TV & Web Shows

“This is our world and we want to share it with you!”

    Docu-soap The Specials, broadcasts weekly shows online, following five young people with a learning disability who have been friends since childhood. They now share a house in Brighton, and the series aims to give an accurate insight into what it’s like being a young person with a learning disability. 

    The show is the brainchild of TV producer and director Katy Lock. Originally commissioned by a major broadcaster to make a pilot show, Katy continued to fund the series after the broadcaster backed out. She feels the show is capable of bringing an understanding of learning disability to a wider audience: “I’ve loved working on this project as the housemates were a dream to film – they were so open and were always up to something. I think people will find this series hugely entertaining, and see that programmes about people with a learning disability can have mainstream appeal.” 

    Carol and Daffyd Williams, parents of Hilly, set up the house so that their daughter and other people with a learning disability could choose their own housemates. “A lot of documentaries about people with a learning disability tend to be quite negative,” said Daffyd. “The series will show that it is possible for people with a learning disability to live with their friends, have a job and be part of their community.” 

    Each episode of The Specials is around ten minutes long and is narrated by a different housemate each week – with the effect that the viewer sees the world through the young people’s eyes. The website will also include forums and a blog from the housemates. “We want people to watch the series and think it’s brilliant and funny,” says Sam, the self-confessed ladies man of the house. “I think it’s much better than Big Brother.”

Learn How to Adult

https://www.youtube.com/user/learnhowtoadult