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* Adaptations for arts activities (music, creative dramatics, movement, visual arts)
* Universal Design
* Arts integration across curricula
* Strategies to reinforce classroom and IEP goals

The workshop can be customized for any group of people that wants to make the arts more accessible for children of all abilities. It has been well received by:

* Classroom teachers
* Art teachers
* Artists
* Special Education teachers
* Paraprofessionals

Costs vary depending upon location, population and number of participants. Creating Arts for All can be booked at your school, service center, or agency for:

* Discussion and demonstration of the etiquette of working with children with disabilities. Multiple populations will be covered, including but not limited to learning disabilities, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and children with visual, hearing, mobility and cognitive impairments.

* Demonstration of various adaptations for arts programming including children with disabilities.

* Hands-on experience in developing programmatic and physical adaptations that address the individual needs of children with disabilities.

* Interactive techniques including role-play, hands-on arts projects, group problem-solving and visual mapping will be used to engage the participants in assessing and improving the accessibility of their own arts programming.

* Demonstrate how to make adaptations for children with disabilities in arts activities

* Use multi-disciplinary projects to accommodate children with disabilities and stimulate children without disabilities

Trainers include AAI Executive Director Martin English and/or AAI Program Director Kit Bardwell (see Who We Are). Detailed bios on request to Accessible Arts by phone: 913/281-1133 or email.

Previous locations and clients:
Americorps, Wichita Paraprofessionals and artists
Arts Partners, Wichita, KS Artists
Children's Campus, Project EAGLE, Wyandotte Cnty, KS Artists & teachers
* Hiawatha, Kansas All Community/Area Arts Providers
*Holton, Kansas, Feb. 23-24, 2007 All Community/Area Arts Providers
Kansas City, Kansas School District Music and visual arts teachers
Kansas City Young Audiences Artists only
Kansas Music Educators Association Music teachers
National Trails Museum, Independence, MO Teachers
*Pittsburg, Kansas All Community/Area Arts Providers
*Rose Hill/Andover, Kansas, April 27, 2007 All Community/Area Arts Providers
Salina Arts & Humanities Commission 10/06 Artists, Teachers, Paras
Scoula Vita Nuova All teachers
Shawnee Mission School District, Johnson Cnty, KS Paraprofessionals
Shawnee Mission School District, Johnson Cnty, KS Teachers
Wichita, KS Arts Partners Artists
Wichita Public School District Special education teachers and paraprofessionals

* Community involvement with The Jellybean Conspiracy includes an abbreviated Creating Arts for All, Rhythm with a Beat for middle school students, and Families with a Beat for families.

Arts4Learning offers a wide variety of fun and engaging art activities to assist students in learning literacy skills. Developed by Kit Bardwell at Accessible Arts for the Shawnee Mission English Language Learners, these lesson plans can enhance the learning experience of all students in grades 3–5.

Each art discipline is addressed including theatre games, visual arts challenges, poetry slams, vocabulary jives, and musical compositions. The success of this program in its first year has prompted Young Audiences to provide it to schools metro-wide.

During the workshop, teachers will actively engage in each of the activities and will be provided a teacher guide with four lesson plans and a student workbook that is easily reproduced.

To book a workshop, link to Kansas City Young Audiences or call 816/531-4022. FEE : $750

AAI and professional artists with disabilities offer information and insights about the numerous job opportunities found in the arts. This workshop is for artists, paraprofessionals, parents, or other service organization personnel who want to explore careers in the arts for persons with disabilities. Participants will learn strategies for gaining experience, marketing, self-advocacy and how to ask for reasonable accommodations. AAI also provides a variety of helpful resources for artists with disabilities and individuals interested in working in ancillary jobs in the arts.

The Jellybean Conspiracy Project is intended to create partnerships with high school, theatre and special education departments to produce The Jellybean Conspiracy play. The play helps students in schools develop an appreciation for all people, especially those with disabilities. Through theatre, dance, music, and visual art, it helps participants and their audiences recognize the gifts that all of us bring to this world. The Jellybean Conspiracy play, which tells the story of a teenage girl and her relationship with her brother who has Down Syndrome, will be produced by a local high school. The cast includes performers from the high school’s theatre program and special education classes. Middle school students from the district will be invited to see matinees, and members of the surrounding communities will be encouraged to attend public performances in the evenings.

Accessible Arts, Inc. provides the educational component for the project. Martin English (Accessible Arts Executive Director) and Barry Bernstein (Music Therapist & Performer) conduct interactive music and movement workshops with the middle school students who have attended The Jellybean Conspiracy play. A family workshop is also provided for the community. These workshops are free of charge and are an integral part of the Jellybean Conspiracy project.

Rhythm Weaving—Threads of Diversity is a companion workshop for The Jellybean Conspiracy for middle school students. Diversity and disability themes come alive as Bongo Barry and Cowbell Martin engage the students in this interactive rhythm, music and movement workshop. Using theme-based phrases, students chant, use body percussion, explore movement and play hand percussion instruments.

Accelerated Learning Theory states that information connected to movement and rhythm has a greater chance of being assimilated. The process begins on a very literal base using language to express the message. By the end, students are expressing the message non-verbally using musical instruments and the rhythms they have created to express feelings from a less literal, more creative level.

Families with a Beat, features drumming, dancing, and singing. This highly interactive workshop is designed for parents and young children in the school district, giving them the opportunity to explore diversity issues in a non-threatening community setting.

The workshops focus on themes including diversity, tolerance, and respect. They also demonstrate music and movement as sources of creative expression and help participants develop positive attitudes towards people with developmental disabilities.

For additional information about arranging for these programs, contact Accessible Arts at 913/281-1133 or accarts@accessiblearts.org

Talking, Writing and Reporting about People with Disabilities, will provide simple, practical nuts and bolts of how you can talk, write and report about people with disabilities in a professional, empowering manner. You will learn about:

+ Appropriate Terminology
+ People First Language
+ Disability Etiquette
+ Universal Design

For more information, Click Here.
Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to open pdf links. If you do not have this free program, click here.