Super Special Disability Roadshow
This page has information on it to help you have conversations about Super Special Disability Roadshow and the ideas in it after you have watched the film or experienced the live performance and film screening.
The film is about two disabled people, Rob and Sal, who come together to deliver shows in school about disability. Rob and Sal have been doing this for a long time and Rob thinks he has brought the show bang up to date with a new set and some digital input from two young people, Oona and Ollie. But do they agree with what Rob is saying? Are Rob and Sal the experts?
If you experienced the live version you have also met Sam who is a young disabled woman on a mission to make the world more accessible by taking SSDR on a tour of the world. You might have found that at your performance there was a particularly inquisitive audience member who got involved because they had a mission of their own!
SSDR has lots of useful information in it about what it is like to be disabled – what it was like in the past and what it is like now. But really it is about individuals who are all very different and have all been shaped by their own experiences. That’s the thing about being disabled – disabled people are all individuals and we all know that everyone is different.
Are you ready to take the mission forward? How can you make the world more accessible?
REMEMBER The characters in the show have the same names as the performers but they are acting and performing lines from a script that has been written.
click on a number from the list below to jump to that section
- Things to talk about – no more whispering!
- Things to do – make your world more accessible!
- The language of disability – don’t be scared!
- Kids ask… What’s it like to be disabled?
- ASK US!
Things to talk about – no more whispering!
There is so much in the show to talk about…
Before you start here is a letter from the film director Joe Douglas, about what he thinks the show is about.
- Why was Sally getting angry with Rob?
- Why did Rob mute Oona and Ollie?
- What did the show make you think about?
- How did it make you feel?
- What new thing did you learn?
- Did anything surprise you?
- What would you like to learn more about?
You can also watch Joe, Robert and Sally discuss the show with Noel from Imaginate the organisation which runs the International Children’s Festival:
And there are so many ideas you might want to learn more about:
- Social Model of Disability. SCOPE resources.
- People can face multiple barriers and discrimination. For instance someone could face discrimination based on the the colour of their skin or background (this is racism), or based on the fact they are disabled (this is ableism). It can also be based on both things at once – this is called intersectional discrimination.
- Changes in education and teaching methods – can you find out when young disabled people in the UK first got the right to post-16 education? Answer here.
- Attitudinal barriers and stereotypes. Disability Stereotypes in the media.
Things to do – make your world more accessible!
Once you learn about the inequality of access and experience for disabled people you might want to do something about it! There are lots of things that you can do to make the world around you more accessible and fair for everyone. Why don’t you start with your school? You could do an access audit and find things to improve:
Here is a video of some disabled people talking about what their access requirements are – this can help you think about removing barriers.
The language of disability
Sometimes people are really scared about talking about disability because they don’t know what words to use. They don’t want to offend anyone. In the past people often knew more slang and nasty (disempowering) words to say than correct and positive (empowering) words.
Kids ask… What’s it like to be disabled?
Here is a video we made with some questions children asked us about what it is like to be disabled. If you have any questions you can ask us below and we will post an answer for you.
ASK US!
Do you have a question about what it is like to be disabled or about a type of impairment? Maybe you have a question for one of the characters in the show? Or maybe you want to ask us where to find something out. You can ask us ANYTHING!
Email us with your question and if it is for anyone in particular at all@boptheatre.co.uk with the subject heading QUESTION and we promise to get back to you. We will also post the answer here on this page.
We didn’t make it on our own
The Super Special Disability Roadshow was commissioned by Imaginate and produced as part of the Edinburgh International Children’s Festival 2021. This resources page was developed with the support of Geraldine Heaney.
