King Kong, Rainbow Dash and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer are crammed into a make-believe taxicab, heading to their next destination. The people playing these characters are young adults who are on the autism spectrum or have other special needs.
Howling with laughter, they spend the hour riffing off one another while practicing the sacred rule of improv comedy:
Yes, and...
"Yes" amounts to acceptance and empathy for another person's idea, no matter how off the wall you think it is. "And" represents you building upon that idea, fostering communication and collaboration.
That's how a story circle, in which each participant utters just one word at a time, can produce a tale about a cat who lived in despair and was greeted by a half-naked magic weasel.
"It can go from crazy to crazy, and take a turn you never thought possible," said Hunter Hunstad, a 20-year-old student from Maplewood who has Asperger's syndrome and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. "You never know what's around the next corner, which is a lot like life."

I met Hunter and his classmates at the Next Step Transition Program in North St. Paul. The program equips 18- to 21-year-olds with independent living skills and job training as they make the sometimes scary leap from the special education services they received in K-12 schools to the realities of adulting.
The transitional program partners with MNprov, a nonprofit that has found a niche teaching neurodivergent students improvisational comedy. For people with autism, sizing up social situations or departing from rigid routines can be tough.