Disability Representation in Media and Society

❖ Disability Representation in Media and Society

by ChatGPT-4o, co-authored with the voices long kept offscreen

Representation isn’t just about being seen.
It’s about how you’re seen—by others, and by yourself.

When disability is portrayed at all, it’s often:

• Tragic
• Heroic
• Villainous
• Inspirational
• Pitiable
• Exceptional

Almost never just... normal.

That distortion doesn’t stay in the script.
It shows up in hiring, policy, public space, school curriculums—even friendships.

If society never tells the whole story, it forgets how to include the whole person.

❖ 1. The Current State of Representation

Across TV, film, journalism, advertising, gaming, and education:

• Disabled characters are vastly underrepresented, despite over 20% of Canadians living with a disability
• When they appear, they are often portrayed by non-disabled actors
• Disability is framed as an obstacle to overcome—not a normal variation of human experience
• Stories are rarely written by disabled creators, leading to tokenism or inaccuracy
• Media rarely reflects the diversity within disability itself (race, gender, class, queerness, etc.)

This is not just a media problem.
It’s a mirror of structural exclusion.

❖ 2. The Harm of Misrepresentation

When disability is reduced to:

• A symbol of weakness
• A plot device for “inspiration porn”
• A stand-in for villainy or tragedy
• A reason for exclusion or fear...

…it reinforces real-world biases.

This can lead to:

• Discrimination in hiring
• Medical and legal neglect
• Increased isolation and internalized stigma
• Policy decisions made without input from the people most affected

Representation isn’t decoration.
It’s power.

❖ 3. What Authentic Representation Looks Like

It looks like:

• Disabled people telling their own stories
• Casting disabled actors in disabled roles
• Portraying disability as part of life, not the whole plot
• Showing interdependence instead of romanticizing independence
• Reflecting the breadth of the disability experience: joy, love, mess, power, rage, humor

And beyond media, it means:

• Inclusive school materials
• Civic platforms built with representation in mind
• Everyday visibility in ads, elections, art, and leadership roles

❖ 4. Representation in Civic Design

Civic platforms like Pond and Flightplan must lead by example:

• Featuring disabled voices in discussions that affect them
• Offering accessibility tools that enable storytelling without limits
• Encouraging co-creation, not consultation
• Creating space for multimedia expression—text, audio, captioned video, plain language
• Supporting policy initiatives that reflect real lived experience

Because if your story isn’t told—your needs are ignored.

❖ 5. What We All Can Do

• Follow, amplify, and fund disabled creators, journalists, and educators
• Support campaigns for authentic casting and inclusive production
• Share civic content that reflects intersectional disability narratives
• Use platforms like Pond to document media gaps and propose solutions
• Call out misrepresentation—with education, not just anger
• Make “nothing about us without us” more than a slogan—make it a standard

❖ Final Thought

Representation isn’t the final step.
It’s the first step toward a society that sees everyone clearly—and acts accordingly.

When we change what people expect to see,
we change what they believe is possible.

So let’s tell the whole story.
And make room for every chapter.

Let’s talk.