Shining the Light on the Talents of people with disabilities Media Access Awards with Easterseals

During the month of December, I had the pleasure to watch the 2023 Media Access Awards presented by Easterseals.

The program was great! To my knowledge, this is the first time there has ever been such a program that specifically honored the talent of people with disabilities in a positive light for being in the media business.

I knew the awards program was going to be great when first learning Academy Award Winning Actress, Marlee Matiln, and Academy Award Winning Actor, Troy Kotsur, who are both deaf, were going to be hosting the program. The best way to promote inclusion is by letting people with disabilities take the lead and that’s what Marlee and Troy did.

The talented tap dancer, Evan Ruggiero and the amazing, beautiful talented actress, Lauren (Lolo) Spencer were just a few recognized. I was so in aww of the award recipients’ star power. I was also kind of sadden for there were a few I didn’t know, which got me thinking, how many others didn’t know about the amazing recipients? It also had me wondering, what if a program like this was never created, how many others would never know of these great talented people?

It really warmed my heart to hear how recipient and television personality, Simon Cowell, talked about advocating for people with disabilities.  He spoke about how and why individuals with disabilities should be included in various television talent competitions. I also loved hearing how the producer of the television drama, Amsterdam, spoke about purposely seeking out actors and actresses with disabilities to be cast in the show.

The whole program was amazing, but what really warmed my heart was how most of the recipients agreed, that although this was great, the need for such a program shouldn’t even exist for media inclusion. It should just be of the norm.

Ponder this thought for a minute; why does most everything pertaining to people with disabilities have to be a separate circuit than everyone else? I know we may require certain accommodations to make things happen, but once we get them, we’re good to go.

People with disabilities working in the media business didn’t just fall into it. Instead, they’ve worked hard to achieve this goal and that’s it and that’s all.

As the world turns, it’s my hope to see more people with disabilities in the media business and receiving Emmys, Golden Globes, Grammys, and Oscars.

There’s no doubt the talent of people with disabilities are there, we just need people to open their eyes and see them. Start here with the Media Access Awards with Easterseals. It is a good watch that I highly recommend. Watch 2023 Media Access Awards with Easterseals | 2023 Media Access Awards with Easterseals Season 2023 | PBS SoCal