Developmental Disability in the movie Boys Next Door

This assignment involves watching a movie and writing a 5-page paper (NOT INCLUDING cover page and reference page) analyzing its portrayal of disability and the impact of development. The goal of this paper is to integrate and apply your knowledge of development and how disability impacts that development as portrayed in the media. You are to watch a movie “Boys Next Door” that includes a major character living with a disability or a serious health condition.

1. Provide an introduction that includes a brief description of the person with a disability or health condition whose “story” is presented. Provide a thesis that identifies the disability/disorder portrayed in the movie and, most importantly, the impact this condition has on the person’s development.

2. Prove your thesis by briefly describing the character’s disability or health condition. Apply scholarly research about the disability to detailed observations of the character as evidence, using specific examples of how the disorder is portrayed by the character.

3. Prove your thesis by describing the impact on the character’s developmental tasks. This is the most important part of the assessment and should include the following points:

a. Identify (approximately) the character’s age and life stage (young adulthood, early childhood, etc.) and provide a very brief summary of the typical physical, cognitive, social, and emotional characteristics that occur during this life stage. Include any relevant major developmental milestones in relation to the character. Santrock references will be useful here.

b. Identify at least three ways the person’s health condition or disability impacted their development with regard to physical, cognitive, social, or emotional issues. Consider treatment and any stigma as part of this analysis.

4. Prove your thesis by describing the impact of at least two cultural elements that present themselves in the movie. Identify how the setting of the movie (year, time, and place) impacts the person and his/her experience of the disability and consider whether this representation is accurate. This analysis could include specific cultural elements and beliefs, or broader factors related to geography, age, ethnicity, religion, prevalent mindsets, and political climate. Stigma and discrimination may be relevant here.

5. This paper is an assessment of your writing skills. Use third person (no “I”) and pay attention to structure, clarity, flow, and mechanics like grammar and punctuation. Use an introduction to present your thesis, and a conclusion to complete your analysis; proofread for spelling, accuracy, and cohesion.

6. This paper is not a movie review. A description of the movie is not necessary. Do not use a review or any published analysis of your movie, as it will not count as a scholarly reference.

7. APA Reference Guidelines: This paper should reference at least 4 sources in addition to your text by Santrock. This should include at least two scholarly journal articles. You may also use book chapters, and one scholarly, well-credentialed website (1 maximum) to support your statements regarding the accuracy of the portrayal of the disability in the movie. You may also cite the movie but, again, don’t count it as scholarly.

Please make sure you have corrected the references from Paper #2 for final copy.

8. Format guidelines: Paper must be typed, double spaced, with one-inch margins and with a font no less than 12 pt. Use a cover page as per APA style discussed in class, with name, page numbers, title, date, class, etc. NO running header and NO abstract needed. Just upload by due date and time.

NOTE – Course Hero and other databases will be cross referenced, including past papers from this class, and any form of plagiarism will result in a grade of zero for this paper.