Regarding the bolded: Granted, this example doesn’t involve a human being, per se, & most of us are probably too old for this kind of show, but I still think it’s worth mentioning. In 2015, Sesame Street added a new Muppet character, Julia, who’s on the autism spectrum. She’s played by a woman whose real life daughter is on the autism spectrum. This is how she was introduced in the show, in a scene with Muppets Big Bird, Abby Cadabby, Elmo, & human character Alan, who runs Mr. Hooper’s Store now (or at least when this was originally filmed), as I remember. The clip is about 10 minutes long, but I think it’s worth watching (I watched it again before linking it); especially if you have family or other loved ones on the autism spectrum.
I was born with Spina Bifida (Open Spine) & Hydrocephalus (Water on the Brain), which were corrected shortly after birth but did leave some lasting effects. In recent years, some of those effects have, unfortunately, been worsened thanks to the untimely & unexpected failure of the shunt in my head meant to keep the Hydrocephalus in check. It is what it is, & I’m dealing with it so don’t feel badly for me about that. I really don’t care if a disabled character is played by a disabled actor/actress or not, as long as the non-disabled actor/actress isn’t glaringly awful at depicting the disability/disabilities of their character (like being caught constantly looking at the camera if they’re supposed to be blind).
