Dear Dan Schneider,
Believe me when I say that I am one of your biggest fans,in fact you are probably my favorite kid's writer of all time and love the fact that you never underestimate the intelligence of your audience.
I'm at the end of my rope I am sick and tired of turning on one of your programs and watching your treatment of people with disabilities. for many years I have watched your shows and in the best case scenario a disabled actor or character would get a bit part that's generally not the case however Either your handicapped characters are unlikable or portrayed as something to laugh at/odd or weird,and while this is not unusual by entertainment industry standards
1) your shows do it very often
2)you have a very young audience with a very large platform you can influence people you can decrease the stigma if you want
[Paige at PCA--Coco's cousin]I actually thoroughly enjoyed Michael subplot the problem in this situation which he was put their to increase the weird factor why couldn't it have been a regular guy in a wedding dress that would've still been creepy and funny
[Stacey Dillsen--Zoey 101]she was not that bad and yet she was portrayed unloved by everyone including her parents sure she can be annoying at times but no one's perfect we all have faults to me she seemed like a very nice person desperately in need of kindness and respect
[I lost my mind -- iCarly]there is so much offensive about this episode that I don't even feel the need to point it all out. The fact is mental illness is a legitimate condition that anyone can have(yes children too some of the very same children that watch your show) just because you can't see it doesn't make anything less than real. Here's another little fact for you thousands of people die every day as opposed to seeking the help they need largely because of the crazy person stigma that you've reinforced
[Rex dies-- cats subplot] did you honestly think that was funny? again encourages fear and stigma,especially small children do not have abroad since of literal versus nonliteral I'm sure you're aware of this but when mental hospitals or psych wards are using protective equipment it's for the patient's own benefit I don't understand how any hospital who would think that cat was that ill
the sad thing is that this list has room to spare I didn't include everything I could have and I'm not going to tell you how to run your show nor my saying that you can't approach disabilities with a sense of humor it just has to be done in a correct way and the way your attempting to do it now hurts
if you would like to know how I think use should write disabled humor maybe you could hire a disabled comedian for Schneider's bakery?
Sincerely handicapped and proud
I'm aware that he will never read this but I felt like I needed to get off my chest