Authentic disability representation shapes how audiences understand inclusion, and the Geena Davis Institute’s new creator guide offers tools to help storytellers get it right. The Geena Davis Institute has launched a new creator guide designed to improve how disability is portrayed on screen. How Stories About Disability Change the World builds on our latest research, The State of Disability Representation on Television (2016–2023), which analyzed 350 scripted series and found disability remains widely underrepresented and often inaccurately depicted. Only 3.9% of TV characters have disabilities, despite one in four U.S. adults living with one, and just one in five disabled characters are authentically cast.
This lack of visibility shapes how millions understand inclusion. But when storytellers get disability right, representation shifts perceptions, influences attitudes, and opens doors to real cultural change. The new guide offers clear, actionable steps for creators — from authentic casting to avoiding ableist language — to help build stories where disabled characters are portrayed with depth, complexity, and truth. GDI How Disability Stories Chan…
The guide is now available for download and encourages creators and industry leaders to bring this research into practice and help move Hollywood toward more inclusive storytelling.