How Going to the Movies Can Help People with Developmental Disabilities

More than 65 percent of adults with disabilities are unemployed.
That’s a statistic Valerie Jensen was committed to change as the president of a Connecticut-based organization called SPHERE, which helps people with developmental disabilities.
One day, Jensen was inspired by an empty building that used to be a movie theater: Why not refurbish it and open it as a theater staffed by disabled adults?
Through plenty of hard work and collaboration with other organizations in Ridgefield, Conn., Jensen brought The Prospector Theater to life. Doyle Coffin Architecture designed the building, which features four theaters, a restaurant and a café, and chef Raffaele Gallo came up with the menu. Best yet? The program runs without any government funding, sustaining itself through donations and movie ticket and popcorn sales.
Prospector Theater employees offer moviegoers first-run films such as “Interstellar” and “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1,” plus first-class customer service. “We are returning the cinema to what movie going used to be like,” Jensen tells the Christian Science Monitor. “People will be dazzled by the fantastic customer service. And with that I hope their attitudes will be opened and changed about hiring people with disabilities. We want to break the cycle of unemployment.”
Prospector Theater shows many of its movies during the day — a must, Jensen explained — because it’s difficult for disabled people to find transportation for jobs at night. It also offers training to its employees in such skills as photo editing and cooking.
Jensen says, “Our goal is to have people leave us.” But not without helping plenty of customers have a stellar movie-going experience first.
MORE: Minnesota’s Bold Move to Hire More Employees with Disabilities

How an ID Card and Training Program Can Help Officers Better Communicate With Disabled Citizens

A few years ago, Arapahoe County Sheriff Deputy Brian McKnight was called to a local school, where a student with Down syndrome had become violent. “I had no idea what I was dealing with, and I felt very frustrated,” he told 9News Denver. Now as a crime prevention specialist for his department, McKnight has partnered with Mac Macsovits, executive director of the Rocky Mountain Down Syndrome Association, to make sure that law enforcement officers will be better prepared than he was to handle situations with people who have developmental disabilities.
MORE: This Grandmother Is Helping People with Down Syndrome Gain Confidence
In a recent training seminar at the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office, Macsovits talked to deputies about how to recognize people with Down syndrome and other disorders, as well as how to communicate efficiently with citizens with developmental disabilities during law enforcement investigations and emergency situations. “People with Down syndrome process information a little bit differently, sometimes a little bit slower,” he said. But the officers aren’t the only ones receiving training. As part of the program, the Sheriff’s Department is launching a voluntary identification program, where people with intellectual and developmental disabilities can receive an ID card with information on his or her disability, plus emergency contact information for caregivers and family members. Macsovits will work with his organization to train disabled citizens to hand this card to officers if they are in stressful situations. They’ll also train these citizens on personal safety, situational awareness and communicating with officers in emergency situations. “The ID card program is going to be pivotal to the success of this training,” Macsovits said. “That would help alleviate a lot of these interactions that can escalate unnecessarily.”
Such was the case of Ethan Saylor, a 26-year-old with Down syndrome who died in January 2013 after a confrontation with police at a Maryland movie theater turned violent. For Macsovits and McKnight, this was a tragedy that could have been avoided, and, through better training, they say it will be. “[This program] gives [officers] more tools to handle the situation and make sure the outcome is what we’re looking for,” McKnight said. “The ability to handle the situation with information and knowledge that I did not have.”
CHECK OUT: How a Man with Down Syndrome Made This Establishment “The World’s Friendliest Restaurant”