Representation of
DISABILITY
Resources
Additional Learning
Journalism
Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Review of Journalism - July 2020 opens in new window: Julia Simioni was the 2019-2020 newsletter editor and sales and sponsorships editor at the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Review of Journalism. Her story Show of Hand is about her personal experience with disability.
The Guardian has launched an experimental feature format called in partnership with Google and the Royal National Institute of Blind People. The result is a storytelling website called Auditorial opens in new window, created to showcase the possibilities of accessible stories for blind and low-vision audiences. This is an example of what can be done when inclusive design and thinking are at the forefront from the start.
The framers and the framed: News media and disability | Shawn Burns opens in new window: In this Ted Talk, former journalist, news director and now journalism lecturer, Shawn Burns wants the news media to think about the way it represents disability and, in so doing, help create a more inclusive society.
Representation
The GLAAD 2019/2020 Where We Are on TV report on Representation in Television opens in new window
A history of the evolution of disability on film opens in new window
Crip Camp trailer opens in new window: A ground-breaking summer camp galvanizes a group of teens with disabilities to help build a movement, forging a new path toward greater equality.
How Disfigured Villains Like "Wonder Woman's" Dr. Poison Perpetuate Stigma opens in new window: This Teen Vogue article states: “When we pigeonhole disabled characters into basic roles that are easily defined, such as sympathetic and pitiable or villainous and evil, we’re reinforcing the idea that disabled people don’t live full, meaningful lives the same way non-disabled people do. We need more media that offers a diverse perspective on disability and facial disfigurement and doesn’t just boil our vast experiences down to a plot point”.
Media Smarts: Canada's Centre for Digital and Media Literacy opens in new window looks at common portrayals of disability in media.
“They’re all the same”
Part of stereotyping is the attitude that all members of a particular group are the same, or else fall into a very small number of types. This is particularly true in the few cases where persons with a disability appear in media
(Source: Media Smarts opens in new window)
The Ford Foundation opens in new window reports on how one in four Americans live with disabilities, yet on television and in movies the fraction of disabled people represented is far smaller. When characters with disabilities are portrayed, it is often by actors who are not disabled, and the portrayals are rife with insidious misconceptions that do not reflect the reality of the lives of disabled people.
Since 1991, Nordstrom opens in new window has included disabled models in their ads and catalogues.
ASOS opens in new window recently used a model with a cochlear implant as an earring model. Refinery 29 opens in new window discusses the social media response.
Voices of Disability opens in new window features articles about disability without stereotype and stigma.
Film Dis opens in new window is a media monitoring organization advocating for authentic representation and inclusion of disabled people in front of and behind the lens.
Shutterstock opens in new window details ways to represent Mental Illness in Stock Imagery.
To deepen your understanding, return to Blackboard and complete Module 1 Assessmentsopen new window.
