Faculty voice: Advancing disability inclusion in advertising

MSU recognizes Disability Pride Month in October to promote how accessibility, accommodations and awareness benefit everyone. This month, we highlight Edward Timke, an assistant professor in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations in the College of Communication Arts and Sciences. In spring 2026, he will be a United States Fulbright Scholar at the Stockholm School of Economics in Sweden, where he will deepen his research on disability and accessibility in marketing communications. When Timke was an undergraduate at Michigan State, he was a member of the Tower Guard Honor Society, a registered student organization that partners with the Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities to support students by scribing for exams, creating accessible textbooks, tutoring and more. He is currently one of Tower Guard’s faculty advisors.

When some people think of disability, they might imagine a medical condition that needs to be fixed, managed or tolerated. While medicine is important, this narrow focus often overlooks the rich social, cultural and creative dimensions of disability and the diverse people who live it. As someone born without ear canals who has used a form of hearing aids for most of my life, I have experienced firsthand how disability is not a limitation or liability. It is an asset and a source of pride. Disability is about belonging, participation and how society chooses to see and include us.

The disability community is not a single, unified group. Rather, it is a vibrant collection of identities, histories and experiences. Disabilities intersect with other identities, shaping how people navigate the world and how they are perceived. Yet, these intersections are too often invisible in public life, including in the media and advertising. When disability is represented, it is often framed through charity or inspiration rather than as part of ordinary human diversity.

My research examines how advertising and media can reinforce or challenge these limited narratives. I study how people with disabilities are portrayed in campaigns, what it is like for people with disabilities to work in advertising and how people with disabilities experience the ads that surround them. Advertising doesn’t just sell products. It shapes culture. It has the power to normalize differences. It has the power to help audiences see disability as integral rather than exceptional. However, this only happens when people with disabilities are part of the creative process.

“It’s about workplaces that go beyond compliance to embrace access as a catalyst for creativity and community.”

Recognizing the layers of disability means understanding that disability is a social identity and a cultural experience. It’s about innovative universal design, fair storytelling and honest representation. It’s about workplaces that go beyond compliance to embrace access as a catalyst for creativity and community.

If talking about disability makes you nervous, don’t be. Disability is not a bad word. Remember: Alone we can do a lot, but together we can do so much more. Be an ally by being ready and willing to learn, ask respectful questions and resist the fear of getting it wrong. Listening and learning are how we get it right. Even though I am a person with a disability, I keep learning about other experiences of disability that I don’t have myself.

At Michigan State University, I’ve been fortunate to teach and research in a community that values accessibility and inclusion. It is where vital organizations, such as University Health and Wellbeing’s Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities and student organizations like the Tower Guard Honor Society and the Council of Students with Disabilities, have the space and recognition to support disability communities and their allies.

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RCPD partners with students and employees to coordinate accommodations and expand access across campus. Tower Guard, a sophomore honor-service society, supports RCPD by scribing exams, creating accessible textbooks, tutoring and other initiatives. The Council of Students with Disabilities is a student group that builds community while focusing on awareness, advocacy and support.

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To move forward, we need to approach disability as a key lens through which to understand the world. This means recognizing how social structures, cultural messages and professional environments can either include or exclude people with disabilities.

When we view disability as a complex, layered and vital dimension of human experience essential to creativity and innovation, we open the door to a more inclusive future. The various corners of the disability community have always offered insights into resilience, design and the art of adaptation. It’s time we listen more closely because disability offers new ways of imagining what’s possible for advertising, media and society as a whole.