For a puppet troupe dedicated to sensitizing school children (and adults) to people with disabilities, the medium is the message.
By Lori A. Wood
The oldest Kid on the Block was inspired by one of special education teacher Barbara Aiello’s students, Anthony, a wheelchair-user with cerebral palsy.
“At the time, Anthony was being integrated into the neighborhood school,” says Diana Degnan- LaFon, director of Program Development for Kids on the Block, Inc. (www.kotb.com), an educational puppet company headquartered in Columbia, Maryland. “He approached Barbara and said that he wasn’t happy, because the other kids wouldn’t speak to him. She made a puppet that looked like Anthony, and she talked about cerebral palsy for a little bit. When she asked if anybody had any questions, a little girl asked to speak to the puppet. And that’s how Kids on the Block got started.”
Changing Awareness
It was 1977 when Aiello, with the help of puppet designer Ingrid Crepeau, launched Kids On the Block as the result of US Public Law 94-142, which mandated the “mainstreaming” of children with disabilities in public schools. In the three decades since then, the concept of disability awareness has moved closer to the forefront of public consciousness. For all that time, Kids on the Block has done its best to adapt.
“We revise the scripts every couple of years, to eliminate language inappropriate to the times, or reflect current disability awareness trends,” says Diana. “When the company first started, there was a lot of ignorance about people with disabilities. We’ve come a long way over the years. Our programs are still necessary, but I think we focus more now on what kids have in common, rather than focusing on getting audiences to accept what was different about people.”
Over time, the puppets have proven to be effective communicators on the subject of disability awareness. “The puppets are big and appealinglooking, so kids are drawn to them,” Diana explains. “At the same time, they provide a kind of safety net, in that kids will ask questions of a puppet that they’d never ask a classmate with a disability, or even an adult. It creates an environment of discussion and open communication. With the disability awareness program, we get questions like ‘Do kids make fun of you?’ and ‘Does it hurt?’ These are pretty candid questions that children may be uncomfortable asking a classmate with a disability. That hesitation in talking about things can create barriers between kids that could prevent friendships from developing.”
The company offers programs on a wide-variety of subjects, including: substance abuse, bullying and medical differences, such as epilepsy and leukemia.
Updating an Ancient Art Form
To accomplish its goals, the company utilizes a unique form of puppetry. “It’s loosely based on Bunraku, a Japanese style of puppetry,” Diana says. “In Bunraku, the puppeteers are visible behind the puppets and there are usually three puppeteers operating one puppet-one in brightly colored clothes and two dressed all in black. With Kids on the Block, there is usually only one puppeteer operating a puppet, but that puppeteer is visible and is dressed in black, with hoods and gloves on. This is a bit different from the way most hand and rod puppets are performed. Often, the puppeteers are not visible.”
In its various forms, the disability awareness presentation is given to children who range in age from kindergarten through sixth grade. “Eighty percent of our work is done in schools,” Diana says. “We will allow the kindergartners to be present during the performances, because they enjoy the puppet aspect of the program, but the Kids on the Block curricula and the educational content are a bit too advanced for them. We have a character with spina bifida named Valerie. Some issues that she discusses aren’t as accessible to the little ones, so we perform this one for third through sixth graders.”
Each presentation is followed by a question and answer session. “Valerie is fourteen years old, and deals with a lot of issues that older kids are aware of, such as cheerleading tryouts. In contrast, younger kids will ask questions about the braces and crutches she’s wearing. It’s difficult to educate them about disabilities they can’t see. In our script about visual impairments, for example, they can see that the character uses a cane. This gives them a starting point for their questions, which tend to deal with how the characters’ disabilities affect their daily lives. Older kids want to know more about social situations, like how the characters handle bullying, or whether or not they have a lot of friends.”
International Audiences
Through the company’s Life Lessons kits, people nationwide are able to stage their own Kids On the Block presentations. “Life Lessons kits were developed to supplement the original programs,” Diana explains. “They’re eight scripts of three sections each that can be used to transition between the presentation scripts, to add characters that would increase diversity. These kits are an option for existing Kids on the Block troupes to expand their programs, but all troupes stage their own programs with all of our topics. All of our materials, including the Life Lessons Kids, are copyrighted materials, and must be performed as written. The way each of the troupes operates can be very different in their scope and topic choice.
“We have 1,400 troupes in thirty-three countries performing these curricula,” Diana says. “They perform the traditional Kids on the Block curricula. A lot of our troupe members perform on a volunteer basis or nonprofits raise grant monies to pay for the performance.”
How can a person become a Kids on the Block puppeteer? “The puppets are large, so it takes about a month for a trainee to be able to perform a tenminute script. Once they’re more experienced, they can focus on the presentation’s content. The content and verbiage is extremely important. We stress that consistency and integrity are crucial for the continuing existence of the program. During more advanced training, the individual puppet troupes may have specific issues or problems regarding their own performances, and we construct the training to suit their particular situation.”
For more information about scheduling a presentation, obtaining Kids on the Block educational materials or volunteering as a puppeteer in your area, call 410-290-9095 or email the creators of Kids on the Block at kob@kotb.com.
Lori A. Wood is a regular contributor to Action.
