Critical Disability Studies

The emotional and dramatic story of the decades-long push for equality and accessibility that culminated in the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990. A story of courage and perseverance, the film highlights the determined people who literally put their bodies on the line to achieve their goal and change the lives of all Americans. From American Experience.

Helen Keller, who was deaf and blind, used her celebrity and wit to champion rights for women, people with disabilities and people living in poverty. Examines the complex life and legacy of this author, advocate and human rights pioneer.

On May 1st, 2009, Amy Jordan, a New York City based former professional dancer, crossed the street and was hit and run over by a 15 ton NYC bus, pinning her under the wheel, knocking her unconscious, and completely crushing her right leg. As she regained consciousness, her first thought was, "Am I ever going to dance again?" Her second thought was, "If I survive the night there will be a victory dance."

Best boy: "follows Philly Wohl, a cheerful and lovable 52 year old who's been mentally handicapped since birth and still lives with his parents. When his cousin, filmmaker Ira Wohl, questions what will happen to Philly once his elderly parents can no longer care for him, the family embarks on a mission to help Philly become more independent"--Container. Best man: follow-up to Best boy which revisits Philly 20 years later.

This video is a powerful teaching and learning tool for general and special educators, parents, and students committed to creating more inclusive and tolerant schools and community environments. In it viewers are introduced to Kim Peek, the extraordinary mega-savant who was the inspiration for the character portrayed by Dustin Hoffman in the movie Rain Man. In the years following the film, Kim traveled around the country and around the world, carrying a message of accepting individual differences, recognizing that everyone is talented and special in different ways, and treating one another with respect. This video features clips of Kim speaking to school audiences, interacting with students, parents, and staff, and demonstrating his astonishing gifts. It is ideal for use with students in grades 5-12 as part of a character education unit to learn about accepting differences in others, developing tolerance, and appreciating diversity.

This program challenges the preconception that being physically disabled necessarily means a lack of desire for physical intimacy. Through candid interviews with people who have substantial physical disabilities-cases involving paraplegia, quadriplegia, kyphoscoliosis, neuromuscular disorders, and other conditions-the video expresses their needs as human beings, examines constraints placed upon them by their conditions as well as by the medical and residential facilities that serve them, and spotlights high-minded organizations prepared to assist them in having loving experiences. Filmed in Europe, Disability and Sexuality offers insights into issues that transcend national boundaries and find common ground in the heart.

Best Actress nominee Salma Hayek stars as Mexican surrealist Frida Kahlo in this biopic, which chronicles her turbulent marriage to Diego Rivera, her political activism and the severe pain she experienced following a bus accident.

In 1939, as the world stood on the brink of World War II, Hartheim Castle, Austria, was at the centre of a turning point of history. It had been a centre for those with physical or mental disabilities. But from 1939 to 1944, it acted as a pilot scheme for the Final Solution.Over the years, hundreds of buses from all over Germany and Austria arrived in the castle courtyard. The buses were full of patients with Down's Syndrome, schizophrenia, or with mental disabilities. Hartheim was presented as a clinic, yet none of these patients emerged alive. The SS used Hartheim to test their methods of mass murder.Hartheim was top secret, its true purpose hidden from the public. The victim's families weren't told how their loved ones died. A team of workers, including doctors, administrators and bus drivers, all signed confidentiality agreements and participated in the cover up, including forging the death certificates.In 1941, under pressure from the Catholic church, Hitler put an end to the euthanasia programme for fear of losing popular support. But Hartheim remained a place of mass extermination. Now it was prisoners of war, those deemed too old or too frail for hard labour, who were targeted. More than 30,000 people were sent from Mauthausen concentration camp to Hartheim, to be killed. Many of the workers from Hartheim went to work in concentration camps during the war. They took their expertise to Belzec, Sobibor, and Treblinka, where nearly two million Jews perished. This film traces the dark history of Hartheim.

A dramatization of the story about the struggle of a Boston teacher, Annie Sullivan, to communicate with and teach the deaf, blind, and mute child, Helen Keller.

Based on Christy Brown's true life story, My left foot is the story of a man who triumphs over impossible odds to achieve greatness.

Daniel Day-Lewis (Oscar) as artist-writer Christy Brown, born with cerebral palsy.

The life and career of music legend Ray Charles, including his relationship with his wife Della, are the subjects of this Oscar-winning biopic.

What does it mean to be disabled and how does it shape an artist's work? This documentary explores what is known as the disability art movement, following five artists-including a painter, a writer, an actor, a theater director, and a filmmaker, all of whom happen to have physical disabilities-through their creative work. Intense group discussions of artistic and personal goals are also recorded. Dispelling the myth of tragic disability, the film depicts its subjects as, first and foremost, creative people. The result is a profound look at, and celebration of, the act of making art-viewed through the lens of disability and the rejection of its stereotypes.

Based on the writings by its title subject, HBO Films’ Temple Grandin is an engaging portrait of an autistic young woman who became, through timely mentoring and sheer force of will, one of America’s most remarkable success stories.With a tour de force performance by Claire Danes in the title role, the film chronicles Grandin’s early beginnings as a child diagnosed with autism; her turbulent growth and development during her school years; and the enduring support she received from her mother, her aunt and her science teacher.Against all odds, Temple eventually transitioned into a highly-functional, esteemed inventor in the cattle industry, which she revolutionized with her scientific research and designs.This visually inventive film offers stunning insights into Grandin’s world, taking the audience inside her mind with a series of snapshot images that trace her self-perceptions and journey from childhood through young adulthood to the beginning of her career, and beyond.

The story of renowned astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, who falls deeply in love with fellow Cambridge student Jane Wilde. Once a healthy, active young man, Hawking received an earth-shattering diagnosis at 21 years of age. With Jane fighting tirelessly by his side, Stephen embarks on his most ambitious scientific work, studying the very thing he now has precious little of: time. Together, they defy impossible odds, breaking new ground in medicine and science, and achieving more than they could ever have dreamed.

This biopic of celebrated physicist Stephen Hawking explores his early years at Cambridge, where he fell in love with liberal-arts student and future wife Jane shortly before being diagnosed with ALS.