Designing for Digital Justice by Megan Shaw

Authentic Disability Portrayal

Reflecting upon my adolescent consumption of media, I am sad to report that the only show I remember there being disabled characters in was “Glee.” One of the main characters in the Glee Club was an individual in a wheelchair who participated wholeheartedly in every musical number performed. After reading “The Difference Disability Makes,” I became curious about whether this was an authentic portrayal of a disability or an example of “Cripping up,” (Sandal, 2019). It turns out that this character was portrayed by a non-disabled actor. How many other roles from my adolescence were like this? It is the depiction of disabled characters by non-disabled actors that can create unfair stereotypes. How does a non-disabled person know the mannerisms, emotions, etc. of a disabled person? These assumptions on how to act like a “disabled person,” are what perpetuate the idea that disabled individuals are lesser than others (Sandal, 2019).  

I decided to go further down the rabbit hole to find current children’s television shows that included authentic portrayals of individuals with disabilities. The first one that came to mind was “Sesame Street,” and the addition of the autistic character “Julia.” Although Julia is a puppet, she is portrayed by the mother of an autistic child (The Art of Autism, 2017). Stacey Gordon, the puppeteer and mother, states that “her experience with her own child gives a passion for making Julia a credible addition to the Sesame Street gang,” (The Art of Autism, 2017). That being said, I still wanted to find an authentic portrayal where an individual with disabilities actually depicted the character. This search led me to the animated children’s television show “The Casagrandes,” which includes a character with Down Syndrome. Carlos Junior is portrayed by Jared Kozak an actor with Down Syndrome who has also acted in several other projects. This depiction of a character with a disability by an actor with the same disability gave me a small sliver of hope for the future. Perhaps, we will see more disabled actors portraying more authentic roles in the future.

United Nations Development Programme 2023 

Authentic portrayal of disabled characters is one way to create more inclusive environments, but I wanted to find other suggestions for how to further this idea. In 2023 the United Nations Development Programme created the Disability in Media Guidelines. The goal of these guidelines was to eliminate stereotypes from media created content. The factor that I appreciate the most about these guidelines is that they were created in consultation with Oscar Rice, an individual with disabilities who is also a disability activist (United Nations Disability Programme, 2023). Rice has made several recommendations for the Disability in Media Guidelines that I have included below (United Nations Disability Programme, 2023): 

• People with disabilities should be consulted before anything is created for the media 
• People with disabilities should be portrayed authentically 
• Use of correct language when discussing people with disabilities 

My Own Reflections for Teaching

After reading these guidelines, I wanted to create a list of ways that I can be cognizant of disability awareness within my own teaching context. For background information, the school that I teach in is for students with learning disabilities in reading, writing, math and for those with ADHD. Moving forward, these are the guidelines that I will be considering for my own teaching context: 

• Resources on disabilities should come from authentic platforms  
• Guests should be invited into the classroom who will present information authentically and/or have a lived experience 
• Research the correct language that should be used and be mindful of using it in the classroom 

I’m interested to learn how your perceptions of media have changed after completing this module! How do you think these new perceptions will impact your own classrooms?  

 

References 

Sandal, C. (2019). The difference disability makes: Unique considerations in casting performers with disabilities. In Claire, S., & Daniel, B. (Eds.), Casting a Movement: The Welcome Table Initiative (pp. 88-99). Routledge. 

The Art of Autism. (2017, March 20). Sesame street’s autistic puppet julia makes television debut. https://the-art-of-autism.com/sesame-streets-autistic-puppet-julia-makes-television-debut/ 

United Nations Disability Programme. (2023, December 12). Disability representation in the media: Heard voices. https://www.undp.org/kyrgyzstan/blog/disability-representation-media-heard-voices