Wendy, John, and Michael come from a very different world but are open to accept Peter Pan and his friends at Neverland -- even Captain Hook, Smee, and Ticktock. As it turns out, they all make friends by sharing what makes them special.It's sort of like life for our adults and children with disability labels and other challenges. When children and adults developmental patterns diverge from what the rest of the group is doing, they slip further away into a "Neverland" existence. It's because many are lost in our sensory-driven and loco-motor world. A world requiring people to have cognitive, motor, and communication skills to survive. Parents often find themselves in "Neverland" as well from sleep deprivation, worry, and other issues that become barriers to advocating for your child.
This big push for assimilation, integration, and inclusion is confusing. It shows that the policy makers and game changers still have no idea what our children need before undertaking this dramatic transition into community life according to their own unique ability. Instead, they create a very large template and expect each and every student to fit under it.
Peter knew all along that no matter how big you make the template, there will always be a population who will never fit under it. It explains why he stayed in Neverland for so long. But he kept looking until he found a window into Wendy, John, and Michael's world.
Here is the audition tape we submitted for the play:
