This resonates. When my vision problems were first diagnosed (~1976, UK) my parents were explicitly told not to 'make too much fuss'about it or I would be taken

This resonates. When my vision problems were first diagnosed (~1976, UK) my parents were explicitly told not to 'make too much fuss'about it or I would be taken away and placed in 'special' care. Being stealth mainstreamed came with its own baggage of course, though perhaps mercifully I was unaware of this Faustian bargain until recently. I was lucky, I learned enough 'hacks' to pass for 'normal' most of the time which saved me from the thing that makes the gulag in its many forms so awful, which is that many people, even the kindest most well meaning people, have a predictable first response to almost any kind of disability or serious illness which is to immediately strip an individual of some of their agency. There's a spectrum from over solicitous behaviour all the way through to making people shit in a pan where everyone can see but it all comes from the same place. /narcissistic navel gazing Oh, pro tip: kinda covered in the article, but subtly. If you really want to piss off someone who has a disability, call them 'inspiring' to their face. Bonus points if you squeeze a shoulder and wrinkle up your face. Surprised me too.