Редакция журнала «Позитивные изменения» - Позитивные изменения. Том 2, № 1 (2022). Positive changes. Volume 2, Issue 1 (2022)

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

How the perception of people with Down syndrome changes after trainings, films and performances of the” InterAction Project”, whether such projects motivate viewers to some kind of action, what effect they have in general — these are the questions the study answers.

The methodology was as follows. Before watching a film or a performance the audience answered questions: what is their experience of interacting with people with Down syndrome, how do they perceive such people. After the events, the audience was asked again what they thought about what they had seen and how their attitude towards people with Down syndrome had changed. A special focus group was also formed as part of the study. Its participants took part in a discussion immediately after the performance and discussed their impressions while they were as fresh as possible.

In order to study the effect of the training, two groups were compared: participants in the training and those who had not received the training. Respondents were asked about their perceptions and perceptions of people with Down syndrome, what they had learned after the training and whether they intended to put what they had learned into practice.

The semantic differential method, introduced by Charles Osgood in 1952, was used to quantitatively study perceptions. It represents the construction of individual or group semantic spaces^[4]. The coordinates of an object in the semantic space are its scores on a set of bipolar graded semantic scales. In this case, a seven-point scale was used. The opposite poles of this scale were given by antonyms. In simple terms, participants gave their assessment from -3 to 3 to the opposite poles: "passive — active”, "kind — angry”, "unsociable — sociable”, "successful — unsuccessful”, "stupid — smart”, "peaceful — aggressive”, "sick — healthy”, "determined — undecided”, "talentless — talented”, "warm — cold”. This method was applied at all events, except for the performance.

It should be noted that the research participants were recruited from the regular audience of the” InterAction Project”, i.e. They were initially loyal to charity, NGOs and people with disabilities.

CHANGING PERCEPTIONS

Viewers of the film and performance prior to the study gave people with Down syndrome the following ratings: «active», "kind", «sociable», "warm", «peaceful» and “talented”. Respondents were also more frequently inclined to believe that people with Down syndrome are «sickly», "indecisive" and "not very intelligent". After the performance the parameter «indecisive» became less pronounced and the parameter «stupid» became more pronounced. In addition to the previously expressed qualities of «kind», "warm" and «peaceful», people with Down syndrome became more strongly associated with success. Respondents also started referring to people with Down syndrome as healthy more often and as sick less often.

Training participants strongly associated people with Down syndrome with all positive qualities. Associations with negative qualities were very weak or not expressed at all. For those who have not undergone training, the associations with negative qualities are stronger, especially often respondents characterized people with Down syndrome as "indecisive".

ATTITUDES TOWARDS PEOPLE WITH DOWN SYNDROME: BEFORE AND AFTER PARTICIPATION IN THE PROJECT

The research showed that in spite of the fact that the audience of the play, film and training is prepared — participants know quite a lot about Down's syndrome and have a very good-natured attitude to such people — the project still opens something new for them and shows people with disabilities in an unexpected way.

Participants most often described people with Down syndrome as «sunny», "wonderful", «kind» and «nice». They also emphasized that people with Down syndrome are essentially no different from other people and have the same rights and opportunities as everyone else around them. Slightly less frequently there were opinions that people with Down syndrome are very interesting, special and even have more talents than people without the diagnosis. Very rarely were there opinions that people with Down syndrome are sick, unhappy, constantly facing difficulties and injustice to themselves.

It is important to note that before watching the film or performance the audience had rather abstract, generalized ideas about people with Down syndrome. After the events, there were more responses that people with Down syndrome were very different, had potential, acting abilities, their emotions became more understandable. Here is the conclusion: by observing a person with Down syndrome in specific situations (performance) the audience becomes more interested in the life of such people and gets to know them better from a different, less stereotypical side.

44 % of respondents admitted that they became more attentive to people with Down syndrome after the performance and, in general, believe that many people's attitudes will also change after the performance.

The main revelation for the audience who watched the film "Eat an Elephant” and the performance was the extraordinary acting abilities and the palette of diverse characters and emotions shown by the mentees of the” InterAction Project” project. The behavior of people with Down syndrome on stage aroused the greatest interest in the audience, and it did not matter whether the actor was in the framework of his role or improvised. Some audience members noted that they did not always understand when an actor was acting and when he seemed to "fall out” of his role.

Despite the high praise for the acting, certain aspects of the performance seemed unsuccessful to the audience: the lighting, the sound and the story itself. Here are some of the reviews:

"That last tirade certainly killed it. Because you just take a pair of scissors and cut it out, throw it on the rubbish bin. Who does that? I thought they were going to play it up. Because if such a common to vulgar text is introduced, it's usually played up somehow. Then they introduce on purpose or something opposite to show or add something that would add new meanings to it. That wasn't there, and she talks and talks. Standing on a chair and standing".

"I liked that the performers were as honest as possible, their utmost commitment of some kind. What I didn't like, I guess, was the construction itself. The construction itself is technical, the construction of the performances. Because it is misleading".

In the discussion that followed the performance many people in the audience admitted that people with Down syndrome now seem even more --">