The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Nighttime

"Sometimes people are born with disabilities, but it's communities that handicap them."

~Anonymous

I agree that communities can handicap people with disabilities more than the disabilities themselves.  Instead of letting these people fail or succeed on their own merit, if someone is born with a disability the people around them will treat them differently.  It is assumed by many that disabled people need more help than others, so they are never given the chance to try to do things on their own.   For example, in the book Christopher's dad had assumed that Christopher would not be able to handle hearing that his mother had left with another man.   When Christopher found the letters written by his mom, he was confused and devastated because his dad had lied. By doing what he felt was better for Christopher,  his Dad had handicapped him and the relationship between the two of them.   Perhaps if Christopher's Dad had been honest with him when his mom left, there relationship may not have been damaged and Christopher  may not have left to find his mother. If we gave people with disabilities a chance to show us what they can do and stopped looking at them as only a disability, then we may be surprised with what they're capable of.