Don’t Hang Your Dreams in a Closet - Sing Them, Paint Them, Dance Them, Act Them…

Oct 15, 2026

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The paper examines contemporary social and cultural attitudes toward disability and how the arts can help express dreams and bring them to life. It focuses on children who need special education, attend special schools, or do not attend mainstream schools. It evaluates whether governments treat each special needs child as “a valued member of our community” and extend “every courtesy and assistance,” including after adulthood. It also asks how the wider community and government demonstrate that value.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages9

Reading Time23 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Social and cultural attitudes to disability

Government treatment and community value

Don’t hang your dreams in a closet: Sing them, paint them, dance them, act them… Martin Comte Abstract The paper challenges some of the social and cultural attitudes to disability today and ways in which The Arts can be used to express and bring our dreams to life. It highlights issues relating to children who need special education, children who attend special schools, children who, for whatever reason, do not attend mainstream schools. It questions whether governments regard each special needs child as “a valued member of our community”. Questions explored in the paper include: Do governments ensure that special needs children are extended “every courtesy and assistance”? Does the community in general regard these young people as valued members of our society? What is the attitude of government to such children when they reach adulthood? And how does government show that it values them then? Does government in fact extend every courtesy and assistance to special needs children when they reach adulthood? Keywords: disability, special needs children, special education, special schools, social and cultural attitudes to disability, arts therapy, arts education. Australian Journal of Music Education 2009:2, 58-66 About two years ago I attended a UNESCO sponsored conference on The Arts in Portugal with Bella Irlicht, Principal of Port Phillip Specialist School, and Pam Russell – two of the major forces behind this symposium. After the conference in Lisbon ended I arranged to spend a few weeks in Paris. On leaving my hotel in Lisbon for the airport I was conscious that traffic congestion was sometimes a problem, so I left very early in fear of running late for the plane. As it turned out it was a perfect run and I arrived at the airport several hours before the plane was scheduled to depart. But clearly I was not the only one afraid of missing my plane: the airport lounges, not the roads to the airport, were congested. There were people everywhere, and not enough seats. I couldn’t bear the thought of waiting for three or four hours in such a congested lounge, trying to find a seat and knowing that if I left it even fora few minutes I would lose it. So when I went to check-in I gave the lady behind the Air France counter my Qantas Club card, knowing full well that Air France, with whom I was flying, was not a Partner Airline of Qantas and that I would not be able to use the Air France lounge. Nonetheless, I thought it was worth a try. Anything was worth a try, given the crowded airport. But, as I knew would happen, the nice young lady told me that there was no reciprocal arrangement between Air This is an edited version of the Opening Address of an international symposium entitled‘Re-Imaging Special Education􀂒, delivered at Queen􀂒s Hall, Parliament House, Melbourne, on July 2􀀶, 200􀀸 . The paper is reproduced with permission and appears in a forthcoming celebratory publication of the symposium and Melbourne􀂒s Port Phillip Specialist School. 􀀵􀀸 2009, No. 2 France and Qantas for using each other’s airport lounges. I put-on my most disappointed face and for some reason it touched her because she asked me if I had any other card. I looked in my wallet and, apart from my credit card, I only had a Victorian Senior’s Card – a card that the Australiansin this audience will know is given to anyone over the age of 60 who is not in full-time employment. But I was desperate. The nice lady asked me what sort of a card it was and I said, quite truthfully, that it was a special card given by The Government of Victoria to senior people – people who are special. After all, it does look extremely official and imprinted on it are not only the words ‘The Government of Victoria’ but also the Victorian Coat of Arms. I could tell that the very nice lady behind the desk was curious. And then I read to her and myself what the card actually says: “The holder is a valued member of our community. Please extend every courtesy and assistan

FAQs

What is the paper’s core argument about disability and the arts?

The paper challenges current social and cultural attitudes toward disability and explains how the arts can express dreams and help them come to life.

Which groups of children does the paper focus on?

It addresses children who need special education, children who attend special schools, and children who do not attend mainstream schools for various reasons.

What questions does the paper ask about governments’ responsibilities?

It asks whether governments ensure special needs children are treated as “valued members of our community” and extended “every courtesy and assistance,” and whether this continues when they reach adulthood.

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by Aldword