Kids Like These (1987)
Major Character with a Disability: Alex (played by Joey McFarland, Joshua O’Neill, and Ted Polito)
Short Description
A mother educates about people with Down Syndrome like her son.
First Broadcast on CBS (US Network) on November 8, 1987
Main Cast:
Tyne Daly - Joanna Goodman Richard Crenna - Bob Goodman
Martin Balsam - Grandpa
Joey McFarland - Alex–Age 4
Joshua O’Neill - Alex–Age 5 1/2
Ted Polito - Alex–Age 8 1/2 to 9 1/2
David Kaufman - Ritchie
Amy Van Nostrand - Amy
Writer: Emily Perl Kingsley
Director: Georg Stanford Brown
Long Description
Bob and Joanna, both over 40 years old, have a baby with the Down syndrome. Their doctor advises them to give the child away, not to “waste their time” with a kid with a mental deficiency. But the parents decide to keep their son, to allow him a life with dignity and to support him as best as possible. And their devotion bears fruit… Written by Tom Zoerner {Tom.Zoerner@informatik.uni-erlangen.de}
A television movie about a mother who starts a crusade to re-educate the community to the truth about kids, like her own, who have Down’s Syndrome, a cause of mental retardation. One of the writers, Emily Perl Kingsley, is the mother of a Down’s Syndome child, and the film is based on her story.
From hollywood.com