KIDS LIKE ME Impact Campaign
An empowering journey to reframe disability, champion young disabled creators, and build a more inclusive creative future through storytelling and community action.
The Landscape of Disability Representation
The Current Reality
Young people with disabilities remain significantly underrepresented in children's media, typically cast as side characters rather than the authors of their own stories.
1.2 %
Characters
in new TV programming for children have a disability.
0.5%
Screenwriters
indentifying as disabled were hired for screenwriting jobs in 2020
1M+
Students
rely on school-based accommodations under Section 504 or IDEA
The Need & Opportunity
Underrepresentation & Lack of Reflection
Disabled children are severely underrepresented in children's media, often relegated to minor roles.
1 in 5 characters with a disability were authentically cast by actors with the same (or similar) disability.
Access Challenges & Urgent Advocacy
Millions of students depend on accommodations like Section 504 or IDEA for public education access. Families with rare disease children often face delayed diagnoses and isolation.
At the same time, Section 504 protections are currently being challenged in states making this a particularly urgent moment for advocacy.
Benefits of Creative Play & Empowerment
Creative play and role-play boost executive function, problem-solving, and emotional regulation. Storytelling aids identity formation in early adolescence, and accessible play environments improve peer integration. Empowering disabled children to create fosters agency, confidence, and community.
The Opportunity to Transform
If we bring KIDS LIKE ME to communities with disability, schools, libraries, and policy spaces alongside participatory programming rooted in creative play, then we can shift how children with disabilities see themselves as creators and protagonists, equip families and educators with tools to foster inclusion, and strengthen advocacy for disability rights, because research demonstrates that representation, creative play, and storytelling build agency, peer connection, and community support during the critical period of adolescent identity formation.
Champion Creators
Model inclusivity in media and arts
Share Resources
Foster connection and conversations about equity
Amplify Advocacy
Support accessibility rights efforts
Why This Matters Now: Critical Period, Powerful Research
For pre-teens, challenges related to disability coincide with a critical period of identity formation. Research consistently shows creative play and storytelling build essential skills and agency during this developmental window.
Executive Function
Creative play and role-play strengthen planning, problem-solving, and self-regulation skills
Social Connection
Accessible play environments increase peer integration for disabled youth
Identity Formation
Storytelling supports self-concept development in early adolescence
Agency Building
When disabled children create and lead—not just adapt—they build confidence and community
Meet Oliver
A 12-year-old auteur with boundless imagination
In KIDS LIKE ME, audiences see 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.
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 disabled creators
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 simply adapt—they build agency, confidence, and community.
Building Community Through Shared Screening
1
Community Screenings
A community screening campaign will bring the film to spaces that promote learning and creativity—including public libraries, children's museums, science museums, children's hospitals, and vocational rehabilitation centers. Wherever possible, we will encourage tandem screenings of KIDS LIKE ME and Oliver's own film.
2
Policy Screenings
In partnership with the Disability Rights Education Defense Fund (DREDF) and other advocacy organizations, we will identify opportunities for policy screenings—both locally and on Capitol Hill—to educate policymakers and support disability advocates, with particular focus on states where Section 504 is under challenge.
Participatory Storytelling
"The Game is Murder" Tabletop RPG
Developed in collaboration with Access: Horror Film Festival, this tabletop role-playing game draws inspiration from Oliver's murder-mystery party. TTRPGs are collaborative storytelling at their core—a low-stakes, 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.
Participatory Storytelling
Oliver's Book Club
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.
How Libraries Can Use It
  • Standalone display of mystery books
  • Monthly book club programming
  • Complement to film screenings
  • Teen center reading groups
Participatory Storytelling
Hand-in-Hand with Libraries
In partnership with authors, disability advocates, and influencer Keah Brown, this initiative spotlights disabled storytellers 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 campaign will connect directly with spaces where children learn, play, and discover their voices—amplifying disabled creators 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 vocational rehab staff working with disabled children and teens
Resources designed to foster inclusion
Each toolkit provides complementary resources, information, and discussion prompts tailored to its audience—whether families navigating disability together, educators creating inclusive classrooms, or professionals supporting disabled youth.
These materials extend the impact of KIDS LIKE ME beyond the screen, equipping communities with practical tools for advocacy and connection.
Audiences
Primary Audiences
Disabled children and teens (K–12) and their non-disabled peers
Families of children with disabilities, especially parents and siblings
Public libraries and K–12 educators and staff
Secondary Audiences
Healthcare & Social Services
Rehabilitation professionals, social workers, and organizations supporting children with rare diseases
Affinity Communities
Mystery book clubs, crime writers' organizations, and role-playing groups
Hyper-Local
Audiences in the Pioneer Valley and Massachusetts
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
12
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)
Evaluation Methods
Pre/post audience surveys at screenings, partner feedback forms, toolkit download tracking, qualitative interviews with participating families and educators
Timeline
Outline for 18-month program
1
Phase 1
Jan-May, 2026
Confirm partnerships, develop TTRPG and toolkits
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
Budget
LEAD PERSONNEL & CONSULTANTS
$175,000.00
SCREENING INITIATIVES
$65,000.00
RESOURCES
$58,500.00
CREATIVE THEATRICAL
$23,000.00
FAMILY TRAVEL & HONORARIUMS
$29,400.00
PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS
$7,500.00
ADVERTISING
$10,500.00
IMPACT CAMPAIGN EVALUATION
$1,900.00
ADMINISTRATIVE
$3,250.00
SUBTOTAL: $374,050.00
5% Contingency: $18,702.50
Fiscal Sponsor Fees (US grants) 5%: $18,702.50
CAMPAIGN TOTAL: $411,455.00
Partnerships & Team
We are in conversation with several potential and confirmed partners including
FWD-Doc
National documentary impact organization
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)
Disability Rights Education Defense Fund (DREDF)
National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD)
Inevitable Foundation
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 disabled children see themselves—and how communities support 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
Disability Inclusion Consultant
Ariel Baska
Disability Consultant and Queer Horror filmmaker
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