The Other New Kids On The Block

By Kim Miller

An expectant pause fills the room. The show has ended. The performers have sung the grand finale and taken their bows, yet they do not leave the stage. A tentative hand rises out of the audience of children and the barrage of questions begins. “How do you go to the bathroom when you live in a wheelchair?” “Is cerebral palsy catching?” “Why do you always drool when you talk?” “When you dream, do your legs work like normal?”

Handling these questions is Mark Riley, a feisty, outgoing guy with an ego the size of a football field and a quick-witted sense of humour to match. For every question asked about living with his cerebral palsy, Mark has a snappy crack and an honest answer. As a member of the Kids on the Block Program, it is Mark’s job to teach elementary school childrenabout acceptance of all people, no matter what their individual differences.

Like the rest of the “kids,” Mark is a colourful, life-size puppet whose personality is brought to life by a well-trained volunteer. The puppets are the central figures in a disability awareness program developed in direct response to an American law concerning mainstreaming. The law gave people with disabilities the opportunity to go to regular school, participate in regular classroom settings and be educated alongside their non-disabled peers. There was a movement away from seeing the person with a disability as “sick” and in need of protection towards a view that promoted the right of people with disabilities to remain in the community, to live full integrated lives and to participate equally in all that the community has to offer.

Barbara Aiello, a nationally recognized special education teacher from Washington, D.C. created the Kids on the Block Program to facilitate the mainstreaming process. The puppets, along with simulation exercises and group discussions, help children develop positive attitudes toward people who are traditionally labelled as “different” by society. Since its 1977 inception, Kids on the Block has grown to include over 1200 community-based programs operating out of 49 states and 17 countries, including Canada. The success of the program lies in its use of educational theatre to effect positive attitude change.

Co-ordinated by volunteer associations, community service groups, businesses, schools or hospitals, each Kids on the Block troupe consists of puppets both with and without disabilities. The puppets have varied family backgrounds, represent a range of racial and ethnic groups and come with all manner of physical and emotional variances. Each puppet is an individual, its unique character and attitude being a composite based on real children.

Through a series of sketches that deal with everyday situations, the puppets with disabilities interact with their non-disabled peers. The audience meets Mandy Puccini, a deaf 12 year old who reads people’s speech and uses sign language and her own speech to communicate. When a classmate calls her “dumb” Mandy objects. “Dumb means I can’t talk and I can. Dumb means I’m stupid and I’m not. I go to the same school as you and I’m in your class!” Mandy teaches the audience some simple sign language and demonstrates that, unlike her hearing friend, she can “talk” (use sign language) with her mouth full and still be polite.

Renaldo Rodriguez has been blind since birth. He demonstrates how he tells time with a Braille watch, explains how he matches his clothes by feeling special labels and shows how he uses his white cane to get around obstacles. The audience hears a story of a well-meaning lady who insisted on helping him cross the street (even though he did not want to) and learns that Renaldo will ask for help when he needs it. With a special beeper ball, Renaldo can play baseball and with his Brailler, which he lets audience members try, Renaldo can write notes.

There are other puppets, too. 21 year old Ellen Jane Peterson, who has a developmental disability, enjoys her job as a veterinarian’s assistant. She talks about how much it hurts to be called “retarded” when she is really a capable person. Jennifer Hauser has a learning disability. She reveals her strategies for coping with dyslexia both at home and at school. When Jimmy Randolph roars onto the scene, his friends learn that the best way to help him control his emotional problems is to not pay him a lot of attention when he gets over-excited.

In all the vignettes, there is action and humour, questions asked and sensitive issues discussed. Through the magic of theatre and the power of puppetry, the audience learns that it is okay to be “different,” and that it is our differences that make each of us unique. Having a disability does not condemn one to a life of misery and isolation.

At the end of one skit, Mark Riley, the rambunctious red haired wonder, insisted on popping wheelies in his “cruiser”. A young girl watched him in curious wonder. “Mark,” she asked, “it you could have only one wish come true, would you want to make your legs work again?”

“You know,” Mark replied, “sometimes I wish that my legs would work and I get a bit sad that they don’t. But when I think about all the things I can do – basketball and horseback riding and all sorts of games, I don’t really miss my legs. There aren’t too many things that I can’t do when I’m in my “cruiser”. If I had just one wish though, I’d wish that everyone would try to make their dreams come true!” Mark and the rest of the Kids on the Block can teach us all some valuable lessons.