Parents' Guide to

Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution

By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Docu about life-changing camp has violence, language.

Movie R 2020 106 minutes
Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

age 15+

Based on 1 parent review

age 15+

History of the ADA and so much more

Broadening our exposure to a social revolution that has received too little fanfare. Social movements are typically framed in the Rosa Parks moment, one person stands up for what they believe in because they are tired of being disrespected, but the truth requires discipline, strategies, planning, work, and a strong coalition. This film does a superb job of revealing the trajectory of a successful social movement that has reshaped society. We all owe these social revolutionaries recognition and respect.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (1):
Kids say (4):

This is a moving tribute to the triumph of the human spirit. We are introduced to a woman for whom the simple act of forming words is a monumental effort. She and others like her demonstrate not only sharp intelligence, but also an engaging sense of defiance. One recalls, "even at that young age we knew we were all being sidelined."

Crip Camp co-director Jim LeBrecht, who was born with spina bifida and is a sound designer at the Berkeley Rep theater in Berkeley, California, guides us through the building of a movement that led to sidewalk ramps in every city, wheelchair-accessible movie theaters, and the ability for kids with disabilities to go to public schools, all achieved by the grit, determination, and intelligence of people with disabilities. In the setting of that hippie-run camp, surrounded by others with similar issues, campers described feeling less self-conscious, and supportive of each other. It's easy to see how that encouragement set up so many in this group of people to band together to fight prejudice in adulthood.

Movie Details

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