According to the Geena Davis Institute’s 2025 report, characters with disabilities account for 3.3% of roles in American television series, even though nearly 29% of the US population lives with a disability. Worse still, nearly 80% of these roles are played by able-bodied actors.
Most film and TV fans can name poignant, moving roles of the sort, sometimes recognised with awards; characters who use wheelchairs, or amputees, characters who are blind, autistic or hard of hearing.
Yet once the camera stops rolling, in most cases, there’s no visible disabilities. These portrayals are given by able-bodied actors. And this could well constitute one of Hollywood’s most persistent blind spots.
This reality is highlighted in the report “The State of Disability Representation on Television: An Analysis of Scripted TV Series From 2016 to 2023,” conducted by the Ruderman Family Foundation in collaboration with the Geena Davis Institute.
For this study, researchers focused on 350 television series in production between 2016 and 2023. The results? In series broadcast on television, only 3.3% of characters had a disability. In series available on streaming platforms, the percentage rose to 4.7%.
Just 21% of these characters were played by actors who live with a similar disability in real life. This principle, known as “authentic casting”, involves casting actors who share the same experiences as the characters they portray. However, in the vast majority of cases, this requirement for realism is not met.
And the lack of diversity doesn’t stop there. The study also reveals a worrying racial imbalance: white characters are about one and a half times more likely to be portrayed as disabled than characters of colour (4.4% vs. 3.1%).
However, another finding highlights an interesting paradox: LGBTQIA+ characters are twice as likely to be portrayed as having a disability than those who are not (8.5% vs. 3.7%).
“These findings reveal two stark realities; firstly, that the data underscores the underrepresentation of individuals with disabilities on television, despite one in four Americans having a disability, and secondly, that progress towards this goal has stagnated in recent years,” said Jay Ruderman, president of the Ruderman Family Foundation, according to Variety.
“The narratives presented on screen greatly influence societal perceptions and understanding of inclusion. We urge writers, producers, and decision-makers to take note of our recommendations and commit to authentic representation without hesitation,” Ruderman added.
According to the report, the key to reversing the trend lies not only in casting choices, but in a broader overhaul of production practices.
This would involve normalising accessibility by making film sets truly inclusive for people with and without visible disabilities.
This requires adopting inclusive design: integrating ramps, assistive technologies, and Braille signage not as exceptional features, but as an integral part of the set.
Equally crucial is ensuring that backstage areas are also accessible, so that people with disabilities can participate fully, both behind the camera and in front of it.