Wings To Fly

The Arts and Disability

The arts can greatly enhance every aspect of our lives: learning, work, play, relationships and identity formation. In fact, because they are so basic and so life-affirming, the arts often open up new avenues for stimulation, communication and growth. If this is true for people who don't have disabilities, it is equally so for people who do have them.

Disabilities - whether physical, cognitive or emotional - cause a great deal of frustration in the lives of those who have them. The arts break through barriers and limitations. They offer participants many possibilities and options for successful expression of feelings and ideas. Difficulty on one level of perception or communication does not negate enjoyment or participation on another. And if an individual can experience success, be valued for her ideas and have her feelings validated, her self-confidence and self-esteem begin to grow. When attitudes about the self change, obstacles become surmountable.

Each art form helps student artists develop specific skills. Some of the skills that participation in theater arts enhances include listening, eye contact, awareness of the body in space, physical, facial and verbal expressiveness, social interaction, focus and concentration, flexibility and problem-solving skills and perhaps most importantly self-esteem.

Drama is a self-esteem builder. Because they are different from other children in their neighborhood or school and because they may not succeed in academic and social settings - the two main arenas of childhood - children with disabilities may not feel good about themselves. Through dramatic experiences in class and in performances, children can share the creative, vulnerable, and absolutely unique aspects of themselves with others. They can explore who they are, experience success, and begin to feel proud of themselves.

Excerpted from Sally Dorothy Bailey's WINGS TO FLY