Last year with the McLean County Diversity Project, I was involved
with the national puppet troupe, Kids on the Block. It was started in
the 1980’s by a lady in California who was disappointed by the lack of
social knowledge of cerebral palsy. As the group went on, it
stretched its focus from just disabilities other things that might
affect kids, such as divorce or death.

Throughout the school year, the main members of the group, 3 other
Diversity Project members and myself, met, under the direction of
Connie Kelly, about 3 times per month, to understand the technique of using puppets, learn scripts, and to fully understand the disabilities of the puppets that we had.

The puppets that we used had disabilities ranging from being blind, to
cerebral palsy and spinal bifida. However, there were also puppets
without disabilities that were used, to show how interactions between
different people could happen.

During the meetings, we would do readings, and discuss in which way we
wanted to present our shows, in order for the audience to learn the
most, and still be entertained at the same time. We would also
practice answering questions that would be asked by little kids,
because that’s who the audience was mostly.

While the meetings were fun, they did shine a light on how society
views someone that is different. We often just assume that a person
with a disability cannot do something; they have usually adapted their
life to make it just like someone who can see, or doesn’t have a
problem with walking.

During our first presentation, at Barnes and Noble, we had many
children that asked questions that were expected, such as asking
Renaldo, the blind child, how he gets dressed. But as we encouraged
more questions, more kids asked difficult questions, such as how
school is different, or what types of jobs that someone with a certain
disability can have.

Our second presentation was at the annual wheelchair basketball game
that State Farm and the U of I team does. Here it was interesting to
see how the families reacted to the skits we performed. Most of the
time, they would agree, but sometimes they would have learned
something themselves. It was nice to see how people really did listen
and understand what we said.

The last presentation, and my favorite one, was at Prairieland
Elementary School’s Awareness Days. Throughout the day, we presented
skits to the children of the school, class by class. While they
rotated, they went to other presenters. When they left, many of the
kids would say how they were glad they them came to ours, because it
was the most entertaining, but they were also learning.

Overall, my experience with the Kids on the Block puppet troupe was
eye-opening. I never thought that acting as a puppet could be so
exciting, or knowledgeable. I hope that during our performances, that
the kids will really remember what they learned, and will take it to
heart.