Choices

Produced for "Project CHOICES," a program sponsored by the Illinois State Board of Education's Department of Special Education, Choices offers profiles of four children and young adults of varying age who despite their developmental disabilities have done quite well within regular educational and work settings. Jackie, for example, is a developmentally disabled 3rd-grade student at Longfellow School in Wheaton, IL. She may not be as quick as her fellow students, but in the sequence showing Jackie in class, it is clear she is learning to find her way around a map of the United States. What's promising is that her classmates-- rather than ridiculing her--are earnest in their concern and eager to help Jackie. At the other end of the age spectrum is Joan, a 19-year-old developmentally disabled woman who works at the Champaign Public Library in the technical services department. Interviews with members of the medical, educational, and work community, as well as parents and friends of the subjects profiled in the program offer a wide range of encouraging and informative anecdotes and ideas about integrating young people with developmental disabilities into the mainstream educational system and work force. The only real drawback to the program is that since the tape was made as a profile of a particular project in Illinois it is not really set in a context for the general public. That doesn't invalidate the program by any means (technically it's a very well done production, and it's very inexpensive for this kind of program), but it does need to be considered. Recommended, with reservations. (Available from: Comforty Mediaconcepts, 613 Michigan Ave., Evanston, IL 60202.)