Studies Suggest That Inaccurate Television Portrayals of Disabilities and Deafness Have Powerful Influence on Public Perception of These People and Their Cultures

• Uneducated Depictions of Disability on Television Contribute to Perpetuation of Societal Stigmas
• Rise in Number of Deaf Actors Playing Main Characters on Television Sheds Light on Growing Tolerance of Deaf Culture
• Educating Oneself on Deaf Culture Reduces Media's Ability to Manipulate Individual Perception with Misinformation
• Television Plays Large Role in Shaping and Reshaping Public Perception of Deaf Culture

The portrayal of disabilities on television is immensely influential of public perception. Whether the disability being portrayed is physically visible/invisible or mental, the perception of the public is altered both directly and indirectly by the way they are depicted. One commonly misrepresented population is the Deaf community. Unrealistic and offensive portrayals of deafness on television are perpetuating stigmas that the Deaf community is constantly trying to break.

Uneducated Depictions of Disabilities on Television Perpetuate Common Misperceptions and Stereotypes

The most common depictions of disabilities on television tend to be highly inaccurate, perpetuating stigmas and negative stereotypes. These portrayals plant false information in the minds of television viewers, ultimately misinforming the general public about people with disabilities.

Dr. Leone, a professor within the Special Education Program at the University of Maryland, comments on how people with disabilities are typically portrayed on television.



The two most popular portrayals are referred to as the "Super-Crip" and "Object of Pity", as Leone states. The "Super-Crip" portrays people with disabilities as abnormally heroic and super-human, whereas the "Object of Pity" plays on the prejudice emotions of the audience, causing them to look down on those with disabilities as incapable of doing anything. 

People with disabilities want to be depicted as ordinary people who are not defined by their disability. These common stereotypes generally influence the audience to feel uncomfortable around disabled people, or behave inappropriately toward them.

A commonly disputed topic is the portrayal of deafness on television. Deaf people have their own culture and community that define deafness as more than a medical disability. This is commonly misrepresented on television as a result of ignorance to the culture.

Research Study Suggests Increase in Recognition of Deafness on Television as Deaf Character Roles Shift From Irrelevant to Important/Main Characters

Deafness has been, and still is commonly viewed as a disability by a large percentage of the hearing population. There are many factors that contribute to the stigmatization of deafness as a disability, television being an undeniable factor.

Television portrays deafness and Deaf culture both positively and negatively, but does not attempt to break false stereotypes. It is important to gain background knowledge on Deaf culture to avoid being misinformed by the media. Deaf people do not view their deafness as a disability, but rather a cultural identity. They view it as something to take pride in, not a trait that makes them deficient. 

Deaf people are commonly stigmatized as less capable, easy targets, and are often portrayed as the "victim" on television. Due to a lack of knowledge of the Deaf culture as a whole, the portrayal of deafness on television can easily influence the public to believe things about Deaf culture that are utterly untrue. 

A 2014 study investigated the portrayals of the deaf on television and examined how they have changed throughout the years of 1987 to 2013. Researchers gathered data from 40 different programs that featured at least one deaf character. Several categorical factors were observed.

In analyzing the study, my attention was focused on the distribution of the type of deaf characters portrayed on television from each decade to analyze whether the portrayal of deaf people has holistically changed over 26 years.

I grouped all of the characters from the study into four different categories: Positively portrayed characters, Negatively portrayed characters, Main characters, and Neutral Characters. I categorized the show where best fit based on whether the character carried a positive, negative, or neutral connotation for the Deaf community. Main characters did not describe the connotation associated (only a name was given), therefore I grouped them separately. This being said, a deaf person as a main character says a lot about how perception of deafness has evolved.

This graph compares the different roles in the 1990s decade versus the 2010s decade (for the samples given in the study).

The number of positive portrayals has decreased while negative portrayals has increased. This could be due to the fact that because deaf people are given more recognition in shows, there is more opportunity for this recognition to be more negative. When they played neutral/irrelevant characters, not as much attention and consideration was drawn to them. 

