KIDS LIKE ME Impact Campaign

Now is the moment to advocate for equitable public education and civil rights for children with disabilities.

This critical impact campaign activates communities to empower children with disabilities to be leaders and re-frames disability through screenings, participatory storytelling and educational resources.

Through creative play, advocacy and connection, we can build agency and awareness and motivate audiences to dismantle barriers to equity.


Urgent Advocacy & Access Challenges

The Current Landscape

This June, the Trump administration announced plans to transfer programs for disabled students from the Department of Education to the Department of Health and Human Services, and from the Office for Civil Rights to the DOJ.

This means:

Educational Justice Eroded

civil rights enforcement moved to an agency with no education experience

Disability Discrimination

special education moved to HHS threatens services & equal education

Weaker Accountability

disabled students left without enforcement of laws meant to protect them

The Need & Opportunity

Urgent Advocacy

Disabled students are under threat of losing services and long-fought-for rights with the dismantling of the Dept. of Ed.

At the same time, Section 504 protections are currently being challenged in 9 states. This is an particularly urgent moment for this campaign to be a springboard for advocacy and engagement.

Reframing Disability

Children with disabilities are severely underrepresented in children's media, often relegated to minor roles.

Only 1 in 5 characters with a disability were authentically cast by actors with the same (or similar) disability.

'Kids Like Me' brings authentic stories of disability to wide audiences.

Creative Play & Empowerment

Storytelling, creative play and role-playing fosters identity formation, connection and empathy. Empowering disabled children to create fosters agency, leadership and community.

The campaign seeks to amplify the voices of young creators with disabilities.

The Opportunity to Transform

By bringing KIDS LIKE ME to communities, schools, libraries and policy spaces, alongside participatory programming rooted in creative play, we can champion young people with disabilities to create and lead, shift perceptions about disabled people, and equip families, peers and educators with tools to foster inclusion, and strengthen advocacy for disability rights. We are developing programming around KIDS LIKE ME and “The Game is Murder” to:

Champion Creators

Model inclusivity in media and arts

Share Resources

Foster connection and conversations about equity

Amplify Advocacy

Support accessibility rights efforts

Audiences

Primary Audiences

Children and teens with disabilities (K–12) and their non-disabled peers

Families of children with disabilities, especially parents and siblings

Public libraries and K–12 educators and staff

Policymakers in states, especially where 504 is in jeopardy, and local disability advocates


Secondary Audiences

Healthcare & Social Services

Doctors, rehabilitation professionals, social workers, and organizations supporting children with disabilities

Affinity Communities

Mystery book clubs, crime writers' organizations, and role-playing groups

Hyper-Local

Audiences in the Pioneer Valley and Massachusetts

Meet Oliver

A 12-year-old auteur with boundless imagination

In KIDS LIKE ME, audiences witness Oliver exuberantly embrace the role of an auteur—writing, directing, and starring in his own murder-mystery film. His creative excitement is contagious, and it is this agency that drives the film’s impact campaign.


"The Game Is Murder" - Oliver's film

A core component of the KIDS LIKE ME campaign is Oliver's suspense-mystery short film, "The Game Is Murder."

At 15-minutes, the short (parts of which appears in the documentary) is perfectly situated for pre-teen and teen audiences in schools, educational and recreational settings. It's a fun entry point to talk about accessibility in media by modeling a work created by and featuring a young person with disabilities around a story they wanted to tell. The film will also have open captions and audio descriptions so all students can access it.

"The Game is Murder" will be made available on a range of platforms open to young people so that they can find and share it in their digital spaces and communities with the notion that creativity is contagious!

Impact Theory: From Screen to Community

This campaign moves beyond passive viewing to participatory programming that transforms how children see themselves and shifts community understanding.

