Special Ed

Stories about people who were told that they're different. Some of them were comfortable with it. Some didn't understand it. And some understood, but didn't like it. Prologue: Host Ira Glass talks with a bunch of special ed students. By and large, they thought of themselves as regular kids—until each experienced a shocking moment of revelation when they discovered that they were not the same as other kids, and that the other kids already knew that...and had known for a long time. (5 minutes) Get On The Mic: Ira interviews three of the people involved in making the documentary How's Your News?, about a team of developmentally disabled people who travel across the country doing man-on-the-street interviews. He talks to two of the developmentally disabled reporters, Susan Harrington and Joe Simon, and to the film's non-disabled director, Arthur Bradford. Songs are sung. Funny, endearing clips from the film are played. In 2009, How's Your News became a TV series on MTV. In 2010, Ron Simonsen passed away after a long battle with Leukemia. Before he died, Ronnie realized his dream of meeting — and befriending — actor Chad Everett. (19 minutes) Black Hole Son: We hear from a mother and her son. By age seven, he'd had heart failure and been diagnosed as bipolar. And then — after a period as the world's youngest Stephen Hawking fan — he got better. (15 minutes) Walkout: Veronica Chater tells the story of her developmentally disabled brother Vincent, who one day quit his job and then quit everything else, mystifying everyone in his life. Veronica is author of the memoir Waiting for the Apocalypse. (16 minutes)