Shoot Your Mouth Off or SYMO (to those in the know), is a Community Interest Company (CIC) which promotes equity and opportunity for disabled people through the imaginative use of digital media. SYMO is Karen Sheader’s company, formed in association with Steve Carolan and Derek Mathews. It was set up five years ago, when Sheader was working for Tees Valley Arts. Initially a voluntary organisation, it has now become a social enterprise.
The company make films about the experiences of being disabled. Since they began in 2001, SYMO have made seven films, several of which have been screened widely in the UK, as well as San Francisco and Moscow. Led by a steering group, which comprises members of the disabled community, community filmmakers and artists from local arts organisations, (all who perform in the films), the enterprise decides collectively upon SYMO’s direction.
Reflecting on her activism Karen Sheader said, “SYMO was my baby, I suppose. As part of my work…I had to run a video project, but it was supposed to be a fairly dry documentary and didn’t seem very inspiring. Once we’d shaped the project into a couple of comedy-dramas which examined barriers both visible and invisible, we were away…For many years now I’ve been passionate about using different art forms to express emotions about prejudice and to let people know what it’s like to be us, through drama, comedy, music, film, poetry etc. Each new project becomes a part of who you are…”
Set up in 2001, SYMO was generously supported by Tees Valley Arts for four years. However, as their funding options changed, SYMO began planning and working towards becoming a social enterprise. The notion of becoming self-supporting is a central aim for the organisation and is part of its long-term vision and viability. This will enable SYMO to continue its excellent work in the area of filmmaking and disability services.
Speaking at a recent conference in 2005, Karen Sheader explained, “As disabled people, we would probably not have the same opportunities as non-disabled actors or filmmakers. SYMO has enabled us to work effectively in these areas, and our latest project, Killer Cure, is an extraordinarily beautiful and brutally comic portrayal of prejudice gone mad. The non-disabled filmmakers, Carpet Films, have always…assisted in whatever way has been needed… The group has acquired skills, confidence and experience as a result of being involved in SYMO.”
Now in partnership with Carpet Films, SYMO have created the “Where We Live” project – a new DVD resource developed for and by disabled people. And for those who want to help adults with learning difficulties to make important decisions about how they want to live their lives. Indeed, the DVD is one of the projects inspired by the new initiative to become self-supporting.
In a painstaking effort to produce authentic content for the DVD, the team went straight to the horse’s mouth – to hear from the people themselves about their experiences and problems. SYMO staff interviewed many within the disabled community and recorded their stories and experiences of living independently. And with the benefit of all this raw material they created scenarios (that were played by disabled actors) to illustrate the benefits and pitfalls of living independently.
According to the experts, there are various ways of consulting people with learning difficulties. Questionnaires, interviews – even games are sometimes effective in order to uncover and articulate what people want from services, from each other, and from their lives as a whole. For individuals who don’t use text-based resources, learning about the choices available to them – can present real difficulties. Too often questionnaires are decorated with well meaning but obscure clip-art, too many words and ambiguous questions, which confuse rather than clarify. Interviewers can find themselves at a loss as how to proceed, particularly when they suspect that the interviewee may simply be saying what he or she thinks is required in order to live their lives.
How can the process of consultation be made easier?
Since many people with learning difficulties watch television, most also watch DVD’s. They can navigate their way around a disc and can even talk confidently about what they have watched. This is because the medium is one that they are very familiar with, and does not use text as its primary expression.
Therefore, this new product, developed by Karen Sheader and Carpet Films (who collectively form the Shoot Your Mouth Off video artists), actively engages disabled people and their competencies through the intelligent use of digital media.
In association with Roaring Mouse Drama Group, a theatre company for adults with learning difficulties, SYMO has created a number of dramatic scenarios illustrating the different types of accommodation in the Hartlepool area.
These include the following common scenarios facing people with a disability;
1. Living with parents/carers
2. Living in supported accommodation
3. Living independently
4. Living in a residential care home
The DVD shows that not only do adults with learning difficulties have a range of choices about where and with whom they live, but that these choices have consequences. To that end, Karen Sheader and SYMO have created four positive and four negative points about each of the accommodation options.
These scenarios have been arrived at through a rigorous consultation process with people who have experienced the different types of accommodation. The selected scenes are based entirely on the factual experiences of people living with a disability. And disabled actors perform the scenes.
In the “Living Independently” scenario, a negative point is expressed by the following visual images: Rachel lives in her own flat in a complex designed for people with learning difficulties. One scenario shows Rachel gazing out of the window, looking wistfully at the silent phone, sitting and clearly feeling lonely and bored.
A positive point for “Living Independently” is expressed in this way: Rachel is shown in her living room with two friends who are drinking coffee and eating the snacks she has prepared for them. They are three friends sharing a pleasant evening in each other’s company, a situation that may not be possible if she was still living at home with her parents.
How can the DVD be used?
It is expected that care managers, social workers, accommodation service providers, parents and carers, as well as disabled people themselves will use the DVD. Most homes have DVD players, but the DVD can also be played on a laptop computer or to large numbers of people through a data projector.
The DVD format can also be used effectively within other disability-related programmes. For example: lifelong learning, employment contexts, education and training, day services and relationships. In fact, it can be used in any context, where consultation and the exploration of available options is of importance.
The cost of the DVD is £75 for Local Authorities and large service providers, £25 for small groups and organisations and £10 for individuals. The DVD can be purchased by making a cheque payable to the;
“Roaring Mouse Drama Group” 10 Brigandine Close, Seaton Carew, Hartlepool, TS 25 1ES.
If you wish to know more about SYMO, Roaring Mouse, Carpet Films or if you wish to order a copy of the DVD, please contact Karen Sheader SYMO founder:
Email: karensheader@aol.com or visit www.symo.org.uk