Hollywood Inclusion

Fern Field and Norman Lear

Beverly Hills, Nov. 18 – Norman Lear co-founded the Media Access Awards to recognize and encourage the accurate portrayal of people with disabilities in 1979. In 2017, he had the honor of awarding fellow co-founder Fern Field with the 2017 Norman Lear – Geri Jewell Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s Media Access Awards.

Lear and Field pioneered depictions of disability; they also hired Geri Jewell for Facts of Life in 1980, the first person with a disability on a sitcom.

Lear, who received a standing ovation during the morning awards ceremony, said 2017 is the “most successful year for actors with disabilities on TV.”

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Winners of the 2017 Producers Guild of America George Sunga Award, Media Access Awards

David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman accepting their Media Access award

Beverly Hills, Nov. 18 – “I promise you,” producer David Hoberman said at the Media Access Awards, “from now on, we will look for more stories with disabilities and to cast people with disabilities in our films.”

He and Todd Lieberman, co-owners of Mandeville Films, were awarded the 2017 Producers Guild of America George Sunga Award at the Media Access Awards, which honors individuals who are showcasing the disability narrative and are doing diversity right.

They received the award for producing Stronger, which was about an amputee and Boston Marathon Bombing survivor Jeff Bauman, and Wonder, which tells the story of Auggie Pullman, a young boy with craniofacial disfigurement trying to navigate school, friends and life.

“We search for stories and we have ability to make stories that entertain but also mean something,” Lieberman said while accepting the award. “We have the responsibility to do so.”

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Stephen Chbosky and Jacob Tremblay announcing an award for David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman

Beverly Hills, Nov. 18 – When Stephen Chbosky was asked to present an award at the 2017 Media Access Awards to producers Todd Lieberman and David Hoberman on Friday, he thought it was something through the Producers Guild of America.

In an interview with RespectAbility following the awards, he expressed his surprise at the existence of the Media Access Awards – and the plethora of talent with disabilities available.

“I cannot tell you how inspired I was to be in this room today with these amazing people, these incredible talents,” he said.

He and Wonder star Jacob Tremblay presented Lieberman and Hoberman with the 2017 Producers Guild of America George Sunga Award at the Media Access Awards, which honor individuals who are showcasing the disability narrative.

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Winner of the 2017 Casting Society of America Award, Media Access Awards

Telsey & Company accepting casting award at the Media Access Awards

Beverly Hills, Nov. 18 – Called “champions of casting people with disabilities in Broadway shows and television programs” by presenter Michael Patrick King, Telsey & Company received an award for their inclusive casting at the Media Access Awards, which honors individuals who are showcasing the disability narrative and are doing diversity right.

“It’s important to include stories of inclusion for all people,” the team accepting the award said. “When we open up a script and see a story includes people with disabilities, we get really excited … because we love to explore new pools of talent and learn about new opportunities we may not have experienced.”

They casted Atypical, whose creator also was honored at the Media Access Awards, and Love You More, a show featuring nine actors with Down syndrome.

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Michael Patrick King presenting a casting award at the Media Access Awards

Beverly Hills, Nov. 18 – Emmy-winner Michael Patrick King of Sex and the City and the new disability-inclusive Love You More presented an award during the 2017 Media Access Awards, which honors individuals who are showcasing the disability narrative and are doing diversity right.

King presented the 2017 Casting Society of America Award to Telsey & Company, calling them “champions of casting people with disabilities in Broadway shows and television programs.” Telsey & Company is an award-winning organization of casting professionals in New York City and Los Angeles, with local, regional, national, and international clientele,

King has been directing, writing and producing entertainment for more than four decades. His career kicked off in 1975 when he began performing with a comedy improv troop in New York City. Since then, he has written Will and Grace, served as the showrunner for Sex and the City and has been a part of countless other television series. King is known for being the brain behind norm-bending television.

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Coby Bird and Freddie Highmore of The Good Doctor

Los Angeles, Nov. 15 – This week’s The Good Doctor tackled several important issues – the lack of high expectations for people with disabilities and the lack of training to know how to best recognize and assist people with disabilities.

In the beginning of the episode Dr. Shaun Murphy recognizes the patient Liam, played by Coby Bird, a teenage actor with autism, has autism and does not like being touched. “You’re scaring him,” he says to the paramedics. “He’s not psychotic. He’s autistic.”

Twitter user @TVAddict617 points out how important it is that he spoke up for the patient, as many medical professionals lack enough training and may mislabel a patient with a disability.

I’m so glad Shaun spoke up for this patient. Many times, a patient is severely mislabeled and mistreated by medical ppl instead of them recognizing key factors like special needs, being deaf, etc. Those docs need to open their eyes! #TheGoodDoctor

— TV Addict (@TVAddict617) November 14, 2017

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Coby Bird and Freddie Highmore of The Good Doctor

Los Angeles, Nov. 12 – On Monday, Nov. 13, Coby Bird will be a guest star on ABC’s The Good Doctor. Bird was diagnosed with autism at the age of five. At fifteen years old, he stands out in the crowd at six feet tall.

Bird plays a patient with autism who causes the main character, Dr. Shaun Murphy, to reflect on his own diagnosis of autism.

Murphy is a doctor with autism and savant spectrum played by Freddie Highmore, who is not on the spectrum. The doctor takes on the case of a patient with autism (Bird).

“You’re scaring him,” Murphy says in a preview. “He’s not psychotic; he’s autistic.”

Bird’s character, who feels comfortable with Murphy, requests him to be his surgeon. Murphy’s supervisor has yet to let him do a real surgery.

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Rockville, Md., Nov. 11 – RespectAbility congratulates GLAAD on releasing the 2017-2018 Where We Are on TV Report, which includes the only analysis of primetime scripted series regulars on broadcast networks of characters with disabilities. Largely known for tracking the number of LGBTQ characters on broadcast and cable networks, as well as streaming services, the Where We Are on TV Report also tracks racial, gender and disability inclusion on television.

The amount of regular primetime broadcast characters counted who have a disability has slightly increased to 1.8 percent, but that number still vastly underrepresents the actualities of Americans with disabilities. There are only two characters across all three platforms that are depicted has HIV-positive, a decrease of one from last year.

RespectAbility agrees with GLAAD that #RepresentationMatters. Just as GLAAD will continue to work alongside the industry to tell LGBTQ stories on screen and further the conversation through their year-round work, RespectAbility will continue to do so for full representation of people with disabilities – including those with disabilities who are LGBTQ.

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Rockville, Md., Oct. 28 – This week on This Is Us, Kevin (Justin Hartley) has a drug misuse disorder; he is living with an addiction to pills. The audience watches as Kevin is trying to recover from his knee surgery in order to ensure an immediate and speedy return to his role on the movie set. The doctor prescribes Vicodin to manage Kevin’s pain. The first fill of the prescription quickly becomes a refill and then another until finally the doctor refuses to give Kevin access to any more pills.

In this episode, the audience witnesses the effects that the misuse disorder can have on the user and his or her relationships. Kevin becomes disengaged and solely focused on finding more medication while his relationship with his girlfriend begins to spiral downward. While she is a doctor, she does not know he has become addicted.

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