Ermyn King

I aim to contribute to, while also learning from, the neuroarts community.

I have training and experience in: education and special education; speech and dramatic arts (specialty in applied drama/theater, storytelling, and puppetry); arts education; arts in health; the creative arts therapies; play therapy; inclusion, accessibility, and disability justice; grief and bereavement care; military population wellbeing; creative aging; and community building for holistic health. I hold an M.A. degree in Speech & Dramatic Arts, and a B.S. degree in Education. I am a registered drama therapist (RDT), and am certified as a TimeSlips™ creative storytelling facilitator, a Health RHYTHMS® group empowerment drumming facilitator, and an early childhood and primary grades educator.

My professional roles span: arts in health program administrator and developer; university faculty member and guest lecturer; national webinar presenter; audio & verbal describer and trainer; cultural access project manager; arts educator and curriculum developer; artist in residence; teaching artist; arts education-special education trainer; classroom teacher; author/co-author; and consultant. I have worked in schools, universities, and educational entities, in addition to regional, statewide, and/or national arts/cultural venues and museums, nonprofit organizations, community centers, and healthcare institutions, etc.

I have designed and delivered inclusive and accessible arts programming for populations with complex medical conditions and/or varied disabilities at Children’s National Medical Center, The Children’s Inn at The National Institutes of Health, MedStar Georgetown University Hospital ("Studio G" Arts Program in Pediatrics) – ongoing, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC), and the Specialty Hospital of Washington and Capitol Hill Nursing Center, as well as through Penn State University, VSA Pennsylvania, Hospice Caring, and ArtStream, Inc. I have served on the National Advisory Council of Arts for the Aging, Inc., the Disability Justice Subcommittee of the North American Drama Therapy Association, and the Arts in Health Committee at WRNMMC, where I also worked as a full-time creative arts program coordinator.

I co-founded Pennsylvania's inaugural audio description (AD) service, and have audio described over 250 cultural events across all arts genres for people living with blindness or low vision and others who may benefit. Venues wherein or entities for which I audio describe or have described include the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Smithsonian Institution, Chautauqua Institution, Lincoln Center, American Association of People with Disabilities, National Park Service, Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, universities, nonprofit arts organizations, and others. I have offered AD training through the Kennedy Center's Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability, VSA Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, etc.

I have been honored by: recognition as one of 31 outstanding arts educators in the U.S. by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund; receiving Penn State University’s annual human service award; being selected as a consultant for and named a Distinguished Fellow of the Global Alliance for Arts & Health (formerly Society for the Arts in Healthcare); the referencing of an international journal article for which I was 2nd author in a World Health Organization publication (2019) on the role of the arts in the improvement of health and wellbeing; and selection of an interactive arts newsletter project for which I was a creative team member as winner of the National Organization for Arts in Health’s 1st place 2021 International Arts in Health Award (“Arts During the Pandemic” category).