There's a lot of nonsense talked and written about disability, and the fact that some of it is talked and written by disabled people does not make it any the less nonsense. The idea that being disabled is absolutely on a par with being able-bodied, as exemplified by the stupid phrase "differently abled", is ridiculous. What can a wheelchair-using paraplegic do that I can't? Well, maybe they can speak Serbo-Croat, but I could learn it if I wanted to, but a wheelchair-user can't learn to walk. It's not only nonsense, it's harmful, as it militates against the search for cures or effective treatments. It is of course good that the disabled are now treated as full citizens, and not as the passive recipients of other people's charity, as exemplified by the change of name of what used to be called the Royal National Institute for the Blind to the Royal National Institute of Blind People, but let's keep a grasp of reality.
