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This is a good start to a conversation about how to treat or not treat folks with disabilities. We all need to remember not all disabilities are physically obvious.
Lot of FEALLY good points in that link. I've experienced most of the things listed. The one that leaps out a bit is the "you should try this diet, or this meditation therapy, or yoga() disregard what the doctors tell you, you have to be STRONG. As if we don't know that last part, and if all this twisting yourself into deliberately painful positions, to the strains of sitar music, would help, I'd do it. It don't.
Every single thing listed, though, are common occurances. Sometimes, its hard to engage people. You can tell they mean well, so you don't want to seem defensive. In other cases, its easy to just say "sod off mate".
One time, I was infuriated when I saw a motorcycle parked in a handicapped parking spot. Really?! How could someone be eligible for a handicapped parking permit and be capable of riding a motorcycle?! Not long after that, I met a guy who had severe damage to his upper legs. He was able to walk, with difficulty, using a cane. After our conversation, he hopped on a motorcycle, stored his cane in a holster that was obviously designed for this purpose, and took off down the road. Since that day, I have not been nearly as judgemental.
I HATE it when people lean on the back of my wheelchair! It is so rude and if I'm already tired and grouchy I have been known to shriek (sometimes it is because I am in pain and have been jolted by the dolt; other times it is just because I am irritated).
You would not just lean up against a total stranger whilst in line so why do you think it is okay to lean up against me??? Get off!
Also, while I am blind and stuck in a chair I am not deaf or mentally impaired. When I ask you a question do not address yourself to the bi-ped next to me and please do not lean down and shriek in my face.
I know I seem b*tchy but I have been truly disabled since 1995 and I am tired.
I tell people I'm hearing impaired, and need for them to face me when they speak so I can read their lips. What is their response?
OH SO SO...RRY....A...NON....CHICK....I.....DID...N'T... ......KNOWWWWWWWW!!~!!!!!!1111
And they repeat whatever unimportant bit of drivel they'd just said at a mumble while facing the other direction, in that same obnoxious tone of voice.
Something about hearing the phrase "hearing impaired" that turns people stupid. I could hear them talking just fine when they mumbled. I just couldn't differentiate the words. I can, when I'm watching them talk.
The motorcycle thing kind of hits home.
My brother has fake hips and arthritic knees and ankles.
Until all that set in he was a very vigorous, healthy man with a fairly muscular physique.
It's a lot easier for him to climb in and slide out of a pick up truck, than it is to get in and out of a lower car.
You should see the looks he gets when people see this 6 foot plus 200lb man pull up into a handicap parking spot in a 3/4 ton Ford pickup, and get out, even though he has his valid handicapped tag...
But as soon as the cane comes out and the hobbling along starts, they understand.
He told me it really ticks him off that people are so quick to judge.
#1 in that article is something my housemate and I laugh about a lot. "Inspiration porn" is what she calls it. She has a ton of physical handicaps and is often in constant pain, and the idea that she's the prop for someone else feeling better about themselves is kind of offensive.
Sometimes when she is doing some mundane task (like the other day when she opened a jar for me because my hands were slippery from what I was cooking or when she eats an entire plate of fries all by herself), I'll tell her in a very sincere voice just how inspiring she is. Then we sit around and cackle about it for a while.
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) disregard what the doctors tell you, you have to be STRONG. 
As if we don't know that last part, and if all this twisting yourself into deliberately painful positions, to the strains of sitar music, would help, I'd do it. It don't. 
