Disabled Characters in Media

[Pam]

Hi All!

Wanted to draw your attention to a few characters in the media (books, tv, movies, etc) that are also disabled. Remember, representation matters.

Toph Beifong
Avatar the Last Airbender; tv show
Toph is a character in the Last Airbender world, in which some of the population can "bend" or display a magical affinity to an element. (I cannot say enough about this show given it's Eastern mysticism, POC's, and character development, but I will keep this brief) Toph herself is an earth-bender and also happens to be blind. But she has such a strong personality that she often humorously has to remind others that she is still blind. The show never uses this as a weakness; a failing she has to "get over." She is something of a DareDevil / Matt Murdock character in that she can somewhat "see" given her talents as an earth bender, but this doesn't make her superhuman like it does Matt.(who is not on this list because of this reason)

Clint Barton / Hawkeye
Marvel Comics
- In the comics, Clint is around 80% deaf for about 20+ years. Some of the writers take this very seriously; showing him learning and using sign language, using a hearing aid, etc. This has nothing to do with his powers or how he was born. Clint lost his hearing in a fight with a bad guy. Highly recommend reading Hawkeye #19 in which the comic book medium is really used brilliantly to showcase his isolation and work with his deafness. (https://aux.avclub.com/hawkeye-19-use...)

I was very bummed to see that Clint wasn't deaf in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as played by Jeremy Renner. Come on Marvel!

Joey Lucas, played by Marlee Matin
The West Wing; TV Show
The West Wing is a fictional show about the people working for the US president. Joey Lucas, portrayed by Marlee Matin, was a pollster who was also deaf. I loved her character as she was brilliant and knew it. She was not stopped or suffered from being deaf; she was brilliant, worked hard, and wasn't afraid to tell people they were being stupid. Plus as a prime time show in the 90's her character was more than a PSA announcement; she had a repeating character that would come back to save the day.

Becky Jackson, played by Lauren Potter
Glee, a TV Show
Glee is the story of a high school glee club who sing and dance their way through high school trials. Taking on the character of Becky Jackson on Fox’s musical comedy show “Glee,” Lauren Potter was born with Down’s Syndrome and is helping to increase the awareness for people to look at an individual’s skills rather than their disability or health condition. Becky was spunky, fun loving, and a hard worker. Potter brought great energy to her character

Hiccup:
How to Train your Dragon: Book series; movies
Hiccup lost his leg while trying to tame the dragon Toothless and becomes one of the youngest members of his tribe who needs to wear a prosthetic limb. The usual foibles of dealing with prosthetic limbs occur over the 3+ movie / book series. But we never feel like that is Hiccup's hangup, nor does his family treat him differently than any other functioning member of the clan.

More Individuals:
https://www.thinkinclusive.us/disabil...

Another great resource;
https://braveintheattempt.com/2018/02...

Do you have any favorites that aren't on this list? Please also add any characters from books and their novels, too!

[Stella]

I love Toph in Avatar and Hiccup in How to Train Your Dragon (Toothless has a wing problem that Hiccup solves as his rider, so they actually work together on their disabilities)

My kids love El Deafo by Cece Bell. I think there are some other books on our shelves...I'll have to look later.

[Stella]

Other kids books besides El Deafo:
Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper
Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

Adult books:
Let's Pretend This Never Happened and
Furiously Happy both by Jenny Lawson

There are many others...I'm still searching shelves and trying to remember past library finds...