Who I am…

I am a disability and special education advocate, professional photographer, and media literacy proponent with a passion for politics and social issues, particularly education.  I am also a mother and a wife raising three spectacularly unique children with three vastly different educational needs.

As the parent of a child with a disability, I have spent the better part of the past decade working and volunteering within the disability community. I have spent a great deal of time assisting children and their families access special education services and other community supports through various non-profit organizations.

As a media critic, I created DonnellProbst.Com as a place to discuss how media can better represent disability. As we get things up and running, we will seek to include voices from the disability community as well as lively public discourse.

What I am doing…

DonnellProbst.Com will examine the relationship between disability and the media. We will attempt to challenge narrow constructions and question the underrepresentation of people with disabilities in current media. Currently there is very little existing literature or practice focused on disabilities in media literacy education. My goal is to shine a light on the need for media literacy education to include topics relevant to the disability community.

What I am not doing…

DonnellProbst.Com will not argue personal opinions or the validity of personal belief systems. We all have opinions, however, we strongly feel opinions should be formed through factual, evidence-based research and outcomes.

This is not a forum designed to draw universal agreement. Our goal is to challenge the opinions, stereotypes, and assumptions of the media. Our opinions will be designated as such and we encourage our readers to evaluate and designate their comments in the same manner.

While I will attempt to remain politically neutral, it is important to remember that sometimes there is a “correct” side. We will not give weight to opinions and practices in the media which devalue people with disabilities, and will do our best to provide facts and/or evidence to support our view.