Community & Policy Screenings

Libraries, museums, children's hospitals, vocational rehab centers, and legislative spaces

Participatory Storytelling

TTRPGs, book clubs, and creative workshops led by creators with disabilities

Educational Resources

Toolkits, discussion guides, and family resources for educators and advocates

When young people with disabilities are empowered to create, lead, and imagine—rather than adapt—they build agency, confidence and community.

Building Community Through Shared Screening

The KIDS LIKE ME impact campaign will connect directly with spaces where children learn, play, and discover their voice. Community screenings will become spaces to amplify creators with disabilities and share tools for inclusion.

Locations for impact include:

K–12 Schools

Reaching disabled children, siblings, and peers with screenings and creative play curricula

Libraries

Hand-in-Hand partnerships with authors and disability advocates for community events

Museums

Collaboration with children's and science museums for inclusive programming

Children's Hospitals

Screenings and workshops supporting patients and families during critical moments

Capitol Hill & State House Screenings in Key States

National screening tour to raise awareness about current threats to educational access and civil rights for students with disabilities. Strategic locations to be identified in collaboration with policy partners like DREDF.

Policy Screenings

In partnership with the Disability Rights Education Defense Fund (DREDF) and other advocacy organizations, we will identify opportunities for policy screenings:

Capitol Hill

Educating the public and policymakers about current threats to disabled students with the moving of services and civil rights from the Department of Education and Office for Civil Rights to HHS and the DOJ.

Local Communities

Matchmaking screenings with local disability advocacy leaders, reaching rural, urban, and low-income districts, especially in states where Section 504 is under attack.

Participatory Storytelling

"The Game is Murder" Tabletop Role Playing Game

Developed in collaboration with Access: Horror Film Festival, this tabletop role-playing game draws inspiration from Oliver's murder-mystery film. TTRPGs (Tabletop Role Playing Games) are collaborative storytelling at their core—a fun, accessible way to connect through creative play. The game will be available as a free digital handbook and provides a compelling point of entry for pre-teens and teens.

At community events and beyond, the campaign incorporates activities that invite audiences to imagine and create stories of their own.

What is a TTRPG?

A tabletop role playing game (TTRPG) is basically a game of “make-believe” working within a set of given circumstances and dice to randomize certain outcomes (Think Dungeons and Dragons or Magic the Gathering). Another way to think of it is sitting around a table and telling a story with a group of people. TTRPGs are NOT boardgames, but they can involve dice and a rule-book or other reference materials, and are usually led by one player who keeps the story moving along.

Participatory Storytelling

Oliver's Book Club

At the center of KIDS LIKE ME is Oliver's love of books. Oliver's Book Club is a reading list curated by Oliver featuring his favorite mystery books, designed to be shared with youth librarians at public libraries. Libraries and teen centers can offer it as a standalone display, a monthly book club, or a complement to screenings with community partners.

Participatory Storytelling

Hand-in-Hand with Libraries

In partnership with authors, disability advocates, and influencer Keah Brown, this initiative spotlights storytellers with disabilities through curated author talks, readings, and live discussions. Libraries host in-person events and amplify them through social media and recorded content, inviting audiences of all ages to engage with diverse voices and lived experience.

Reach Through Communities

The KIDS LIKE ME impact campaign will connect directly with spaces where children learn, play, and discover their voices—amplifying creators with disabilities and building tools for inclusion.

K–12 Schools

Reaching disabled children, siblings, and peers with screenings and creative play curricula

Families

Parent and sibling resources fostering conversations about equity and accessibility

Children's Hospitals

Screenings and workshops supporting patients and families during critical moments

Libraries

Hand-in-Hand partnerships with authors and disability advocates for community events

Museums

Collaboration with children's and science museums for inclusive programming

Advocacy Community

Policy screenings educating legislators and supporting Section 504 advocacy

Educational Resources & Toolkits

Educational materials developed with campaign partners will offer complementary resources, information, and discussion prompts to support programming:

Discussion Guide

For general audiences attending screenings and events

Family Toolkit

Materials specifically designed for siblings and parents

Professional Toolkit

For educators, social workers and medical professionals working with disabled children and teens

Calls To Action After Watching KIDS LIKE ME

For Young People

  • Check out Oliver's film "The Game is Murder"
  • Get a group together to play “The Game is Murder” TTRPG. This can be a “one-shot” game night or an ongoing campaign
  • Start an “Oliver’s Book Club” in-person or online
  • Learn more about disabled writers, filmmakers, and creators and brainstorm your own creative project!

