The creators of Fox’s hit show “Glee” want to make you laugh and think. The episodes are produced with messages about inclusion no matter what you look like, your sexuality or disability.

Elaine Hoogeboom takes a deep breath before she starts to talk about her art.
She knows what she wants to say. But she has aphasia, a disorder that results from damage to portions of the brain that are responsible for language. It’s hard for her to remember words, put together sentences and understand what people have told her.

“Def” has been a part of hip-hop lexicon since the early 1980s, but for Sean Forbes, it means something different. The 28-year-old from suburban Detroit has been deaf since he was a baby but says that hasn’t stopped him from making music. He recently released a new single called “I’m Deaf,” and is busy recording more songs for an upcoming album. Forbes says music has always been part of his life.

In February 2003, architect Michael Graves came down with what he thought was a cold. After a long and frigid site visit to one of his projects, it got worse. A spinal infection was ravaging his body and left him paralyzed. He now uses a wheelchair.

An orange-haired woman wearing a laurel wreath and a Grecian tunic sits on a man’s knee at center stage, pretending to be his ventriloquist’s dummy as he performs a song. With perfect timing and expressions, she mimes to his words, flinging her arms and legs.

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When Larry Latham got his hands on a digital camera, he wanted to start snapping photos immediately.

“What is disability?”

Last fall, VSA, the international organization on arts and disability once known as Very Special Arts, invited artists around the world to answer that question.

When the words came, they revealed the voice of a poet.

In the past, finding appropriate books for kids about disabilities has been a challenge. However, in the last several years, writers and readers have embraced the concept of reading about disability. The subject has become so important that in 2004 the American Library Association started an annual award that honors an author or illustrator who embraces the disability experience.

The piece wasn’t some naked confession about the difficulties of growing up with cerebral palsy. Instead, Hailey Reissman came at her story from the side, with a twist of humor and a touch of the profane.