CSI and Disabilities

It’s funny how you see something once, see it again, and then when you see it a third time notice something entirely new. It happened to me last week, while watching the show CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, when I noticed how the show subtly includes people with disabilities as characters.

Those of you who are familiar with the show undoubtedly know the subplot that’s been developing throughout the season: Gil Grissom, the show’s main character, has been slowly growing deaf and struggling to conceal this development from his colleagues. Ok, so that’s not so subtle. But that was only the first sign. The second sign was the coroner in the show, Dr. Robbins, whom I hadn’t noticed had crutches until last week. The final sign was a passing scene in last week’s show, where one of the characters interacted with a fellow officer in a wheelchair. It continued this week, with a prosecutor who was also a paraplegic, due to a crime that wove itself into the episode.

I’d be interested to know how intentional the show’s producers and writers are acting to include positive role models for people with disabilities in the show. Is it part of a master plan, possibly a technique being used to reinforce the main “Grissom is going deaf” subplot? Or is it something else, perhaps evidence of a personal history of dealing with disabilities on the part of one of the production team?

As it turns out, the acting playing the coroner actually is disabled. He lost both his legs after being hit by a drunk driver and sustaining burns over 65% of his body. So the inclusion of disabilities, beyond the main Grissom subplot, could just be coincidence. Any hardcore CSI fans out there know for sure?