Where Have All The Wheelchairs Gone?

As Americans get ready to celebrate National Disability Independence Day, a Texas Tech professor finds citizens with disabilities aren’t well represented in TV commercials. PitchNational Disability Independence Day is Saturday, and while awareness for disabled Americans has increased over the past several decades, television advertisers still lag behind. A Texas Tech University professor recently conducted research that reveals that while the percentage of commercials featuring people with disabilities has grown, the figure still does not accurately reflect the 20 percent of the country’s population who live with a disability. The results of the research were published in Disability Studies Quarterly. “(The results) say we are a much more modern society and we are a much more open society,” said Olan Farnall, assistant professor of advertising, “but for some reason we still don’t want to put images of disabilities in our advertising.” Read more here. ExpertOlan Farnall, assistant professor of advertising, College of Media and Communication, Texas Tech University (806) 834-1729 or [email protected]