WINNER OF THE 2011 DISTINGUISHED BOOK AWARD from the American Alliance for Theatre in Education!

Author: Sally D. Bailey, MFA, MSW, RDT/BCT
$36.00 – paper – 499 pages

Available from Idyll Arbor Books at http://www.idyllarbor.com

Barrier-Free Theatre: Including Everyone in Theatre Arts -- in Schools, Recreation, and Arts Programs -- Regardless of (Dis)Ability is a comprehensive, hands-on, nuts and bolts handbook for special education and drama teachers, therapists, recreation, and other group leaders. It describes concrete, field-tested techniques and lesson plans for teaching drama to students with a wide array of special needs in academic, recreational, and theatre settings.

Why theatre? Theatre arts can "level the playing field" and empower participants of all ages and abilities.  Theatrical interactions create relationships that last long after a performance is over.  This book explains in simple, non-technical language how to make accommodations for successful participation in creative drama, improvisation, puppetry, rehearsals for traditional plays, and development of new plays gears to participants' strengths.

Actors will gain self-confidence, improve their communication skills, find new ways to express themselves, and work more effectively and creatively with others.

Ways to use theatre arts as a tool to teach traditional classroom subjects, such as science, social studies, and language arts, are highlighted, as well as using drama for instruction in social interaction and other vital life skills.  There is even a section focusing on inclusion with typically developing peers in aesthetic and recreation settings.

Table of Contents
Chapter 1: The Need for the Arts
Chapter 2: Disability and the Arts
Chapter 3: Physical Disabilities
Chapter 4: Cognitive Disabilities
Chapter 5: Getting off to a Good Start: Basic Adaptations
Chapter 6: Creative Drama and Improvisation
Chapter 7: Lesson Plans and Activities that Work
Chapter 8: Puppetry
Chapter 9: Developing Original Scripts for Performance
Chapter 10: The Rehearsal Process
Chapter 11: Drama as a Classroom Teaching Tool

Chapter 12: Inclusion

About the Author: Sally Dorothy Bailey, MFA, MSW, RDT/BCT is an established playwright, director, and registered drama therapist. She created and directed the Arts Access Program for students with special needs at the Bethesda Academy of Performing Arts in Bethesda MD from 1988-98. Currently she is professor of theatre at Kansas State University where she directs the drama therapy program and directs the Barrier-Free Theatre for the City of Manhattan Parks and Recreation Department, Manhattan, Kansas.

PRAISE FOR WINGS TO FLY:

“Sally Bailey shares her rich expertise and experiences as one of America's foremost authorities on classroom drama and theatre production with disabled youth.  This comprehensive resource is a gold mine of methods, content, and sage advice. Barrier-Free Theatre is important, essential reading for all teachers of special-needs populations and theatre educators."

-- Johnny Saldana, Professor of Theatre, Arizona State University

“This moving and inspired book offers great insight and practical knowledge on making theatre arts inclusive for everyone.  Sally Bailey's lucid and vivid writing provides a convincing testament that a disability does not need to hold anyone back... With easy-to-follow, hands-on techniques and lesson plans for classrooms, teachers, and therapists, it is a unique and essential textbook which should be required reading for anyone...in the fields of education, creative arts therapies, or psychotherapy."

-- Yehudit Silverman, Associate Professor, Creative Arts Therapies Department, Concordia University

 

"For those who believe that all children, regardless of special talents or abilities, need and have a right to learn through the arts, this text is a revelation.  Sally Bailey, an immensely experienced practitioner and astute researcher,...draws us in to learn with her through a wealth of examples and stories.  The information, strategies, and techniques are of value to all teachers who seek to make their classrooms more inclusion-friendly and engaging learning environments."

-- Juliana Saxton, professor emeritus, Department of Theatre, University of Victoria, British Columbia