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It is not the medias responsibilty to teach children anything.
That's YOUR job and the parents job.
When I went to high school, one day we had a field trip to a home for physical and mentally disabled people. They lived there and did some wood work and stuff, too. We were all very quiet once we left and it left a strong impression on us for a while.
Seing Tom Cruise in a wheel chair or watching Rain Man won't teach children much.
The world doesn't need the media to teach false things about the disabled. It's not like everyone has a particular type of disabled person to get to know in the real world.
It is not the medias responsibilty to teach children anything.
That's YOUR job and the parents job.
When I went to high school, one day we had a field trip to a home for physical and mentally disabled people. They lived there and did some wood work and stuff, too. We were all very quiet once we left and it left a strong impression on us for a while.
Seing Tom Cruise in a wheel chair or watching Rain Man won't teach children much.
Well, not sure I totally agree.
No, television can't teach the public about all the disabilities out there. But there are plenty of scripts where their mere presence could be included, making us not more knowledgeable, but at least more aware.
It is not the medias responsibilty to teach children anything.
That's YOUR job and the parents job.
When I went to high school, one day we had a field trip to a home for physical and mentally disabled people. They lived there and did some wood work and stuff, too. We were all very quiet once we left and it left a strong impression on us for a while.
Seing Tom Cruise in a wheel chair or watching Rain Man won't teach children much.
I agree that it is the parents and the teachers that have the primary responsibility to educate our kids about the disabled, but what is the quality of that education when adults themselves have misconceptions about people who are disabled, especially those that are invisible or mental in their nature? One would only have to read some of these forums or be observant to see the prevailing notion that if it isn't visible, it doesn't exist, to the point where people accuse others on disability benefits of "faking" and have accosted people with a disability placard because "they didn't look disabled."
I am not sure how one would go about portraying a disability or illness such as these in the entertainment media. It's rather anticlimactic, since many people go out of their way IRL to look as "normal" as possible to other people. And I don't expect TV programs and movies to portray them accurately because there is an element of escapism. We watch TV and movies to get our mind off of our real-life garbage.
However I DO expect the news media to hold themselves to a certain standard when reporting a news story where someone happens to have a mental illness. Just because someone shoots up a school and has a prescription for an antidepressant doesn't mean that those of us with mental illness act out in violent ways, and it is irresponsible for the news media to imply otherwise.
No, television can't teach the public about all the disabilities out there. But there are plenty of scripts where their mere presence could be included, making us not more knowledgeable, but at least more aware.
I am not sure in what exactly I would gain knowledge by seeing a person in a wheel chair or one leg in a show or movie.
I do learn a lot from the shows with obese people though. It teaches me that it really comes from bad eating and not from an illnesses/medication because once they eat like normal people, they misteriously lose weight despite their illness.
Not sure about autism on tv - it might just teach people that there is one specific kind of autism, which sends a very wrong message.
I am not sure in what exactly I would gain knowledge by seeing a person in a wheel chair or one leg in a show or movie.
I do learn a lot from the shows with obese people though. It teaches me that it really comes from bad eating and not from an illnesses/medication because once they eat like normal people, they misteriously lose weight despite their illness.
Not sure about autism on tv - it might just teach people that there is one specific kind of autism, which sends a very wrong message.
I can think of a few examples that the media gets wrong off the top of my head...
1. OCD and OCPD are NOT the same things. In fact, true OCD is a crippling illness, and you can have it without being neat, clean, or perfectionistic, yet most people see no difference between, "I'm a little OCD," and "I have OCD." One is going to just get slightly perturbed if the room doesn't look "ready" and "balanced;" the other might spend several excruciating hours checking, performing soothing rituals, and generally interacting with their own thoughts more than with the real world.
2. People with ADHD aren't all forgetful idiots.
3. Blind people aren't stupid or helpless
4. Not all homeless people are crazy; in fact, not all "crazy" people are crazy... some people with serious mental illnesses lead relatively normal lives; you might have a bi-polar or schizophrenic person working in the cubicle next to you!
5. Even people with Downs Syndrome aren't exactly "stupid." Street smarts is something a lot of people with learning disabilities come equipped with.
6. Developmental disorders are hardly detectable in some...
I don't agree that blind people are portrayed as particularly stupid or helpless. Maybe in the past or as minor characters in comedies, but on the whole, no. The other categories ring true.
Wheelchair use in particular as depicted by the media is problematic. Because, as I admit to not knowing myself until well in adulthood, many people who perpetually or occasionally use wheelchairs don't have leg or spine problems (though the chairs can lead to leg muscle atrophy). Those people might be too heavy to walk, faint easily, have dislocating hips.... I think hips are Cherylee Houston's problem, and even though apparently she's been famous in the UK for a few years, recently some people accused her of faking it when she got up and walked a little.
Also, since I can't think of any, a long-running TV series having at least a minor non-elderly character with an invisible physical disability would be great for disability awareness.
Re sheer representation of the visibly disabled, I don't think it's that far off (though the use of visibly disabled actors in key roles is). Offline many people rarely come across others who look disabled. Maybe it's an outdated complaint, started when society was closer-knit and also wheelchairs, canes, and missing body parts more common.
Last edited by goodheathen; 08-04-2016 at 11:43 PM..
I am not sure in what exactly I would gain knowledge by seeing a person in a wheel chair or one leg in a show or movie.
...
Not sure about autism on tv - it might just teach people that there is one specific kind of autism, which sends a very wrong message.
1. Reality.
2. And I think that's where the problem is. Most shows are afraid to depict a handicapped person on their show because no matter how well they do it, they'll be in for severe criticism.
No, I don't think shows get blasted by the general public for unsatisfying depictions of disabled people. Some advocacy groups might protest, but that's like gnats on an elephant. The only complaints that seem to get public notice are about shows that cast able-bodied people to play disabled folks.
That said, I went back to this thread because I remembered a big inaccuracy in how disabled people are portrayed. For example, on shows that bust fakers. Just because someone can do chores or travel, for example, does not mean that he or she does not have many instances of inability to do basic activities without serious pain. Most disabled people do leave their homes semi-regularly.
I can think of a few examples that the media gets wrong off the top of my head...
1. OCD and OCPD are NOT the same things. In fact, true OCD is a crippling illness, and you can have it without being neat, clean, or perfectionistic, yet most people see no difference between, "I'm a little OCD," and "I have OCD." One is going to just get slightly perturbed if the room doesn't look "ready" and "balanced;" the other might spend several excruciating hours checking, performing soothing rituals, and generally interacting with their own thoughts more than with the real world.
2. People with ADHD aren't all forgetful idiots.
3. Blind people aren't stupid or helpless
4. Not all homeless people are crazy; in fact, not all "crazy" people are crazy... some people with serious mental illnesses lead relatively normal lives; you might have a bi-polar or schizophrenic person working in the cubicle next to you!
5. Even people with Downs Syndrome aren't exactly "stupid." Street smarts is something a lot of people with learning disabilities come equipped with.
6. Developmental disorders are hardly detectable in some...
This is what you learn from the media? Wow. I do not know any people with any of your mentioned disabilities other than OCD and I do not have that impression at all. I am not sure if you represent "us", the public, correctly.
For many years, I did believe that all "developmental disabilities" are easy to spot in adults. (According to Google, "developmental disorder" is a different, broader category that includes conditions like dyslexia.) I got that idea from the media.
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One is going to just get slightly perturbed if the room doesn't look "ready" and "balanced;" the other might spend several excruciating hours checking, performing soothing rituals, and generally interacting with their own thoughts more than with the real world. 