For Parents:

  • Access our toolkits to learn how new Federal and state policies might impact your child
  • Start a family game night to play “The Game is Murder” TTRPG together, or help your kid set up a game night with their peers
  • Use the film and our resources to make your community more equitable and accessible
  • Download our toolkits including know your rights sheets, letter templates and other materials to help you advocate for your child and get the services they need

For Professionals:

  • Download our toolkits to learn how to confront the rollbacks in rights and services for students with disabilities
  • Incorporate the work of disabled creatives into your lesson plans and school or professional environment
  • Use our accessibility inventory checklist to evaluate your school, workplace and community - what barriers exist for kids and adults with disabilities to fully participate? Organize to make your community more accessible.

Outcomes & Evaluation

The campaign will track both reach and depth of engagement. Target metrics include:

200+

Community Screenings

In Year 1 across several states

25

Library System Partnerships

Secured for programming

20

Healthcare Centers and Affinity Communities

Secured for programming

25

Policy Screenings

For legislators and advocates

10

Impact Partners

Strategic partners directly engaged with target audiences

500

TTRPG Handbooks

Distributed to communities

5K

Toolkits & Guides

Distributed to educators and families

40K

Total Audience Reached

In year 1 (in-person and digital)

Timeline

Outline for 18-month program

1

Phase 1

Jan-May, 2026

Confirm partnerships, develop TTRPG and educational toolkits & materials

2

Phase 2

June - Sept. 2026

Festival premiere, launch community screenings in select cities, launch library program, distribute educational materials

3

Phase 3

Oct. 2026- April 2027

Policy screenings, Hand-in-Hand library events, national expansion

4

Phase 4

May - June 2027

Evaluation, impact report, long-term distribution strategy

Partnerships & Team

We are in conversation with several potential and confirmed partners including

FWD-Doc

National documentary impact organization

Disability Rights Education Defense Fund (DREDF)

ReelAbilities Film Festival

Disability-focused film festival

Access: Horror Film Festival

Programming partner for TTRPG development and festival engagement

Keah Brown

Author, disability advocate, and influencer (Hand-in-Hand with Libraries)

National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD)

Inevitable Foundation

1in4 Coalition


Prospective Institutional Partners

We are seeking programming partnerships with the American Library Association and the Association of Children's museums, as well as children's museums, library systems, and children's hospitals in select cities like Austin, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and others to be determined.

We have engaged Access: Horror Film Festival as a programming partner to support festival engagement and material development.

Building a Movement

Empowering children with disabilities as creators and protagonists

The KIDS LIKE ME impact campaign brings together screenings, participatory storytelling, educational resources and policy advocacy to shift how children with disabilities see themselves and how their communities empower them. Through creative play, representation, and connection, we're building agency, confidence and lasting change.

Campaign Team and Consultants

Eliza Licht, Javier Rivera DeBruin
Red Owl Partners

Jim LeBrecht
Co-founder of FWD-Doc, Co-director of CRIP CAMP

Cynthia Lowen
Director/Producer, KIDS LIKE ME

Rosemary McDonnell-Horitas
Impact producer and disability inclusion consultant

Ariel Baska
Disability consultant and founder Access:Horror Film Festival

Jon Cohrs
Director/Producer, KIDS LIKE ME

For more information, contact:

Eliza Licht, Red Owl Partners
eliza@redowlpartners.com

Cynthia Lowen, Film Director
cynthia.lowen@gmail.com