"Before opening night, more than 12,000 people signed a petition calling for the theater to cancel the show."

"They argued that using a puppet to portray [the autistic character] Laurence 'dehumanizes autistic children' and promotes the harmful 'common misconceptions that we lack feelings and empathy.' They also slammed the play for focusing on the parents’ experience over Laurence’s perspective. These critics adopted the hashtag '#puppetgate' to spread the word on Twitter; many included another hashtag, #ActuallyAutistic, widely used by people on the spectrum.... The backlash took playwright Alex Oates by surprise. He wrote the script based on his years of experience as a care worker for a severely autistic child. He sought input from people on the spectrum and the parents of the child who had inspired the story. As for the puppet, it seemed more sensitive to him to use a 'creative medium' than to ask an actor to mimic the condition. The controversy over Oates’s play is just one example of a deep divide in the autism community: On one side are parents of autistic children with severe traits — including intellectual disability, limited language ability and self-harm — who say autism is a medical condition that needs often-intense treatment. On the other side are supporters of 'neurodiversity,' who maintain that the condition represents a neurological difference and a disability — one that society should accept and accommodate rather than try to prevent or cure."

From "A medical condition or just a difference? The question roils autism community" (WaPo).

The problem of the puppet and the play is only a small part of what's at the link. I was struck by that part of the article because I just watched "Won't You Be My Neighbor," the documentary about Mr. Rogers, and in a memorable part — I wish I could find a clip — there was analysis of the use of puppets on the show, which also used human actors. It was clear that the purpose served by the puppets was the opposite of dehumanization. Rogers used the tiger puppet to express his own most intimate inner self and to say the things that he as a human actor could not say. The puppet was more revealing, more feeling, more human. Off the show, and meeting children in person, he used the tiger puppet to connect with children. In one clip, using the tiger, he draws a boy into revealing his sadness about the death of his dog. There can be so much humanity in puppetry.

I could say many more things about the linked article. I'd like to say more about the neurodiversity movement, which I think is important and has a downside to it (which is that the less severely affected persons are the ones doing the talking). But in the interest of keeping a blog post short, I simply want to cry out against the disrespect for puppetry!