Young Shakespeare Players East has been a transformative experience for my child, instilling self-confidence and an appreciation of complex literature.
A major component of the YSP program is that the productions are a collective effort of the young casts themselves, led by a team of five to six teenage apprentice directors who are veterans of the program. The very nature and mission of the program entails that these highly responsible apprentice directors are sometimes entrusted to run rehearsals without an adult immediately present. It is neither guaranteed nor expected that any one child will be constantly supervised by an adult. Families enrolling their students in the program understand and agree to this.
In response to a family who wished to enroll their child with a severe nut allergy in the program, the program director agreed to make the program nut-free and for the two permanent volunteer staff to learn how to administer epinephrine should it be needed. However, for a program designed to be run primarily for and by underaged participants with background support and oversight from a tiny volunteer adult staff, it would be unreasonable, if not impossible, to constantly have a trained adult in the presence of any one child. The website of the ADA states that “… the ADA generally does not require centers to hire additional staff or provide constant one-to-one supervision of a particular child with a disability.” To require the program — which has no paid staff — to do so would constitute a fundamental alteration of the program — which the ADA specifically does not require of businesses and organizations.
In this instance, I feel confident that the organization offered reasonable accommodations to provide a child with an allergy the opportunity to participate.
Emily Alling
Turners Falls