Watertown Commission on Disability

Film Screening Scheduled September 24th, 2008 6:30 pm
at the Cambridge Friends School
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Most people have probably seen a disabled person and pondered these questions. Young children often wonder and ask these developmentally appropriate questions and many adults have difficulty answering.

During the last decade, classroom teacher, Maggie Doben, has worked with early childhood students, helping them to explore and understand physical disabilities. The transformation of perception is an amazing process. Each year as the lessons begin, they reveal the stereotypes and discriminatory behaviors that are imposed by society. LABELED DISABLED addresses curriculum that challenges those biases and demonstrates, through first hand experience that they are stereotypes, not reality. Watch what actually happens in the classroom as children discuss and challenge prejudice.

In conjunction with anti-bias education and the idea that knowledge is best acquired through concrete experience, the viewer witnesses the inspirational progress of children; from what they perceive to be true, to what is true.

Through interviews, classroom lessons, and discussion, educators, disabled individuals, parents and students show what this learning can achieve. Experts in the fields of education and disability advocacy will substantiate that learning about disabilities is valuable and life changing for young children.

Children’s understandings are transformed as they participate in carefully designed lessons and engage in opportunities to meet and learn from disabled role models in their community. They are able to express their feelings about disability as they collect new information and deepen their knowledge.

Click to View Trailer