10 Special-Needs Media Moments of 2010

It was no surprise that Temple Grandin had a good night at the Emmys. The HBO biopic -- about a high-functioning woman with autism who made a career for herself in the humane slaughtering of livestock and went on to author books like Emergence: Labeled Autistic, Thinking in Pictures, and Animals in Translation -- was well-reviewed, featured strong performances from well-known actors like Claire Danes, Julia Ormond, Catherine O'Hara and David Strathairn, and came into the ceremony with 15 nominations. What couldn't have been predicted was the way that the real-life Temple Grandin shone in the spotlight, standing up in the audience in her trademark Western shirt and waving at the crowd, and later soliciting applause for her mother. It was the capper of a year in which Grandin went from someone known and admired in autism circles to a full-blown pop-culture star and, according to Time magazine, one of the 100 most influential people of the year. (As befits her day job, she was also voted into the Cowgirl Hall of Fame.)

In many ways, it was a good year for those trying to remove the slur "retard" and the diagnosis "mental retardation" from the lexicon. Rosa's Law, passed in October, changed the diagnosis to "intellectual disabilities," and Special Olympics' R-Word campaign gained more attention and pledges, including one from President Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, who was apologizing for using the R-Word himself. But Jennifer Aniston apparently never got the memo. In an August appearance on Regis and Kelly, the actress was questioned about the Harper's Bazaar photo shoot in which she impersonated Barbra Streisand, chatted about the wigs and the costumes, and added, "I play dress-up, I do it for a living, like a retard" -- gaining a big laugh from the studio audience and a lot of anger from those who don't find that word funny in the least. We're still waiting for an apology from the actress, not to mention an explanation of what dressing up for a living has to do with intellectual disabilities.

Most of the drama of Oscar night centers around the films vying for the top prizes, but the producers of Documentary Short Subject winner Music by Prudence provided a little action of their own. The documentary, about an African band made up of individuals with disabilities, was the center of a dispute as to who should get credit -- and Oscar speech time -- and director/co-producer Roger Ross Williams found his speech barged in on by producer Elinor Burkett, in a move reminiscent of the way Kanye West bulldozed Taylor Swift at the VMA awards. Music by Prudence went on to debut on HBO in May, but certainly more people saw its producers squabble than will ever see the uplifting documentary itself.

Arthur, the PBS kid's show about an aardvark and his friends, has often worked disabilities into its storylines, including asthma, peanut allergies, dyslexia, and blindness. Asperger syndrome joined the list in April through the character of Carl, who George befriends (that's George with the antlers at left, and Carl with the bunny ears). The Brain helps George understand why Carl behaves the way he does, and by the end of the episode ... well, to quote the show's theme song, "Hey! what a wonderful kind of day if we could learn to work and play and get along with each other." The live-action segment afterward focused on therapeutic horseback riding.

Selena Gomez's misfortune -- laryngitis on the July day she was due to appear on Lopez Tonight -- turned into good fortune for those hoping to raise the profile of assisted communication devices and make them seem a little more cool. When he learned that his guest would be unable to speak, Lopez arranged for DynaVox to loan her one of its V devices, and the actress used it charmingly, augmenting the emotion-neutral electronic voice with facial expressions and gestures. Afterward, she autographed the V, and DynaVox donated it to a Los Angeles children's hospital. And also, we hope, kids who use those devices at school got a lot more attention from Selena fans.

Parenthood was originally supposed to have debuted in fall of 2009, but then co-star Maura Tierney's cancer diagnosis required recasting of the part of Sarah (Lauren Graham got the part), and the show was bumped to midseason. So it was on March 2, 2010, that those of us wondering how the series would handle the plotline involving a boy with Asperger syndrome and his family got our answer. In a pilot overstuffed with plots for every member of the sprawling Braverman clan, the storyline involving the diagnosis of Max, son of the oldest Braverman sibling, with Asperger syndrome was made up of short scenes and at least one tidy resolution. But it mostly felt true and honest, perhaps because the show's writer/executive producer, Jason Katims, also has a son with Asperger's. Into its second season now, Parenthood has continued to put Max's story in the mix almost every week, as a fact of this family's life rather than the subject of a Very Special Episode. That's been refreshing -- and the performance of young Max Burkholder as Max Braverman has been a weekly delight.

Every time it seems like Glee couldn't possibly get more popular, it finds a famous guest-star or a famous song catalog and grabs more headlines and eyeballs. The show's high visibility means that more viewers than ever are seeing characters with disabilities mixed in with other high-school types, showing off their talents and personalities just like anybody else. Though there's been some controversy over the fact that Artie, a glee-club member who uses a wheelchair, is played by an actor (Kevin McHale) who does not, there are no such qualms about Lauren Potter, an actress with Down syndrome who plays a cheerleader with Down syndrome. Another actress with Down syndrome, Robin Trocki, plays the sister of cheerleading coach and resident villain Sue Sylvester. In November, the Arc gave the two actresses an Inclusion and Image Award for "breaking down barriers, increasing awareness and challenging stereotypes" through their roles on the show. Wouldn't it be great if that got as much publicity as the super-racy GQ cover some of the other cast members stripped down for?

Oprah Winfrey's contest to find someone to host a show on her OWN TV network made a star out of a very funny guy with CP, "the sexiest of the palsies." Zach Anner's audition video, in which he runs through ideas for different shows he could do before settling on a travel theme, earned him a lot of fans -- including singer John Mayer, who promoted the host-wannabe on his blog and helped him become the contest's #1 vote-getter. Zach didn't win the online contest, whether because some of his votes were ineligible or Oprah positioned someone else to win, depending on what conspiracy theories you believe. But he'll be one of ten contestants on the series Your OWN Show: Oprah's Search for the Next TV Star, debuting January 7, 2011. You can watch what his travel show might be like on YouTube.

In a refreshing change, a young actress sought help for emotional and physical issues before her life spun out of control and into the tabloids. The problems that drove Disney actress Demi Lovato to leave a Jonas Brothers tour in November and enter a treatment facility were rumored to include eating disorders and cutting, with the possible added complication of ex-boyfriend Joe Jonas bringing his new girlfriend on tour. (There's a Taylor Swift song in here somewhere, for sure.) While it's difficult to find role models for kids among under-pressure young actors and actresses, Lovato's decision to seek help can, with some careful parental conversation, help our teens and tweens understand that even famous and beautiful people have problems, that there's no shame in seeking help, and that any scary things they're keeping secret themselves are best brought out into the open and talked about. Lovato may be saving more than her own life.

Maybe we should call this a "no media moment." Because despite the overwhelming triumph of the human spirit on display, despite the athletes with stories that could fill hours of emotional up close and personal segments, despite the sheer amazingness of ice-sledge hockey or wheelchair downhill or blind skiing, NBC mostly got out of town after the Vancouver Olympics and barely bothered to recap the Paralympics that followed. Internet outlets took up the slack as best they could, but it certainly wasn't the same as the crushing sports-reporting overkill that goes along with the "mainstream" Olympics. There's been talk of holding the Paralympics at the same time as the Olympics to try to hop on a little of that publicity, and maybe that sort of inclusion is the best we can do. But just look at my gallery of shots of Paralympians in action. Give these people a spotlight already!