and relax and have a good time and not worry about how the person on the spectrum is going to behave or what-- other people might think.
