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The DCMP provides services designed to support and improve the academic achievement of students with disabilities. We partner with top educational and television content creators and distributors to make media accessible and available to these students.
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Against the Odds: Beyond Thalidomide

28 minutes 3 seconds

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Videos are generally available for preview to non-members as short clips. Limited full-length titles are also available. Log In to view the full length title.

Browse Full-length Non-member Titles

Man with no arms and shorter legs uses a beach wheelchair, smiling at us with the ocean behind him at sunset.

Barry de Geest's mother was told that he would not live more than three days. Born without arms, he celebrates his fiftieth birthday and lives life to the fullest. Part of the "Against the Odds" series. Please note this title contains mature themes including discussions of suicide.

Media Details

Runtime: 28 minutes 3 seconds

Topic: Counseling and Self-Help, Health and Safety, Home and Family
Subtopic: Disabilities, Diseases and Conditions, Family Life
Grade/Interest Level: 7 - 12
Standards:

Release Year: 2017
Producer/Distributor: Films Media Group
Series: Against the Odds
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Boy lays in hospital bed with man and woman leaning over him. Man marks two points on boy's leg with hands.

Mary, a blind woman, swims the butterfly stroke in an Olympic-sized pool. Her arms are out like big wings and her head is lifted out of the water. She wears black goggles and a black swimmer's cap as water splashes up around her.

Woman stands with arms crossed in a dance studio. Group of individuals look on with their backs facing camera while one of them claps.

Two boys face each other, one pointing to the other with lips parted in mid-speech. Ladybug hangs on wall with peeling paint behind them.

Sarah, a deaf woman, leans over a kitchen table as she holds a sippy cup in her hand. Her toddler stands on a chair at the table with a bowl in front of him. They appear to be using sign language.

Man with no arms and shorter legs uses a beach wheelchair, smiling at us with the ocean behind him at sunset.

Anthea, a woman with cerebral palsy, uses a power chair next to a man who sits with his arms crossed. She looks over at him with a big smile. There are other people around in wheelchairs.

Andy, a middle aged man with Parkinson's wearing a suit and glasses, holds open a door for a young girl with a pink backpack on.

Inside of an airplane, Charlotte, an eleven-year-old girl with amputated arms just above the elbow, and an older man wearing a blue helmet and sunglasses look at us. There are several other men in the plane behind them. They are all dressed in skydiving gear and Charlotte nervously smiles at us.

Close up on Noel, a girl with spinal muscular atrophy, holding a Nikon camera up to her face.