The Kids on the Block, Inc. (KOB), a troupe of educational puppets designed to teach children about disabilities and differences, originated in 1977. The company was developed to help fill the needs of children with disabilities to have their non-disabled peers understand and accept them. Since then, KOB has expanded to include 40 different programs on educational differences, medical differences, and social concerns in addition to programs about disabilities.

The Kids on the Block, Inc. (KOB), a troupe of educational puppets designed to teach children about disabilities and differences, originated in 1977. The company was developed to help fill the needs of children with disabilities to have their non-disabled peers understand and accept them. Since then, KOB has expanded to include 40 different programs on educational differences, medical differences, and social concerns in addition to programs about disabilities.

For the 2016-2017 season, CATCO will tour the following three programs from The Kids on the Block:

Program on Bullies and School Safety

The Kids on the Block Program on Bullies and School Safety has been developed to educate children about these worldwide issues, to promote sensitivity toward peers, provide specific strategies to make schools a safer place, and to help children avoid or cope with bad situations.

Being the Sibling of a Child with a Disability

The Kids on the Block Program on Being the Sibling of a Child with a Disability was designed to introduce children to some of the realities of one particular family whose life has been touched by cerebral palsy. Efforts in educating children about differences have made it easier for them to understand and accept physical differences, but there remains a stigmatization of people with behavioral and developmental differences.

Program on Spina Bifida

The Kids on the Block Program on Spina Bifida was designed to educate children about spina bifida, a congenital disability which occurs in one in every 1,000 births in the U.S. When a person is born with spina bifida, it means his or her spinal cord did not form properly before birth. Usually, the spinal cord is a closed tube, but when a baby is born with spina bifida, the tube is not closed. As a result, messages sent from the brain have trouble traveling through the spinal cord, affecting body systems such as the nervous system (how the brain communicates with the rest of the body), the urinary system (waste removal through the bladder and bowels), and the orthopedic system (bones and joints).

IN THE NEWS:

Special Needs: Kids on the Block

March 29, 2017 – Columbus Parent

That’s the point of the Kids on the Block puppet theater program, said Andrew Protopapas, artist educator for CATCO: “to help students without disabilities understand and accept the students with disabilities.”

IN THE NEWS:

Special Needs: Kids on the Block

March 29, 2017 – Columbus Parent

That’s the point of the Kids on the Block puppet theater program, said Andrew Protopapas, artist educator for CATCO: “to help students without disabilities understand and accept the students with disabilities.”

Interested in bringing The Kids on the Block to your school?

Email Andrew Protopapas at aprotopapas@catco.org