Be sure to reach the end of this article to see the full video!

Storytellers like Disney have long overlooked disability. Well, this photographer is changing that!

Millions of people around the world love Disney.

And there’s no denying that a good Disney movie is anything other than a great way to spend a few hours, whether you’re young or old.

But have you ever considered how Disney’s stories ignore or misrepresent people with disabilities?

In all of Disney’s history, the only good guys with disabilities are Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame and the one-legged tin soldier in Fantasia 2000. Nemo and Dory from Finding Nemo and Finding Dory may also count, but those characters were created by Pixar and only later became Disney characters.

When you consider that there are almost 60 Disney movies, it’s shocking to think that there’s almost no representation of disability.

This is especially true when you consider that 20% of Americans have a disability.

Luckily, one photographer is doing something to make Disney more representative of disability. Her name is Nicole Perkins, and she recently created a photoshoot that cast children with Down Syndrome as Disney heroes.

“They’re no different from anyone else. I’d love to see them everywhere, the same way other models are. Because they should be in magazines and on TV.” – Nicole Perkins.

The project is called Down with Disney, and it does exactly what it says. Throughout the month of October, Perkins released images from the photoshoot, each one showing a child or baby with Down Syndrome cast as a character from Disney.

And these photos struck a chord online. Pretty soon, millions of people had shared the photographer’s work and celebrated her for showing disability in a positive light.

People have also been very vocal about the photos on Facebook. In fact, most of the images have been filled with positive comments.

People have been saying things like this:

Perkins is also a special needs educator.

She has been able to see that there are so many amazing children who have disabilities. But she also knows that they have almost no representation in the media that they love. Her photoshoot really shows what a more diverse cast of Disney characters would look like!

Some people may think that Perkins’s photoshoot is “political correctness gone mad.” But what is the harm in making an effort to raise the visibility of people who are different?

Potentially, projects like this can increase the representation of people with disabilities in media. All that that will do is make others more tolerant of disability from a younger age.

It’s important to teach children to be friendly and respectful of others. But one thing missing from many children’s stories is a positive representation of disability.

Perhaps if Disney and other companies made an effort to feature characters who have disabilities in a positive light, society would become a much more accepting place?

This story also shows how, when used in a certain way, social media really can be a positive tool.

Thanks to one person’s ingenuity, millions of people have shared a positive representation of Down syndrome, and just maybe, the movie studios will notice!

Who knows, the children in these images may grow up to become real Disney heroes one day!

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

Source: Nicole Louise Photography