Mickey Rowe

As an autistic and legally blind person Mickey Rowe (he/him) believes that when we design for accessibility, we help everyone to perform at their best, not just disabled folks. Disability is the only truly equal opportunity minority group. Anyone can become disabled at any time and should we be lucky enough to live long enough each one of us will join the prestigious disability club eventually. As an actor who has been on Broadway at the Gershwin Theater, Mickey is a speaker with incredible stage presence and charisma. He was the first autistic actor to play Christopher Boone, the lead role in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Mickey is a disability and accessibility expert, and his wife Helen is an immigrant woman of color, together they have led DEIA trainings and workshops for companies including Nordstrom, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Metropolitan Opera, New York City Ballet, and more. Mickey has had to advocate for himself his whole life as an autistic and legally blind person, yet becoming better at advocating for oneself and one’s business is a skill we all would benefit from. Mickey is the award-winning, best-selling author of the book Fearlessly Different. He has also appeared in the title role in Amadeus and more. As a disabled stage actor Mickey knows that often people want so badly to fit in that they forget what makes them stand out. But only when we learn to value each other’s differences can we truly succeed. Mickey has been featured in the New York Times, New York Times Magazine, the TODAY show, PBS, Vogue, Playbill, NPR, CNN, Wall Street Journal, HuffPost, Forbes, on Smarter in Seconds, and has keynoted at organizations including the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts where he has also led staff DEIA meetings, The Kennedy Center, Yale University, Columbia University, CUNY, Disability Rights Washington, The Gershwin Theatre on Broadway, the DAC of the South Korean government, and more. Mickey was the founding Artistic Director of National Disability Theatre, which works in partnership with Tony Award-winning companies such as La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego and the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. Mickey is currently workshopping a new three actor show about Autism with Cirque du Soleil clown, director, and Broadway legend David Shiner. Mickey Rowe is in Seattle on the occupied land of the Duwamish people past, present, and future. @theMickeyRowe on Twitter and Instagram.