Malcolm-Jamal Warner and 'The Cosby Show' made kids with learning disabilities feel seen

NBC News

5 days ago

As tributes to Malcolm-Jamal Warner pour in following his drowning, fans and disability advocates are recalling the impact of seeing Theodore 'Theo' Huxtable being diagnosed with dyslexia as a teen on 'The Cosby Show.'
The character's learning disability was actually based on Bill Cosby's own son, Ennis Cosby, who had the condition.
'I think the turning point for Theo was when they diagnosed him with dyslexia,' Warner said in a 2023 interview with DCP Entertainment.
People with dyslexia struggle to understand written language, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Children diagnosed with this learning disability can work with an expert to bolster their reading skills.
A study from 2024 indicated that educators often fail to identify African American children with dyslexia. A missed or delayed diagnosis means students do not receive early interventions to help them with their reading skills and academic performance. This also affects their self-esteem, with many children with undiagnosed dyslexia thinking of 'themselves as 'dumb,'' the study said.
In the episode from 1989, Theo's parents seem happy that he received the diagnosis because they finally had an explanation for his academic struggles — and a way to address them. The plot line also touched on the emotional impact children and teens experience when they have difficulties reading.
'I'm not dumb, right?' Warner explained about the joy Theo experienced after his diagnosis. 'We can work this out.'
Warner also revealed that throughout his life people shared with him how that episode changed their lives.
'People still tell me that it's because of your show that I found out that I had dyslexia,' he told DCP Entertainment.
Valissa Thompson, a social worker and disability advocate, says that Theo's diagnosis with dyslexia was 'one of the first disability depictions [she] saw on TV.'
'They did a really good job that was really respectful,' she told TODAY.com. 'Particularly of the '80 and early '90s ... people who are different and [have] disabilities — specifically invisible disabilities — may not have always been portrayed as kindly or thoughtfully.'
She added that Theo's story highlights the difficulty many families face with obtaining a dyslexia diagnosis.
'Even in a well-to-do family, like the Huxtables represented, something like an invisible disability can go under the radar,' she said. 'That was very critical to show as well. Even when you have parents who went to college, [one] who's a doctor, they are not able to catch everything.'
It also shows the reality many Black families especially face.
'It's not surprising that Theo went undiagnosed,' she explained. 'We have an ... under-diagnosis problem among our Black kids in society, whether back in the '80s or in the 2020s.'
Thompson hopes that as people reflect on Warner's work and his role as Theo, they consider the power of showing realistic and fully-fleshed out disabled characters.
'We need more intentional representation. And when I say intentional, I mean the representation that doesn't lead harshly into the stereotypes of helplessness or being a villain,' she said. 'Just being nuanced like Theo. He was the average teenage boy.'
Many fans on social media agreed that Theo's diagnosis with dyslexia offered one of the first, if not the first, nuanced portrayals of a Black teenager with a learning disability.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said that some saw themselves in Theo.
'Theo Huxtable's struggle with dyslexia represented so much to Black boys who struggled in school,' he wrote on X.
Others pointed out how important Theo's diagnosis was to the character's academic and professional success later on.
'Part of the brilliance of that show was Theo's arc from struggling with dyslexia to going to grad school and educating the youth at a community center in later seasons,' sports reporter Kevin Ryans said.