Canadian broadcaster Accessible Media Inc. (AMI), which focuses on entertaining viewers with disabilities and informing other viewers about disabilities, commissioned its first-ever preschool series, How We Do It—and it’s open to more kids content in the future. 

How We Do it Productions produces the 27 x seven-minute live-action series, which showcases how kids with disabilities live, from how they deal with big feelings differently, to how they try out sports and even make friends. Filming has begun on the production. The series is set for a July release, and has funding from the Canada Media Fund and Creative Saskatchewan. (The series is shooting in the Canadian province.) 

This is only the broadcaster’s second kids series it’s commissioned, following its recently CSA-nominated show Collar of Duty Kids, which spotlights kids and their service animals for a kids/tweens demo. 

AMI is open to commissioning and acquiring more children’s programming, says Cara Nye, Accessible Media’s director of content development and production. A show like How We Do It is a great example of what works for its audience: a series with a strong perspective, rooted in lived experience, that can help shape kids’ views on disabilities in a positive way. 

The puppet Howie the Dog (Crispi Lord) and host Carly (Allison Lang) chat with kids. Image courtesy of How We Do It Productions.

The value of this series is that it can broaden the minds of kids who don’t share the same experiences of having a disability. “This series gives children of all abilities the chance to see that we all do things differently and that that’s not something to be uncomfortable with,” says Nye. “It’s something to be curious about, to understand and really something to celebrate.”

AMI programming is available on basic cable (it has both an English and French channel) and is broadcast in almost 10 million homes across Canada (a country that only has a population of roughly 41 million). The broadcaster also has a free streaming service for Canadians called AMI+. 

How We Do It‘s creator, Abigail Curtis, came to AMI through its apprenticeship program, which includes an opportunity to develop an idea and pitch it. Curtis (an arm amputee), along with the majority of the show’s writers and the majority of the cast, all identify as having a disability, says Adrian Dean, a producer on the series from How We Do It Productions. He’s seeking broadcasters for the series in all territories, excluding Canada. 

For broadcasters, the series’ format gives flexibility in how it’s aired. Each seven-minute episode works as a stand-alone story, or can be packaged in groups of three for a larger storyline, Dean notes. It’s also being produced with Integrated Descriptive Video, a process where the show’s dialogue and sound effects are designed to describe what’s being shown for viewers who are blind or have low vision (compared with the typical described video narration, which features a narrator that’s added in post-production, and can take away from the viewing experience). 

For buyers, the series can fill a gap for programming that teaches kids about disabilities and normalizes different experiences. “Able-bodied children have lots of questions when they see children who are different than them,” says Dean. “This show spreads the message that ‘disabled’ and ‘disability’ aren’t bad words.”