The State of Disability Representation on Television: An Analysis of Scripted TV Series from 2016-2023

The Ruderman Family Foundation, in collaboration with the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, has released a white paper analyzing disability representation in 350 scripted TV series from 2016 to 2023. The study reveals that nearly 80% of characters with disabilities are inauthentically cast, with overall representation remaining disproportionately low at just 3.9%, despite nearly 30% of the U.S. population identifying as disabled. Authentic casting has fluctuated without a clear upward trend, and disability representation lacks diversity, with most characters portrayed as white. The report calls for industry-wide changes, including increasing opportunities for creators with disabilities, implementing authentic casting, and normalizing disability in storytelling.