- Tommy Smith, Quadruple Amputee-resulting from bacterial meningitis

To me, the Disability Project means family and friends. The DP provides a comfortable, nonjudgmental environment where I am not afraid to be myself. It allows me to have fun and act with a wonderful group of people who are honest and open. To me, the DP is a community.

- Rachel Sieber, Second year occupational therapy student, Washington University School of Medicine, Program in Occupational Therapy

Working with The Disability Project gives me the opportunity to flesh out ideas that deal with poetic physical metaphors. It's a chance to sharpen my skills as a teacher and director, teaches me valuable lessons in choosing words carefully and allows me to share my creativity with a very receptive group of performers.

- Karen Werner, Choreographer

I am Thea de Luna. I've been with the group about two years. The group has meant a lot to me in its effects on my life both as stroke survivor and as tool for change. I had a cerebral hemorrhage nine years ago Christmas day, at thirty-five years of age. It has been a learning experience. I went from not being able to hold up my head in a chair and now I am much improved. Still not what I was, I’ve been able to educate myself and others about disabilities, and to maybe change for the better the living conditions and access for others.

- Thea de Luna, Stroke Survivor

Originally, it meant just an opportunity to create some theater with a woman who was nationally known in performance art circles. I wasn't necessarily attracted to or repulsed by the subject matter of the theater we would be creating, just interested in getting some acting experience. Of course, it has come to mean much more to me. It has raised my consciousness in a way that I was not aware needed raising. It has helped me to lose my fear of disability. It has made me realize that we can handle whatever God has given us. It's taught me that we can not only survive calamity but thrive as well. I hope it's made me a more sympathetic and empathetic human being. And it's given me lots of theater acting and writing experience!

- Rich Scharf

The DisAbility Project has enabled me to do what I love: performing. My younger years were filled with live theater experiences. An auto accident in 1990 put me on wheels. I rolled into my first rehearsal with the Project and felt right at home.

- Katie Rodriguez Banister, Quadriplegia

For me, the DP is a group of friends getting together for laughs and to create art--and by the way, we also promote advocacy for the disabled and create awareness and education for those not familiar with the culture of disability or those who may be disabled. The DP offers something that no other group offers: unconditional acceptance. Being with my pals in the group uplifts me, even when I'm having the worst of days. We laugh, we cry, we create awareness. I volunteered with the DP because of my love of theater...I stay with the group because of my love for what we do, who we are and what we stand for.

- Melissa Humbarger

The Disability Project has given me a chance to let down my defenses within the safety of accepting and supportive friends. Our performances give me a chance to express myself without having to struggle to find the right words. I look forward to our meetings and our performances. The Disability Project is helping me to let go of my fears and open up to others. It brings much joy into my life and has given me friends with whom I can be myself.

- Tom Allen, Epileptic and Partially Blind

Being a member of the DisAbility Project these last four years has changed my life. It has offered me the opportunity for self-expression; a creative forum in which to have my message heard. Performing tickles my sense of humor, and sparks my joy in being before an audience. Also, group members fill me socially with safety, friendship and love.

- Stuart Falk, Multiple Sclerosis

What has the disability project meant to me? Where to even begin? I'm an academic, and used to having to craft analyses and theses all day long. So instead, I'm going to indulge here in one of the first things I learned from the DP: it's ok to play with a "disability aesthetic," to not do things in the way they are always done, to not immediately synthesize and analyze. Rather, let me give you a collage of the many things the Project has brought into my life, in a fragmented, disabled, joyful jumble. And they're listed in no particular order.

*The joy of friendships with people in the St. Louis community who make me see through their passion, their integrity, and their acceptance that humanity is good and people are fierce (in the best sense of the word).

*The ability to see my own body (a body that wears size 22, and that more often than not I hate rather than love) as having in common with disabled bodies the condition of being "extraordinary." Not less, not freakish, not excessive, not transgressive...but different. And in their difference, representing a way of experiencing the world and being in the world different from the idealized norms the world insists upon.

*I've learned that disability is a culture with a rich history and a vibrant present.

*I've remembered that art, and specifically theatre, can continue to have a power for actors and performers in an age when mass media (for all its wonderful junkiness) can sometimes seem too insipid or all pervasive.

*I've learned that my own personal and academic feminism can stretch and grow, can continue to be challenged. I've learned that feminist thought doesn't just relate to issues of race, gender, age, and sexuality, but also to disability--and that it cuts across those other categories.

*I've learned that there's a whole field of scholars who do this amazing thing called "disability studies" that is an intellectual pursuit of many of the questions the disability project raises about normalcy.

*I've learned that sometimes, you can leave the words behind, and say something just as--if not more--powerful through the visuals of theatre.

- Ann Fox, Assistant Professor, Davidson College

Love, understanding, and compassion are unique to the DisAbility Project. The DisAbility Project is family to me.

- LaRoy Smith, Multiple Sclerosis

It has been a wonderful experience working with The DisAbility Project as a choreographer. In the past, I have worked exclusively with able bodied, usually trained dancers. Working with this group has allowed me to explore completely new movement vocabularies. Besides, what a terrific group of people they are. The DP always leaves me inspired.

- F. Reed Brown, Choreographer

Wow, how can I talk about the Disability Project in only one paragraph? I’ve been involved in the arts since the wee years of my life. Never have I, until I first experienced the amazing work of the DisAbility Project about two years ago, learned that anything is possible on stage. It has opened my eyes to see that even though I have a disability, it doesn’t have to be the focus on stage. When I was younger, I was known as the "girl in the wheelchair." People didn’t notice the person sitting in the chair, the little girl with a heart. I perform with people I consider family. We mix education, advocacy, and the endless possibilities of theatre.

- Alison Marie Chancellor, Cerebral Palsy since birth

When I was 19 years old, my mother convinced me to get my eyes examined. I had been complaining about not being able to see road signs at night or recognize faces from a distance. I thought, "my eyes may not be perfect, but I'm functioning just fine". But, I went anyway. They switched these lenses back and forth over each eye while I told them which one looked best. Then they made me a pair of glasses and brought them out to me. Miraculous! I put them on and looked out into the mall. Signs had individual letters on them, people's faces were up close, and everything had definition!! This vivid world had always existed, but I was blind to it. I didn't know what I was missing.

Like new lenses, my involvement with DP has given me an invaluable outlook on the world as it truly exists for a large population of people. Shouldn't we strive to know what this earthly experience is like for all people? By doing so, we expand our understanding and our very souls.

- Wendy Weight

As an Occupational Therapist, involved in the DisAbility Project since its' inception, I have always been profoundly interested in the use of meaningful activities, to engage and motivate people with disabilities to reach their full potential. The DisAbility project is just such a unique activity. In a natural and uncontrived way, it helps the participants learn to take risks and experiment more. It helps them feel good about themselves because they are doing something constructive to help change perceptions about disability.

I have observed the group, in the process of performing; gaining confidence, poise, self- assurance, and the ability to work as a team member. Participants have become less reticent, more willing to share themselves and their feelings. Performing for and interacting with large audiences has enabled them to more easily interact socially in other situations. The bonding that has occurred with the DP ensemble has helped members to form relationships with others. Learning lines and rehearsing scenes has helped those with cognitive and focusing problems. The DisAbility project is a powerful tool for enriching the lives of the participants and all disabled people as well as changing societal perceptions about disability.

- Fran Cohen, BS, MS. Retired faculty, Washington University Program in Occupational Therapy, colleague and co-founder.