All posts by Bryana Konig

Bryana Konig is from Benson, North Carolina studying for a B.S. in Communications at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. She worked on the student newspaper, The Scratchpost, at West Johnston High School. Bryana is a photographer on The University Echo. She is currently an intern for Scenic Trend and The Mary Walker Foundation. After graduation, she plans to pursue a career in photojournalism focusing on sports photography.

Disability Portrayal Within Television – by Bryana Konig

While television has included characters with disabilities, they haven’t steered away from showing them in a stereotypical light. Popular shows medical dramas like Grey’s Anatomy and Chicago Med aren’t excluded in this. In fact, after watching both of these shows, I believe they were two of the most stereotypical displays of people with disabilities. What makes these displays even worse is they are about the same across television, creating a constant image of a person with a disability needing help or playing a victimized character for the viewers. This constant image can lead to a downward spiral of how a person views someone with a disability, leading to bullying and mental health issues for the victim—in some cases even suicide. While research is limited, adults with disabilities are roughly three times more likely to commit suicide.

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