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#BornThisWay

Born This Way #BTWChat

Featuring Megan Bomgaars, Born This Way cast member and owner of @Megologycom!

Hosted by Lauren Appelbaum and Cara Liebowitz of RespectAbility, this Twitter chat will take a look at ideas explored in Born This Way by the young adults with Down syndrome and their parents. Following this chat, join us in live tweeting the first episode of the second season, airing on A&E at 10/9c.

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From Nyle DiMarco to Emmy-Nominated Born this Way and Beyond: Reality TV Leading Way in Busting Stigmas on Disability

Washington, July 25 – This month, A&E’s Born This Way, a show staring people with disabilities, was nominated for three Emmy awards. The show follows seven young adults with Down syndrome as they live, work and love in Los Angeles. Previously it was chosen as one of six honorees for the 2016 Television Academy Honors, an award that recognizes television programming that inspires, informs and motivates.

Earlier, when reality television shows reduced stigmas surrounding disability, it was largely through individuals such as the super talented Nyle DiMarco, who won both America’s Top Model and Dancing with the Stars. A&E’s Born this Way, on the other hand, is fully dedicated to dissolving the stigmas surrounding disability, as cast member Megan Bomgaars’ message “Don’t Limit Me” epitomizes.

“Hey, I have a disability, and I’m OK with it,’” cast member Steven Clark said.

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Finding Dory, Speechless & Born This Way Prove Disability is Winning Theme for Hollywood

Washington, July 20 – As Hollywood executives are looking for the next big ideas for film and television, they are learning that disability is a winning theme.

Many people are writing about the fact that disability often is absent from mainstream film and television – both the depiction of and, even when a character has a disability, the actor often does not – as detailed in the recently released Ruderman White Paper on Disability in Television.

However, the box office success of Finding Dory and new TV shows such as Speechless are showing that audiences want to see strong, capable role models with disabilities.

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Born This Way Nominated for 3 Emmy Awards, Stigma Busting for People with Disabilities

Image shows smiling faces of the seven cast members with the following text at the bottom: Born This Way - new season July 26 - A&EWashington, July 14 – A&E Network’s critically acclaimed and award-winning original docuseries Born This Way’s honors keep adding up – showing that disability is a winning theme.

Born This Way was nominated for an Emmy this morning for Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program. In addition, two episodes were nominated for Outstanding Picture Editing for an Unstructured Reality Program.

Produced by Bunim/Murray Productions, the series follows a group of seven young adults with Down syndrome along with their family and friends in Southern California. During its first season, Born This Way grew across all demographics each episode, with adults 25-54 up 84 percent, adults 18-49 up 64 percent and total viewership up 67 percent by the end of the season. Recently, the series was chosen as one of six honorees for the 2016 Television Academy Honors, an award that recognizes television programming that inspires, informs and motivates.

RespectAbility has been honored to have been consulted during the creation and production of Born This Way and congratulates the entire team for its hard work in achieving this nomination.

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A&E Network to Premiere New Original Docu-Series “Born This Way”

A&E Network to Premiere New Original Docu-Series “Born This Way”

Washington, Nov. 11 – Stigmas matter —  and that they are hard to break. This week the horrible news broke that hate crimes against people with disabilities are up 41 percent in one country alone. Thus, I am delighted to share this press release below about a great new stigma-busting show about people with developmental disabilities. Earlier the creator of this show, Jonathan Murray, won an Emmy for his outstanding documentary, Autism: The Musical. He also created our first-ever public service ad, #RespectTheAbility, which starred T.J. Lavin from his MTV show THE CHALLENGE. We’ve been involved in the creation of this new show, and are very proud of the results. It is so honest and fun!

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