Educational Media Reviews Online

How Come You Walk Funny? is an insightful documentary about an equally insightful educational program. At Toronto’s Bloorview MacMillan Children’s Center, there exists a unique, innovative and successful program that integrates children with disabilities and typically developing children into one kindergarten classroom. The Integrated Kindergarten Program, the IKP program, has for almost 10 years provided a sense of normalcy to those children learning to deal with their disabilities and given typically developing children, and their parents, disability awareness, sensitivity and a sense of compassion that they otherwise may not have received.

Featured prominently in the documentary are the Bowen family; the Bowen’s have a set of twin boys, Mark, who has cerebral palsy and Douglas, who is typically developing. Spanning the school year, we see Mark and Douglas’ progress, as well as that of all the other children in their class. Guided by two outstanding teachers, who stress learning by doing, the children participate in a truly integrated environment. Inclusion tolerates disabilities, and integration, as the IKP espouses, values the children’s disabilities.

This inspiring and informative documentary piece is well produced and edited, and the film’s video and audio components are of good quality. How Come You Walk Funny? is highly recommended, and is best suited for school libraries, teacher education collections and university curriculum collections.