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PACER Puppets Overview
In 1979, the PACER Puppets, a multicultural cast representing children with various disabilities, were introduced to classrooms of kindergarten through fourth graders. The puppets, each a unique work of handcrafted art, were created as an innovative teaching tool to educate children about their peers with disabilities and assist schools in efforts to implement programs of inclusion.
The puppets come to life through the puppetry techniques of trained volunteers. The COUNT ME IN shows range from 35 minutes to one hour, depending on the age of the students, and typically include scripts on blindness, deafness, spina bifida or cerebral palsy, and Down syndrome. Supplementary scripts on a variety of other disabilities have also been developed.
The goals of the COUNT ME IN project are to provide an opportunity for children to explore disabilities in a comfortable learning environment, gain acceptance of disabilities through understanding, and foster positive attitudes toward persons with disabilities.
The LET'S PREVENT ABUSE puppet project was added in 1984 because of awareness that people with disabilities are more vulnerable to maltreatment. In the LET'S PREVENT ABUSE show, which lasts about 35 minutes and is designed for children in grades 1-4, the puppets talk to students about child abuse, safety skills, and that abuse is never the child's fault.
PACER’s puppet shows are entertaining as well as educational. Children easily identify with the puppets and are able to interact with them through questions and dialogue.
PACER's site offers many PDF files for download, which require 
