MYFest2024: Representation of People with Disabilities in Media

Lobna Hassan facilitates the MYFest session held on 6 August 2024. Following the increased work to raise disability awareness, nowadays, we see many characters with disabilities in books, games, movies, and TV series. More representation is always great, or is it? In this talk, I discuss how the current ways we present disability can be counter productive rather than empowering. I discuss how some of the seemingly innocent characters we see on Netflix or in games are still advancing harmful stereotypes. We need a shift in our understanding of people with disabilities as we call for better representation. I end this talk with real life, practical examples of positive disability representations and how they help us understand ourselves and others more.