A Videoguide To (Dis) Ability Awareness

An upbeat and inspirational look at some of the myths surrounding the visual, hearing, and learning-impaired, A Visual Guide to (Dis) Ability Awareness opens with a clip of President Bill Clinton talking to a little girl about her learning-impaired sister. Then the program goes straight to the experts--those with disabilities--to find out the facts about how they would like to be treated. Actress Patty Neumeyer, who is visually-impaired, appears in a clip from an upcoming Orion film, and talks about her guide dog (which she doesn't want people treating like he's a pet) and her preference for taking a person's arm when walking, as opposed to the person grabbing her arm. (Filmgoers might recall Al Pacino's character in Scent of a Woman, when he explains to Chris O'Donnell: "if you touch my arm again, I'll fuckin' kill ya!"). Others offer tips and suggestions on ways to approach and communicate with the hearing-impaired, the learning-impaired, and those with physical disabilities. Examples from a wide range of areas demonstrate the real strides that are being taken in the wake of the Americans With Disabilities Acts: a museum that provides gloves and special tours for the visually-impaired, which enables them to feel and therefore "see" classic works of sculpture; an advocate for the hearing-impaired who teaches police basic sign language; and the Telephone Relay Service, which allows, among other things, hearing-impaired customers to call out for pizza. One of the most engaging sequences comes at the end when a young rollerblader who lost a leg in a car accident shows that he's still able to skate at the professional level with a prosthetic limb. As well as being a fine tape for individual use, this is an excellent program to use for increasing staff awareness (along with LVN's superb People First! Serving and Employing People With Disabilities--reviewed in our October 1991 issue). An extensive resource guide listing addresses and phone numbers for national and state agencies (government and non-government) who provide services and information for and about people with disabilities is also included. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (Available from: The Idea Bank, 1208 Shoreline Dr., Santa Barbara, CA 93109; (800) 621-1136.)