The use of certain words or phrases can express bias either intentionally or unintentionally. Especially when working on a script, it is vital to ensure you are using appropriate terminology. [continue reading…]
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These programs positively change the way Americans feel about people with disabilities; they prove that TV series and films with storylines or characters with a disability are good business. [continue reading…]
Coby Bird and Freddie Highmore of The Good Doctor
“I am so proud that I have been able to play roles of people on the spectrum but I also would love to be considered for roles that are not characters with autism.”
– Coby Bird, The Good Doctor, Speechless and The Miracle Project
Producer Dan Harmon and actor Mickey Rowe also have autism. [continue reading…]
Diana Elizabeth Jordan
“I chose to be an actor in my REAL LIFE so I could play many characters, from banker and social worker to homeless person and space alien, and tell many stories in my REEL LIFE where my disability, cerebral palsy, which mildly affects my speech and gait, is incidental to the character or storyline.”
–Diana Elizabeth Jordan, Actress, Writer, Producer and Director
CNN’s 2016 Hero of the Year Jeison Aristizábal and Speechless’
Micah Fowler and Zach Anner also have Cerebral Palsy. [continue reading…]
Long Beach, California, Feb. 22 – Los californianos con discapacidades son dramáticamente menos propensos a encontrar empleo en comparación con la población en general. Recientemente se publicó el Compendio de Estadísticas sobre Discapacidades realizado por La Universidad New Hampshire. El compendio revela una brecha de 40 puntos porcentuales en las perspectivas que existen entre las personas con y sin discapacidades. A pesar de la exitosa economía de Golden State, la cual incluye la tasa de empleo más baja en más de 40 años. Tan solo 707,791 o el 34.8% de los californianos con discapacidades tienen un empleo. Por otro lado, el 74.4% de personas sin discapacidades tienen un empleo.
Según RespectAbility, una organización nacional que lucha contra los estigmas y genera oportunidades de avances para las personas con discapacidad, California ocupa el puesto 34 en puestos de trabajo para personas con discapacidades. Incluso estados con economías más pequeñas como Minnesota y las Dakotas están en puestos más altos que California. Las estadísticas son decepcionantes ya que la tasa de desempleo de California en diciembre fue de 4.3%, la más baja vista en la historia desde 1976.
Long Beach, California, Feb. 22 – Californians with disabilities are dramatically less likely to find employment than the general population or even their counterparts in most other states. The newly released Disabilities Statistics Compendium, published by the Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire, reveals a 40 percentage-point gap in job prospects between those with disabilities and those without. Despite the Golden State’s booming economy, including the lowest unemployment rate in more than 40 years, only 701,791 – or 34.8 percent – of Californians with disabilities have jobs. The figure for people without disabilities is 74.4 percent.
According to RespectAbility, a national organization that fights stigma and advances opportunity for people with disabilities, California ranks 34th on jobs for people with disabilities. California is far lower than states with smaller economies including Minnesota and the Dakotas. Such statistics are disappointing since California’s unemployment rate in December was 4.3 percent, lower than at any time since 1976.
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.
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.
Rockville, Md., Oct. 6 – Dancing with the Stars Guilty Pleasures Night hit the screens with a bang showcasing knock-out performances by the remaining 11 couples.
Two contestants with disabilities earned high scores and top-notch reviews from the judges.
Victoria Alan, Paralympian
Paralympic swimmer Victoria Alan (Val Chmerkovski) attacked the dance floor with enthusiasm and determination as she performed a Quickstep to her guilty pleasure song Tub Thumping. Diagnosed with Transverse Myelitis and Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis as a teen, she was speechless and motionless for four years. After using a wheelchair for ten years, she began to gain feeling in her body and to walk again a year ago. She is famous for winning silver and gold medals in the London 2012 Paralympics.
Rockville, Md., Sept. 29 – Earlier this month, Season 25 of Dancing with the Stars (DWTS) premiered, bringing 13 new cast members and their pros into the spotlight.
Not only has DWTS been praised for its high viewing rates, but the show is part of a group of reality television shows leading the way in busting stigmas on disability.
A mixture of talented celebrities, athletes, entertainers, race car drivers, actors and investors such as Barbra Corcoran, Derek Fisher, Debbie Gibson and Frankie Muniz are battling to win the coveted Mirrorball Trophy.
Known for being one of ABC’s top-notch reality TV shows since 2005, it has won countless awards such as Emmy Awards and nominations for Outstanding Reality Competition Program, Outstanding Choreography and Outstanding Host on a Reality Television Program.
