Raising Dion

 Adapted for television by Carol Barbee, based on the books by Dennis Liu, Raising Dion made its Netflix debut on October 4th 2019. 

Discovering her son Dion has powers, single mother Nicole Warren, Is thrown into a supernatural world. Nicole soon discovers the secrets of the Biona workplace and why her husband was so distant in the time leading up to his death.

Raising Dion tackles a wide range of issues including Racism, bullying,grief, single parenthood, self acceptance and disability inclusion. 

It is super important that when you have a character who has a disability ,that this isn't the main thing you remember, One of Raising Dion's main characters has brittle bones but this isn't the first thing that would come to mind when you think of her. 

Esperanza is an amazingly well written character. Her main traits are loyalty and compassion, She has a sassy side, she knows how to stick up for herself . Esperanza loves science and video games which makes her a perfect friend for Dion. 

 feeling like an outcast herself she notices he is feeling lonely, so makes a great effort to befriend him although he doesn't  appreciate this until a few episodes in. His friends make fun of him, for having a "Reptile Repo" cake Esperanza comforts him. Dion confides in her about his powers, something she has acknowledged. 

Esperanza's actress Sammi Haney was kind enough to answer some questions on Raising Dion and her other projects. 

My first question was "Do you think if more producers and writers were willing to let parents,guardians or even the actor read & review scripts it would allow for T.V and film more inclusive?" 

Over the past year,I've asked many people similar questions, having known Sammi's dad reviewed the Raising Dion scripts before the shoot made me curious to see if Sammi had anything to add that noone else had. 

Like me she believes "they should be willing to make characters with disabilities more authentic by consulting people with disabilities about the script." And should only cast actors with that disability allowing them to review the script, making it even more authentic. She went on to say "My Dad reviewed the Raising Dion scripts with me and wanted to keep me safe and make sure I didn’t do anything that someone with my condition would not normally do (i.e. picking up something heavy or letting strangers put me in a car seat.), It is rare that a part like Esperanza is played by someone with a real disability, there is normally pressure by executives to cast an older girl and make her pretend to be disabled." Sammi hopes she's proved disabled people "deserve those roles." 

Esperanza plays a big part in helping Dion in his fight against the crooked man , using her own experiences as a wheelchair user. 

There's a brilliant scene where Dion attempts using his powers to allow Esperanza to walk. Dion presumes she wants to walk leading into a conversation where he and Charlotte discuss why she's upset. Despite being her best friend they've never had that conversation, to him she's "Just Esperanza" 

I found these scenes very powerful as did Sammi who feels it was a "very important scene" and hopes it allows children to see disabled people as who they are,not just the chair. Sammi loves that Esperanza doesn't lead with her chair but with her personality. Describing her as "a good friend and nice, while being sassy when needed."

Much stigma surrounds disability and happiness. Or that you must want to fix yourself or want a cure. Which isn't the case for many disabled people,some who have made brilliant careers because of their disability. 

Realising his error he apologises by telling Esperanza he's sorry for bailing on their project,being jealous of her and Jonathon, and trying to fix her when she isn't broken. He tells her she's the best friend anyone could ever ask for. 

Sammi hopes that season two will allow her more screen time,a opportunity to bring up her disability, and hopes that her friendship with Dion and 

Jonathan grows stronger, she would like Dion and Esperanza  get to show off the friendship bracelets. Sammi would like to explore Esperanza's family life. 

 Sammi and her dad Matt have set up a positive disability  tshirt campaign, seeing Sammi  jump into acting without fear, Matt decided he needed to do it. 

While Sammi wanted to use what "little star power I had to be a good advocate."

Upcomimg projects for Sammi include Are a “Pilot episode” as the first guest on a  project for PBS with Emma Fayerudkin  as the host this will be released later this year.

Thank you so much to Sammi for answering my questions and to Matt for passing them on.

You can follow Sammi on 

Instagram: https://instagram.com/sammi.haney?igshid=88r2mzha59p4

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SammiHaneySassy?s=09

T~shirt campaign: https://www.disabilityshirts.com/pages/about-us