Interactive storytelling, where the story is spoken or chanted, began as a way to include individuals with severe and profound learning disabilities in larger group activities, whether children at school or adults in day services. The stories are performed in call-and-response - one person calls out a line and the rest of the group respond either by calling back the same line or by calling out a pre-arranged response - and require no previous experience in drama or storytelling. They can be performed anywhere, by anyone. Various stories are explored, ranging from folktales and pantomime to poetry, the works of Charles Dickens, Shakespeare and stories from the Old Testament. Each extract details the full call-and-response for performing the story. This approach to storytelling can be used by teachers and group facilitators in a variety of settings and with any group of children or adults, irrespective of their level of disability. This hands-on manual will enable teachers, therapists, parents and anyone working with children or adults in community settings to use performance and recital to bring stories, drama and poetry to life for people of all abilities. 'This book is a useful resource...is simply written...is especially appropriate for people working with children and adults with speech, language and communication difficulties.' - Child Language Teaching and Therapy.

Cos they didn't Adam and Eve it When God said 'Oi! Apple - leave it! This innovative collection of Bible stories, written in cockney rhyming slang, is a fresh and fun approach to learning about the Bible. From Adam and Eve to the Resurrection, the book presents well-known stories in an original and accessible way for everybody to enjoy. The stories are ideal for performance or equally for personal use. They can be used as a form of interactive group storytelling, using a call-and-response method in which a line is read out and is repeated by everyone in the group. They are also very effective as a way of accessing literacy with people who may not read or write, and individuals with learning disabilities. The stories are easy to read and include translations of slang words. Through rhythm and rhyme, Bible Stories in Cockney Rhyming Slang enables everyone to access and understand stories from the Bible regardless of their level of literacy.

A practical literature resource for teachers and therapists working with children and adults with learning disabilities, this new book uses the context of Shakespeare's Macbeth to develop the skills of social cognition. The resource includes practical activities based on the play, a framework for linking skills of social cognition to the drama activities, and case studies of the work in practice with different groups. Through their understanding of the atmosphere, the story line and the language of the play, people with learning disabilities will be able to experience the pleasure and intellectual stimulation of engaging fully with a literary text. The authors explore the drama within the play and its key themes, such as the tension between trust and betrayal, the origins and consequences of desire, the nature of appearance and in particular the problem of knowing what is in another person's mind. They show how these questions are central to the process of forming a social identity, and to the understanding of a `theory of mind'. Participants are helped to develop the key skills of imitation, joint attention and the understanding of mental states. An essential resource for professionals, this book will enable them to develop social skills with people with learning disabilities in creative and effective ways, and to contribute to the move to bring literature to a wider audience.

The first book to make literature accessible to people with learning disabilities, Odyssey Now is a dramatisation of the story of Odysseus through a variety of interactive games for developing communication skills and as a means of implementing a multi-sensory approach. It is designed particularly to include people who have profound, severe or multiple learning disabilites, but it can be used or adapted for any group of adults and children who have communication problems. Suitable for use in schools, colleges, social education centres or the home, it can also be used in mixed ability groups and to promote integration between groups with special needs and non-disabled people. Each interactive game includes: suggestions for suitable music, pictures, colours and other resources to accompany the game a storyline guidelines for staff members a summary of the purpose of the game suggestions for adapting the game for people with visual impairments. Included with the games are advice on organising such a programme, suggestions for record-keeping and tips for adapting the games.