{"id":72475,"date":"2013-02-05T11:44:29","date_gmt":"2013-02-05T11:44:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=72475"},"modified":"2013-02-05T11:44:29","modified_gmt":"2013-02-05T11:44:29","slug":"enough-tokenism-show-us-some-disabled-superheroes-for-kids-to-look-up-to","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/enough-tokenism-show-us-some-disabled-superheroes-for-kids-to-look-up-to\/","title":{"rendered":"Enough Tokenism: Show Us Some Disabled Superheroes For Kids To Look Up To"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Rachel Toal<\/a><\/span> –<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Rachel Toal<\/p><\/div>\n

Peppa Pig with a walking frame? It\u2019s International Day of Persons with Disabilities and time children\u2019s TV heroes spoke to a vital demographic of young viewers.<\/p>\n

As my daughter cheers Mike the Knight or smiles at Peppa\u2019s puddle jumping, I\u2019m reminded of a depressing reality.<\/p>\n

Despite the statistic that 6% of children are disabled in theUK, there\u2019s not so much as a hearing aid or facial disfigurement between the TV heroes so revered by young viewers.<\/p>\n

We live in largely enlightened, diversity-friendly times. Yet, although it is acceptable for a one-armed presenter to front kids\u2019 TV, a disabled cartoon star appears to be the ultimate taboo.<\/p>\n

At home, we affectionately refer to my three-year-old\u2019s walking frame as the \u2018og pog\u2019, after the bizarre three-wheeled vehicle Makka Pakka pushes in In the Night Garden<\/em>. The fact this is the nearest to her own device she has ever seen a TV character use is a sad indictment on an industry that has vowed to serve children better.<\/p>\n

The Beeb has publicly declared its intention to \u2018showcase the UK\u2019s complexity and diversity<\/a>\u2019? It could start by giving children\u2019s protagonists wheelchairs and walking frames – equipment that is grounded in reality, rather than some strange, alternate universe.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>It\u2019s about more than just inclusivity. Thankfully, we\u2019ve come a long way since disability drove the plot-line on kids\u2019 TV (who can forget Byker Grove<\/em>\u2019s PJ being hit by a paintball? \u201cDuncan, man, I\u2019m blind!\u201d). Increasingly now, disability is included as an incidental sideline, as in CBeebies\u2019 Get Well Soon<\/em>, where the wheelchair of puppet Kiwa goes unmentioned – quite rightly.<\/p>\n

There are other notable exceptions, like the excellent Something Special<\/em>, which showcases Makaton signs and celebrates children with learning disabilities. In fact, these days, you\u2019re never too far from some representation of disability on children\u2019s television – particularly the BBC.<\/p>\n

Box-ticking aside, the real virgin territory for programme-makers lies in giving special needs to actual sword-waving, spell-casting, swash-buckling superheroes. It\u2019s one thing including a disabled child in a cooking show, but creating a leading character for children to idolise, who also happens to have a disability? Now, that would be progress.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s so desperately needed. The Paralympics<\/a> went a long way to change attitudes, but certain facts remain. Only this summer, a survey by charity Scope revealed that almost half of disabled people felt that attitudes had worsened towards them in the last year<\/a>. The same research showed that 87% of those questioned believed that having disabled people in the media would have a positive effect.<\/p>\n

Not to mention those dismally frequent headlines about disability hate-crimes<\/a> that I cannot bear to even read.<\/p>\n

By denying young children disabled TV heroes at such a critical, impressionable age, the industry\u2019s not just missing a trick – it\u2019s perpetuating harmful stereotypes.<\/p>\n

In my more mundane childcare moments, I\u2019ve been known to dream up alternative plot-lines for the programmes so familiar in our house. In my version of Rastamouse<\/em>, what would make a \u2018bad ting\u2019 even better would be to replace DJ mouse Scratchy\u2019s roller skates with a motorised wheelchair.<\/p>\n

And my take on animated deep-sea adventure Octonauts<\/em> sees \u2018brave polar bear\u2019 Captain Barnacles battling a giant jellyfish by blinding it with the reflection from his walking frame.<\/p>\n

Back to reality, and a quick audit of special needs references in children\u2019s television throws up some dubious examples. Upsy Daisy\u2019s attachment to her bed might be the closest to my daughter\u2019s experience of an exhausting hormone condition, but I\u2019m guessing it was included to enhance the storyline, rather than as a reference to hypothyroidism.<\/p>\n

And if lovable \u2018village idiot\u2019 Goofy was a real person, he\u2019d be recognised as having a learning disability, yet in Disney\u2019s cartoons he\u2019s portrayed as a laughing stock.<\/p>\n

For young children, taboos don\u2019t exist. Be it a uniformity of able-bodied characters, or a diversity of disabled and non-disabled superheroes, they\u2019ll readily accept what they see on television as the norm.<\/p>\n

So unless programme-makers recognise their power to shape future minds, and start giving their stars wheelchairs or cleft lips along with their superpowers, an entire generation will be robbed of positive, realistic role models.<\/p>\n

*Rachel Toal is a freelance journalist and writer.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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