As others have said, for most it's the not knowing how to react in the company or presence of a disabled person. Quite simply, because IME/IMO, for the vast majority of the "normal" population, they have never come into (regular) contact with that many disabled people, if ever at all - with the exception of Rds it seems
.
There are at least 2 misconceptions, which have already been eluded to in the above replies. One, is that because that person has "a disability", they're brains somehow function differently to that of the "normal" person - perhaps they may think more slowly for example. Secondly, they are in a certain degree of continual suffering or pain. Both are not true. It does depend upon the exact condition, but pitty is often not required.
As for blindness and visual impairment, the most common misunderstanding that I have come across is that of visual cues and body language. Somebody across a crowded room may be trying to make eye contact for example, but they may get offended when an acknowledgement or recognition is not communicated back - the reason for this may be because the visually impaired person did not "see" the other person's visual cue but also maybe because the visually impaired person's eyes may not appear to the other person to be focused directly at them when in fact they were all along. I've (helpfully) been told in the past that I don't always look people directly straight on when talking to them, i.e. sometimes it appears as if I'm looking over their shoulder, but to me I'm actually looking them straight in the face/eyes when necessary - the potential misunderstandings which arise from this type of situation are many and varied but you get the idea.
A common question (more times that I can remember
), that people like myself who are visually impared yet don't have zero-vision but don't ware glasses is "why don't you ware glasses?" when they see us looking closely at something.
The simple answer is simply that they don't help! It's difficult to explain, and even harder for the normal sighted person to comprehend, but yes, there are scenarios where glasses don't actually give significant improvement/correction. :MILD:
I often find that there is great alarm and plenty of fussing which goes on whenever I start a new job, and people get very concerned over how closely I sit to view a VDU screen (about 6 inches away). Quite often, say after about a month or so down the line, people soon get use to the idea, and have often been told that they forget I even have poor sight (apart from when they see me sitting with nose almost pressed against the screen or a book).
So yes, I can't offer any better advice than that already given. Forget about treating a person with a diability any different. The worse thing is making a great of that person and behave as if you're tyring to walk on egg shells, and if unsure just ask directly.
