Why We Need More People With Disabilities on TV

With the 2016 Paralympic Games being the 2nd most popular Paralympics yet, it seems that mainstream exposure of those with disabilities is rising, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t some issues surrounding how people with disabilities are presented to us on television.

Here, we’re taking a look at television’s approach to disability and how it could be improved.

Year of disability

There are signs that the media and television as a whole is embracing the issue of disability, working to exposing it on a grander scale than ever before. For instance, Channel 4 launched their ‘Year of Disability’ at the start of 2016, incorporating new shows dedicated to people with disabilities of many different kinds, showing the different ways people have coped with impairment throughout their lives. And while that is a fantastic step for television to take, it isn’t a uniform approach.

Under representation

Of the 10 most popular TV shows in the 2015/2016 season, 95% of characters with disabilities were played by able-bodied actors. While it’s great that shows are committed to presenting more diversity in their characters, it shows a lack of understanding when it comes to actually involving people with those disabilities. Hollywood especially is guilty of under representation, with disabled people being one of the most underrepresented minorities when it comes to mainstream exposure.

This hints towards a deeper problem of equality within the industry itself, with disabled actors not getting the right amount of opportunity, which is then reflected on screen.

Power of television

People spend a lot of time watching television, whether they’re watching on demand on their tablets, or weekly on the TV itself. The rise of serialised television has made many shows ‘must see’ for a huge amount of people, and that naturally holds a large amount of influence on day-to-day life. There is ample opportunity to include people with genuine disabilities on-screen, and choosing not to only serves to stem the growth of widespread acceptance and knowledge of disability. Portraying disabled characters with able-bodied actors sends the wrong kind of message; disabled viewers will have less relatable figures in the mainstream, and may end up feeling stigmatised by the lack of chances given to those with impairments.

TV shows are putting more and more emphasis on fully realised, believable and relatable characters, and the only way to continue that is to include more actors with disabilities.

Promising steps

The push for more coverage of people with disabilities – from everyday people to extreme athletes – which Channel 4 seems to be spearheading is definitely a promising step in the right direction. The Paralympics, especially, works towards inspiration by showcasing a huge number of talented disabled athletes, and with the 2016 edition of the Games, there is a real opportunity for the television industry to properly appeal to the disabled members of their audience and to maintain a constant exposure in the coming years.

Channel 4 is also focusing on improving the diversity behind the scenes, offering more opportunity for disabled workers in areas such as production, which can only help improve opinion within the industry when it comes to offering jobs to disabled workers.

Diversity on screen

Diversity is important throughout all areas of the television industry, but true diversity cannot be achieved without providing opportunity to the relevant minorities. Allowing more disabled people to appear on screen, in roles not always necessarily focused on their disability, will go a long way in improving the global opinion of disability as a whole. Some people may only be aware or involved with disability through television, and if the portrayals of disability aren’t treated properly, then it can negatively impact that viewer’s perception.

Simply giving the many talented disabled actors more opportunity on a range of shows is the best way to achieve true diversity and understanding. As more young people watch more television, increased exposure will only benefit the future when it comes to acceptance, understanding and inspiration.

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