Valuing People – The Movie and Workbook

Star rating: 3/5
(Doreen Rutter)

Star rating: 4/5
(Isabel Ros Lopez)

Wolf and Water Arts Company, available on DVD or VHS £20 (£40 with workbook)

Just because someone has a learning disability doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t have the same rights as everyone else, says Doreen Rutter.

This movie has six stories about helping people with learning disabilities to speak up for themselves. At the beginning they make their great escape from the horrible institution where they live and go on the run, dressing up in funny outfits and helping other people with learning disabilities to live independently.

My favourite bit was when the Valuing People team helped some people who were being bullied. The team dressed up as Morris dancers. It was so funny.

Some people may find bits difficult to understand but I think they have been done well.

● I’m really pleased to see the important messages behind the Valuing People paper being turned into a movie, says Isabel Ros Lopez. The film deals with the issues of independent living, bullying and relationships really well. Like Doreen, I thought some of the storylines could be confusing and for me the humour didn’t always work.

There’s also a lot of stereotyping and while exaggeration can be a good way to get messages across, there were times when it went a bit too far. But I was pleased to see difficult issues such as long-stay institutions being tackled and I think the accompanying workbook has some great ideas for generating discussion.

Doreen Rutter is supported by United Response and is part of the UR First  video group.
Isabel Ros Lopez is the inclusion manager for UR First