As representation grows, disability still widely underrepresented in comparison to U.S. public with disabilities Los Angeles, California, Nov. 7 – Scripted broadcast programming added nine more series regular characters with disabilities for the 2019-2020 season in comparison to last year, a new report by GLAAD found. This means that the percentage of characters with disabilities [click to continue...]
Los Angeles, California, Nov. 5 – In tonight’s episode of NBC’s New Amsterdam, one of the doctors will discover a long-kept secret regarding a patient. This patient, Elizabeth Archer, is played by actress Eileen Grubba, who has a disability and advocates for the inclusion of performers with disabilities in film and television. New Amsterdam is known for casting [click to continue...]
Los Angeles, California, Oct. 31 – “Don’t limit us to what you think we are capable of doing,” Tatiana Lee said to hundreds of Bank of America employees assembled to celebrate the power of employing people with disabilities. “We will surprise you.” Employees with disabilities and their allies gathered to recognize the value of including [click to continue...]
Los Angeles, California, Oct. 28 – Fox’s 9-1-1 is no stranger to disability representation, introducing a recurring character with a disability last season, working to normalize the inclusion of people with disabilities in all areas of society. This season continues this trend – both with promoting Gavin McHugh, who has cerebral palsy and plays Christopher Diaz to a [click to continue...]
Rockville, MD, Oct. 17 – In an unprecedented new partnership, 19 philanthropic and nonprofit organizations have joined together to present a series of free online training sessions on the nuts and bolts of how to include people with disabilities. The series and partnership comes following the recent release of “Disability in Philanthropy & Nonprofits: A [click to continue...]
At the beginning of the holiday season, Rabbi Daniel Dorsch delivered a sermon from his brand new, inclusive sanctuary at Congregation Etz Chaim. Read his entire sermon, republished with his permission, below. I met Anna (not her real name) for the first time when I was a chaplain at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York. I [click to continue...]
Los Angeles, Oct. 10 – NBC’s Perfect Harmony is, at heart, a show about saving and being saved. The show was billed as being about former Princeton University music professor Arthur Cochran (Bradley Whitford) saving an out-of-tune church choir, but the choir, led by Ginny (Anna Camp) ends up saving him back. An important subplot [click to continue...]
Los Angeles, Oct. 7 – For a highly regarded police officer, stating that you may have a learning disability may seem tough to do. But by including this as a new storyline on The Rookie, ABC primetime is highlighting a very common disability. When Officer Tim Bradford (Eric Winter) orders Lucy Chen (Melissa O’Neil) to [click to continue...]
Even though disability representation has improved, Hollywood still has work to do for full inclusion – and recognition – of disability. Los Angeles, Calif., Sept. 22 – As Hollywood celebrates Emmy season last weekend and tonight, it’s important to highlight the several nominees with disabilities. Including authentic disability in the diversity conversation is important to [click to continue...]
UPDATE: Autism: The Sequel will premiere on HBO on April 28, 2020 at 9:00 p.m. ET. Los Angeles, California, Sept. 18 – In a world where media focuses almost solely on children with Autism, Autism: The Sequel will focus on what it is like to be an autistic young adult. When Autism: The Musical was released in 2007, [click to continue...]
