June News – The Global Disability News NetworkRepresentation Matters: ReelAbilities Film Festival, Disney ASL Songs, New Book: Casting April, Wheelchair Skaters, and more!
The Global Disability News Network is a collaborative, accessible multimedia platform reporting news by and for the disability community. Together with our collaboration partners, we publish stories across text, audio, and video—so you can choose the format that works best for you (with transcripts and captions where available).
Dear Reader,
As disabled person living with an invisible disability, I have the weird privilege of moving through the world incognito most of the time. People don’t recognize I am disabled unless I choose to disclose it, which isn’t always a benefit. Because while I never have to tell anyone I am disabled, I am often forced to explain myself in public situations, such as when asking for a seat on the bus. If I received a cent for every time I hear, “But you don’t look disabled”, I’d be rich by now.
I am often torn between wanting to be seen for my disabled identity and hiding it, so I wouldn’t have to explain myself and face discrimination. It’s a fine line for us disabled people. For me, part of the problem is that most non-disabled people have never seen anyone with my disability, so they have never learned that not all disabilities are apparent. And this has a lot to do with the fact that people like me aren’t only invisibly disabled. For a long time, we have been simply invisible as disabled people. We haven’t been portrayed in books or represented in popular TV shows. Hence, the world did not know we existed.
By trade, I read a lot. I watch a lot of popular shows. I love pop culture – my partner always complains that I know more popular actors and their life stories rather than my local politicians, which is not true; I do know those that are important. However, it’s often disappointing to see that if – and that is a big if – disabled people are portrayed, it’s super stereotypical. And people like me aren’t even part of any shows. Many disabled people feel the same way.
So whenever I find a show, book or film that does not screw up representation, I am beyond delighted. Over the last month, we have found some really cool media highlighting disabled characters, and I wanted to dedicate this newsletter to this glimpse of hope I am currently feeling for my disabled identity and many others. I know we still have a long way to go, but here is to the awesome professionals helping me to keep going!
Karina
News Director
Urgent
Come, be a part of the ReelAbilities community: TGDN Network attended this year’s ReelAbility Summit, an annual event connecting disabled talent in the entertainment industry. We also spoke with Isaac Zablocki, founder of ReelAbilities Film Festival, about the fact that no event is ever fully accessible. According to him, there are always areas that can be improved. Read our coverage below.
Disney has just published some of their popular animated film songs as ASL versions! Some Deaf people see this as progress, while others disagree. Read or watch what Rikki, TGDNN’s Deaf Reporter, has to say about it. And also how Germany-based Deaf writer Lela remains more skeptical about it.
Text: Disney’s Illusion of Inclusion: Sign Language is Not An Add-On
Skateboard = 4 wheels, Wheelchair = 4 wheels -> Wheelchair-skating seems intuitively a great sport. However, lots of skateparks are not designed with wheelchair users in mind. David and his organization Sit’n’Skate are about to change that!
Text: Rock to Fakie, Right to Belong: Germany’s Wheelchair Skaters Claim Their Space
Text, Video, Audio: “I Wrote the Disability Story I Needed as a Child”: NYT Editor Wendy Lu on Her Novel Casting April
Do not miss the first episode of TGDN Network’s new podcast, featuring journalist and author Wendy Lu. Wendy joins co-hosts Karina Sturm and Amy Zayed to talk about her middle-grade novel Casting April, a story about a 12-year-old girl with a tracheostomy tube who fights to prove she belongs in her school play. Wendy shares why she wrote the book she wished she’d had as a child, how publishing’s challenges with the middle-grade market played into her path to Penguin Random House, and what it really means to write complex, nuanced characters with disabilities. Also, don’t miss our review of Wendy’s book!
“Inclusion, as I see it, is […] who tells the story, who shapes that story, who supports that story, who gets to access the process, who gets to see it, and who and what helps it travel.”
Karina studied journalism in Edinburgh, Scotland. With a focus on medicine, science, chronic illness, and disability, she writes academic articles for journals, feature articles, and reports for various German and American newspapers, and blogs passionately on her bilingual blog. Karina loves dogs, heavy metal, the ocean, and food from around the world.
By casting off prejudice-inducing and ableist film narratives about disability, audiences will begin to see disabled characters as unique individuals who deserve to contribute to every society. Disabled psychologist Richard Amm has devised a tool to make that happen. Called…
In this guest-hosted episode, Leah Smith sits down with Dr. Beth Haller, media scholar and co-founder of the Global Alliance for Disability in Media and Entertainment (GADIM), to talk about how news and entertainment shape public perception of disability. Beth…
Collab Story written by Karina Sturm first published at Chronic Pain Partners. What if the hero of a bestselling novel shared your (rare) disability? What if, for the first time, this representation is reflecting your lived experience? This is how…
Episode 1 of our new The Global Disability News Network video podcast features journalist and author Wendy Lu. New York Times editor and debut author Wendy Lu joins co-hosts Karina Sturm and Amy Zayed to talk about her middle-grade novel…
A collaboration between Disney and Deaf West Theatre is born The Deaf community is celebrating a special moment for National Deaf History Month, a collaboration between Disney Animation Studios and Deaf West Theatre! The collaboration is Disney Animation’s Songs in…
1 Centimetre is a podcast from the Lëtzebuerger Journal. For a duration of six months, journalists with and without disabilities have been working on a series about disabled people in the workplace. All episodes are available as audio in Luxembourgish…