According to the study findings, as time has passed, more deaf people are being acknowledged and given less neutral/irrelevant roles. Even a negative role suggests some improvement because it acknowledges the deaf as capable of playing parts that are more relevant and pertinent to the storyline than an insignificant extra such as "Tom's neighbor" or "Susie's mom".

Professor Dunham, American Sign Language professor at the University of Maryland, comments on how he personally feels the portrayal of deafness has changed over the years.



The growing spotlight on Deaf culture and recognition of the Deaf as a community is sculpting and altering public perception of deafness from viewing it as a disability or deficiency to an appreciated culture.

Overall, the portrayal of the deaf on television according to this sample is slowly improving in terms of representing the deaf as ordinary people. Tolerance is rising, however the depictions are still below adequate in terms of accurately portraying the Deaf community. In order to destigmatize deafness as a disability, it is important to continue portraying the culture of deafness on television in an accurate manner, and educating the hearing population about Deaf culture.

Social Media Survey Suggests That Lack of Knowledge Results in Greater Susceptibility to Media Manipulation of Public Perception

I completed my own research survey to determine how the public feels about the accuracy of the portrayal of deafness on television. I provided a voluntary survey on my Facebook network, where I received 104 total responses.

• 50.5% of sample classifies themselves as having no long-term exposure to Deaf culture
• 56.2% of sample classifies deafness as a disability
• 89.5% believe Deaf people have their own culture
• 58.1% believe that the portrayal of deafness on television has become more accurate over time

I focused my attention on comparing each person's amount of exposure to Deaf culture (if any) to how accurate they feel Deaf culture is portrayed on television. This shows how lack of prior knowledge about Deaf culture can affect feelings of accuracy.

I analyzed how people with little to no exposure to Deaf culture feel about the accuracy of the portrayal of deafness on television, my findings are graphed to the left.

Comparing this graph to responses from people who have had consistent exposure to the Deaf culture, I found a significant difference in feelings of accuracy of Deaf culture portrayal on television. The majority of people who had consistent exposure stated that the portrayals of Deaf culture on television are mostly inaccurate, whereas this sample thinks the portrayals are primarily "somewhat accurate".

I asked my surveyed volunteers whether they could name any specific show(s) they have seen or heard about with positive or negative portrayals of Deaf culture. Of the 104 people, 32 people listed Switched at Birth as a show with a strong influence. Interestingly enough, it was listed by my sample both positively and negatively for the Deaf community.

Study on Switched at Birth Proposes that Television Plays Large Role in Reshaping Audience Perceptions of Deaf Culture

According to a study on the recent hit ABC television show Switched at Birth, television plays a large role in altering the perceptions and views of its audience. The goal of this study was to measure how watching this show influences a sample's perception of deafness.

The group took a pre-test before watching the television show, answering questions about common topics concerning deafness. The sample then watched three different Switched at Birth episodes, and took another questionnaire. The results were then compared.

After three episodes of Switched at Birth, which promotes Deaf culture in many ways, subjects' perceptions of the deaf altered significantly, viewing deafness in whole as a cultural identity more than a disability. This is just one of many examples that exemplifies how vastly influential television can be in shaping the perceptions of its audience.

Deaf people are often portrayed as being able to easily read lips and understand the speaker perfectly on television. A viewer with no prior knowledge of Deaf culture may be easily influenced and assume that every deaf person reads lips. Although this would be ideal in terms of easy communication, it is a commonly portrayed misconception about the Deaf community. Reading lips is very rare among the deaf, and is also astoundingly difficult.

It is important that Deaf culture continues to be represented more accurately and often on television to eliminate these deceptive stereotypes.

Deaf and Disability Communities Seek Accurate Television Portrayals to Eliminate Stigma From Society

The portrayal of deafness and disabilities in general are becoming more accurate, but there is still a great deal of work to be done. The portrayal of the cultures of these populations must be improved with strong emphasis on the idea that they are ordinary people who are not to be defined by their disability. Until the media steps away from dramatization and focuses on destigmatization, our society will remain uneducated about the truth of these cultures and individuals.