The Ruderman Family Foundation, has come out against Baldwin’s new film Blind, in which Baldwin plays a man who loses his wife – and his sight – in a car crash. He later starts an affair with a married socialite (Demi Moore) who was forced to read to him as part of her plea bargain for a separate crime.

The organization, which frequently advocates for the casting of disabled actors and has conducted many studies documenting the lack of opportunity for disabled actors in film, released a statement on Wednesday condemning the movie which is directed by Michael Mailer.

“Alec Baldwin in Blind is just the latest example of treating disability as a costume,” said Jay Ruderman, the foundation’s president. “We no longer find it acceptable for white actors to portray black characters. Disability as a costume needs to also become universally unacceptable.”

This isn’t the first time the group has spoken out against depictions of disability in film. The group also publicly criticised Me Before You, which depicts the assisted suicide of a paraplegic man, portrayed by Sam Clafin.

“The upcoming release of the movie Me Before You presents a deeply troubling message to our society about people with disabilities,” Ruderman said in June 2016. “To the millions of people with significant disabilities currently leading fulfilling, rich lives, it posits that they are better off committing suicide.”

The foundation has undertaken research into the depiction of disability onscreen, and released the Ruderman White Paper on Employment of Actors With Disabilities in Television last year. The findings revealed that though people with disabilities make up nearly 20 percent of the nation's population, about 95 percent of characters with disabilities on TV are played by able-bodied actors.

"This is nothing short of a social justice issue where a marginalized group of people is not given the right to self-representation," the study reads. "We must change this inequality through more inclusive casting, through the use of Computer Graphics (CG) to create ability, through the media holding the industry responsible, through the avoidance of stereotypical stories, and ultimately through the telling of stories that depict people with disabilities without focusing on the disability. We also provide a list of resources where actors with disabilities can be proactively reached."

This month in Ireland, a groundbreaking new film has just been released in terms of its treatment of and representation of people with disabilities. Len Collins’ dramedy Sanctuary is the story of Larry and Sophie, two adults with intellectual disabilities. The cast is almost entirely comprised of actors with disabilities – a unique and unheard of feat of true representation. By casting actors with intellectual disabilities, Collins not only challenges the film industry’s aversion to authentic representation, but provides a level of insight and empathy that can only be achieved through such a collaborative project.