Sex Education star on living with lifelong condition and Netflix success

Richard_Scope

The actor stressed the importance of disability representation within the creative industry.

By Ayaan Ali of The Express

You might recognise Keron Day from Sex Education and Kirkmoor, but his path to success has been anything but easy.

Keron has shared his experience of living with a lifelong condition, cerebral palsy, which affects about 1 in every 400 children in the UK, according to the disability charity Scope.

Despite facing rejection from his school production due to his disability, he has landed a role in a hit Netflix series and continues to champion disability representation in the film and TV Industry.

The actor exclusively told The Express: “When I was at school, I wasn’t allowed in a school production because I, as a disabled person, ‘didn’t fit the context.’”

Keron shed light on a significant issue in the ongoing discussions about representation in media, revealing the need for more stories that reflect the experiences of disabled people.

He expressed: “Despite the push for diversity, disabled people can get missed out on that conversation.”

Keron also pointed out the misconceptions he faces because of his condition

The most obvious and consistent misconception that I have to deal with is that my disability (Cerebral Palsy) somehow affects my cognitive ability.

“This is, of course, extraordinarily frustrating. Although, I can’t pretend that it is not highly amusing to see the comprehension dawn on their face, within a couple of minutes of speaking to me, that they misjudged me and they realise that I am sufficiently intelligent to know that they made that misjudgment. Then they try and cover for their mistake—always unsuccessfully.”

He adds, “Being an actor, regardless of whether you are disabled or not, is a hard career. Add a disability on top, and it makes things even more challenging (importantly, not because of my disability but because of attitudes around disabled people). How I manage this is by being as proactive as possible and continue to call for the change I would like to see.”

Lucy_Scope

Disability representation is so important within media discourse.