Page moderated by Becky Curran Kekula. Americans with disabilities remain virtually invisible in the media. As NPR’s Daniel Schorr notes: “If you don’t exist in the media, for all practical purposes, you don’t exist.”
Like other marginalized diversity groups, people with disabilities want to see people representative of them on television, film and in all forms of media that has the power to shat
ter myths. Our industry creates and exports media images on large, small and personal screens, and those images impact attitudes around the world. Instead of assumptions we are excited with this opportunity to educate the industry about the accessibility and accommodation rights and needs of performers with disabilities and how to address them. Performers with disabilities want to see changes in audition and employment practices so that the results reflect the industry’s commitment to eliminate stereotyping in casting and to “more accurately portray the American Scene.”
In honor of Disability Awareness Month, in October of 2011, we hosted a successful panel titled “Redefining DisABILITY In The Media” that took place at Creative Artists Agency in Los Angeles. Our interactive panel included Robert David Hall from "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," RJ Mitte from "Breaking Bad," Danny Woodburn from “Seinfeld,” Lauren Potter from "Glee,” Teal Sherer and Kim Evey from the web series “The Guild," Chris Thornton, who wrote and stars in "Sympathy For Delicious," Rebekah and Joshua Weigel from "The Butterfly Circus," Eileen Grubba from "Hung," and Noam Dromi, who wrote "Dolphin Tale." In October 2012, we co-hosted another dynamic panel event titled “Embracing Differences in the Media” which included Robert David Hall from "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," RJ Mitte from "Breaking Bad," Mia Schaikewitz from “Push Girls,” Mark Povinelli from “Mirror, Mirror,” Tobias Forrest from “The Sessions,” Lynn Manning from Watts Village Theater Company, and Chauntal Lewis from Believe and Become. These events continue to raise awareness about improved portrayals and increased employment opportunities of professionals and talented artists with disabilities both in front of the camera and behind the scenes.
