ABSTRACT
We have all heard stories lauding the deaf high school student who plays softball
or the man who uses a wheelchair yet manages to sail a boat. While the inspir-
ational disabled person, a dominant image portrayed in popular culture, seems
positive, it interferes with inclusive living. Prodigious achievement is praise-
worthy in anyone, yet the focus on people considered to have a disability as
courageous or super-achieving eclipses the fact that most of them simply desire
ordinary lives (Shapiro, 1993). Rather than “overcoming” their individual charac-
teristics, they are concerned with countering the social barriers that interfere
with everyday activities. Instead of being raised to some kind of hero status, they
would prefer to be included in the life of a community by addressing challenges
such as inaccessible or unavailable transportation, limited employment oppor-
tunities, inaccessible affordable housing, or unreliable wheelchairs. The focus
on disability as an individual pathology to be overcome, is grounded in cultural
notions of normalcy (Davis, 1995) and associated ideas about what action should
be taken when perceived deviation occurs.
