About us
Our Vision: A world where all people with disabilities are valued, included, and accepted.
Our Mission: Through the performing arts, we work collaboratively to create inclusive and transformative experiences for individuals with disabilities to fully engage in the world.
Special Gifts Theatre addresses the need for theatre arts activities and experiences for people with disabilities. SGT programs foster self-confidence, social, speech and language skills in individuals with disabilities. We work as a community to use educational and therapeutic techniques with the stage as the platform integrating creativity and fun. We provide student actors with disabilities enrichment experiences that foster confidence, creative self-expression, and self-advocacy. At SGT, the focus is on the student actor’s strengths and every aspect of the programming is adapted to fully engage each student and allow them to shine in the spotlight.
We serve 350 participants in Chicagoland every year with four individualized programs:
Musical Theatre: educational and therapeutically based program that culminates in a fully adapted musical theatre performance for youth ages 10-22.
Creativity in Motion: therapeutic movement class for children 7 and up.
Creating Outside the Lines: theatre and improv for adults.
Peer mentor: programming with disability inclusion training.
Our Core Values
- All people are creative, resourceful, and whole.
- We make a difference in the lives of everyone we touch.
- We do it one individual at a time.
- Everything is done with respect and compassion.
- We celebrate success at every turn.