Winner of the 2017 Norman Lear – Geri Jewell Lifetime Achievement Award, Media Access Awards

Fern Field and Norman Lear

Beverly Hills, Nov. 18 – Producer, director and author Fern Field was awarded the 2017 Norman Lear – Geri Jewell Lifetime Achievement Award for her 45 years of service in the entertainment industry.

Norman Lear presented Field with the award. In response, she said how humbled she was to be “receiving a lifetime achievement award form someone who is responsible for my life.

Michael Keaton joined Lear and Field onstage, recalling that he starred in a short about disabilities for Field back in 1978, A Different Approach, which was nominated for an Oscar.

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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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Long Beach Resource Guide Cover

Download PDF of Guide in English or Spanish

Long Beach, Nov. 16 – More than 20 community leaders gathered for dinner at disability-owned 4^th and Olive Wednesday night to celebrate the release of the first-ever comprehensive catalog of resources for residents of Long Beach living with disabilities. The guide was made possible by the Long Beach Community Foundation and a grant from the Knight Foundation.

The community resource list guide, which is available in both English and Spanish, is part of a larger project to increase employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities in Long Beach. Long Beach is home to more than 46,000 working-age people with disabilities, while local schools teach more than 9,000 students with disabilities. Currently, only 21 percent of Long Beach residents with disabilities have jobs in the community compared to the national average of 34 percent.

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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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