Michael Arden Quotes

I would love to switch on my TV and see a disabled person talking about something they are genuinely interested in or acting out a part that doesn't just focus on their impairment.

I think one in five Americans has a disability of some sort. That's 20% of the population, and yet we rarely ever see people with disabilities on-screen, and their stories and their resilience and their zest for life and their humor and their humanity.

It's really important to remember that disability is diversity, and that disabled actors and disabilities are something that is hugely under-represented in film.

If you support diversity and think shows should give a portrayal of what America truly looks like, then performers with disabilities must be included in that equation...People have been very good at being politically correct.

There's a wide variety of diversity, with people that have disabilities from R.J. Mitte in 'Breaking Bad' to Danny Woodburn being a little man.

People with disabilities are simply part of diverse communities in the U.S.

My life goal is to see the world's one billion people with disabilities embraced and encouraged by the church.

I played a paraplegic on a show called 'Neighbours.' Just turned up on set, sat in a wheelchair. The producer came up to me one day and said, 'We have to cut around that entire scene because your leg was moving.'

I'm not an advocate for disability issues. Human issues are what interest me. You can't possibly speak for a diverse group of people. I don't know what it's like to be an arm amputee, or have even one flesh-and-bone leg, or to have cerebral palsy.

I try to bring awareness, not just to CP but to all disabilities in the sense that it's knowledge. My disability gave me so much knowledge that I was able to take into 'Breaking Bad' and to grow and to learn.

I work with amazing organisations: I work with I'm A Performer With Disability, and I work with a clinic which tries to get opportunities for people with disabilities to work in the film and TV industry, and we're making strides, and they're making strides.

I made a film about a person living with a disability. Those kinds of films are often about the disability, not who a person is.

I am so excited that society is taking so much interest in the disability sector and our belief in inclusion is getting so much media coverage.

Disability is as visual as race. If a wheelchair user can't play Beyonce, then Beyonce can't play a wheelchair user.

There are 58 million people with some kind of disability in America, so it's the largest minority, really, in America, and it lags behind in education and economics and jobs, so outside of 'CSI' and outside of my music, I serve on a couple of boards, and I'm trying to be a part of the movement that changes this.

I'd hope that when Channel 4 started, 'The Last Leg' was the kind of show it wanted to be putting out. I think they're really proud of it.

I want to make sure that people know that I can only be myself - I can't be a spokesperson for people with disabilities, because everybody has a completely different experience. I'm glad that I'm able to inspire parents to see one way to deal with it, but at the same time, I tell a lot of dirty jokes.

The availability of roles for deaf actors has always been very limited. After 'Switched at Birth' began including deaf actors, a ripple effect has definitely been created in the industry. 'Switched at Birth' has made an impact for the better.

The Southbank Centre Unlimited Festival was a distinct moment in time, an amazing counterpoint to the London 2012 Paralympics. There is no question that a major shift in perspective is taking place, that the world is waking up and greeting - as if for the first time - the extraordinary community of people with disability.

What the Bleep Do We Know was not written with a deaf person in mind, but when they met me, it clicked with them to have me in it. But that happens with a lot of actors in Hollywood, not just with me.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm as famous for my wheelchair and disabilities as I am for my discoveries.

I love working on 'Glee,' and I hope that there are more and more parts for me and other actors with Down syndrome in television and in movies so I can keep working for a long, long time.

I have a strong sense that I have to educate people about disability.

It became very clear to me that Yooralla was not as interested in media coverage that explored issues faced by people with disability as it was in giving a pat on the back to journalists who maintained the status quo by giving readers the warm and fuzzies over their morning paper.

Entrepreneurs with disabilities are overwhelmingly successful.