ABSTRACT
This introduction is an autobiographical essay about Beth Haller’s connection to media and disability as a former print journalist and media and disability scholar. It weaves in information about the history of disability and media that parallels Haller’s story, as well as the influence of Disability Studies in shaping her scholarly endeavors. The introduction discusses disabled writers and editors who fueled U.S. disability rights activism in the 1990s and beyond at publications like The Disability Rag, Mainstream, and Mouth. It includes an exploration of the publications of the American Deaf community and the influence of the Deaf President Now protests in 1988. It highlights performers with disabilities such as British singer, lyricist, and comedian Michael Flanders, a wheelchair user who was one of the earliest physically disabled performers regularly seen on British television in the 1950s. In the U.S., actors with disabilities Ellen Corby, Geri Jewell, Chris Burke, and Linda Bove are considered as pioneers of American television. It discusses how the AIDS crisis in the 1980s changed stories within TV dramas and comedies.
