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Concluding thoughts!!!

My idea in doing this series was simple at first, the goal was to argue that directors of movies and TV shows are doing a disservice to individuals with disabilities by having actors without those disabilities play those roles. After examining the cases of ten TV shows and movies, five of which have characters with Autism or Down Syndrome and five of which have characters who are wheelchair-bound, I realized the argument was not as straightforward as I had originally thought. While there are actors with these disabilities looking for TV shows and movies to star in, many of them struggle with the nature of their disability and would like to be without the disability in some sense, but the culture of actors with these disabilities is quite different. To begin I am going to examine the culture of actors with Autism and Down Syndrome. The nature of these disabilities makes it difficult to live. For actors who have these conditions, their natural state of being is often perceived to be quit...
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Blog 10: Amberley Snyder in Walk. Ride. Rodeo.

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The Netflix film Walk. Ride. Rodeo tells the story of a successful barrel racer Amberley Snyder who flips her car on the side of the highway. As a result of the accident she is left wheelchair bound and told time and time again that she will never walk or ride again in her life. Post surgery and when she is moved into recovery the goals she creates for herself, leave many and the doctors and nurses wondering if she understands the extent of her condition. Time and time again she tells the doctors, the nurses, and the physical therapists that her goals in recovery are to learn to walk again, ride again, and participate in the rodeo. At this point, she has already missed the big show that she was supposed to star in and win, yet this does not deter her from the noble goal of getting back to the head of the competition in the barrel racing competition. As Amberley goes through numerous phases of depression and anxiety in balancing her goals with her reality at last she manages to succeed....
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Joe Hughes in "The A Word"

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Joe Hughes, played by young actor Max Vento in his own little world, living out the ordinary life of a little boy struggling to connect and understand the norms of the society. Additionally dealing with his mother who will not even say he has Autism and she prefers to say that he has The A Word . The show titled The A Word written by Peter Bowker is about the challenges of parenting a young child on the Autism spectrum before an official diagnosis. The young little boy that is featured goes by Joe Hughes and has some particular behaviours that are on the line between being on the spectrum and not being on the spectrum. Upon watching the show, many viewers inquire if the actor who played Joe has autism because the performance was so convincing and well-done that it felt authentic to a majority of viewers. Upon a bit of investigation, viewers quickly learn that Max Vento is the actor who plays Joe and is not on the Autism Spectrum in real life. This is a bit shocking considering ...
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A review of Trever, wheelchair-bound character living with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy in the Netflix original "The Fundamentals of Caring

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The Fundamentals of Caring features Trever who struggles with the condition of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and is left wheelchair-bound. Since his parents have to work to support him, he is cared for by a carer named Ben who Trever is his first client. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the connection between the two characters and how their relationship develops, watch the trailer at The Fundamentals of Caring. Trever is played by actor Craig Roberts. After a review of Craig Roberts IMDb and Wikipedia page it is evident that his role as Trever did not significantly impact his personal or professional life. It is merely listed as a role his partook in, which is wonderful, yet presents a major issue for many in the disability community. In his mere act of playing the role, simply as a piece to add to his resume demonstrates how not only did he take that space away from wheel-chair bound actor, yet he did not let the role impact him. While not every able-bodied actor who ...
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Dr. Shaun Murphy portrayed by actor Freddie Highmore in "The Good Doctor"

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This image is a prime example of Dr. Shaun Murphy's savant condition in action, allowing him to vizualize the sitiation and then come up with a solution or treatment by "testing" it in his active mind. Standing near him is Dr. Aaron Glassman who serves as his superior and one of his mentors throughout the show. “The Good Doctor” is a show about Shaun Murphy, a young surgeon with autism and savant syndrome, relocates from a quiet country life to join the surgical unit at the prestigious San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital -- a move strongly supported by his mentor, Dr. Aaron Glassman. Having survived a troubled childhood, Shaun is alone in the world and unable to personally connect with those around him, but he finds his niche using his extraordinary medical skill and intuition to save lives and challenge the scepticism of his colleagues. – According to Rotten Tomatoes Dr. Shaun Murphy is played by actor Freddie Highmore. For those who recognize the name, one of the ...
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Young Actor Sophie Kim Paving the Way for Authenticity of Actors with Disabilities through her role as Amara Kim

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Amara in action supporting Noah as he faces another challenging day in middle school. She serves as a positive example of what it is like to live with a similar condition to that of her character in the show. “The Healing Powers of Dude” is an eight episode show that is a Netflix Original who focuses on Noah who suffers from Social Anxiety Disorder. Through the support of his emotional support dog Dude combined with his friends Amara and Simon he works through numerous issues in the show as he adjusts from homeschool to middle school life. While the portrayal of the accuracy of social anxiety disorder could be interesting for this show, I am going to focus on Amara who is wheelchair bound. Sophie’s role and acting in the show is extraordinary and represents a shift in perspective of working with actors with disabilities and displaying characters with disabilities on screen. Sophie was born with a disability that resulted in her being wheelchair-bound from the age of four, and whi...
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Music, a non-verbal autistic character played by Maddie Ziegler

The film Music by Sia features a character named Music who is a young, non-verbal woman with Autism. Music played by actor Maddie Ziegler does not live with the disability of non-verbal autism in real life.  Similar to the situation presented in Atypical there is an element of this invisibility disability that makes it hard for actors with this disability to take on this role. It is challenging to work with individuals with Autism in any sort of workspace, but acting requires a special set of skills. This does mean that individuals with Autism cannot be actors, but it is hard for them to work within the schedule set by directors for the making of the show because they need more breaks and time to complete the tasks required by actors. Beyond the question of the capability of actors to perform, viewers are longing for authenticity of characters with Autism on screen. The major critics of the film “Music by Sia”, claim that Mu...
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