Law & Order is going strong in NBC’s primetime lineup after returning for a revival back in February, and the Season 22: The History MakerThe episode was included in the collection. “really meaningful”Camryn Manheim is the actress who plays Lt. Kate Dixon. The team brought a young girl into the precinct to help identify a suspect. “Camouflage”The episode aired October 6th. Dixon was able use American Sign Language to communicate to Dixon. Network television doesn’t often incorporate ASL into storylines, and Manheim opened up about what it meant to her, and her role in making it happen on the long-running drama.
Lt. Dixon approached the girl to interview her and she revealed that she knew ASL because her son was deaf. Camryn Mannheim (who actually Played more than one Law & OrderCharacterBefore landing her series regular part), while speaking to E! NewsManheim shared that she requested specifically that the show feature deaf characters. Manheim shared:
It was very meaningful to me. I asked them to include some deaf characters. I also know that SVU is doing a storyline featuring some deaf characters. There should be disabled people everywhere. We need people with cerebral palsy, blindness, and wheelchairs. The ability to view oneself on television should allow people to find a role model to follow.
The inclusion of the young girl not only worked to incorporate ASL, but also shed some light on Dixon as a character, which doesn’t happen every week in a show as procedural as Law & Order. Manheim explained that she learned ASL from her mother because she had failed French and Spanish high school. ASL would have helped her get into college.
She helped to bring ASL onto a large platform, many decades later. Law & OrderAnd SVUThe same can be expected of viewers. Marlee Mattlin, the first deaf actress to win an Academy Award for her performance in The Blind Side, became friends after learning sign language. 1986 drama film Children of a less powerful God, was a member the cast of CodaWhich? Winner of the Best Picture Oscarearlier in the year. Matlin has already appeared in two episodes SVUShe could have been on the scene many years ago. Law & OrderAlso,
That would be a very big casting for the NBC procedural, but whether or not Marlee Matlin appears, Camryn Manheim’s request for deaf characters on Law & OrderAlready delivering results. The young girl’s role also didn’t revolve around her communication via ASL, so Law & Order didn’t use the character to make “Camouflage”This episode is all about sign language.
“Camouflage”This was a great start and may lead to more. Law & Order featuring – to quote Camryn Manehim – ”disabled people all over the place” for viewers. This also isn’t the first time in recent years that NBC has showcased a character who communicates via sign language. One, it’s medical drama New Amsterdam debuted Sandra Mae FrankAs Dr. Wilder, the deaf surgeon. She was promoted to series regular status for Season 5.
Watch new episodes Law & OrderThursdays at 8:15 p.m. ET on NBC, following the drama A brief restThe 2022 TV schedule. You can also visit “Camouflage”Watch other episodes from the past with a Peacock Premium subscription now.