Everybody’s fighting some kind of stereotype, and people with disabilities are no exception. The difference is that barriers people with disabilities face begin with people’s attitudes — attitudes often rooted in misinformation and misunderstandings about what it’s like to live with a disability.
- Myth 1: People with disabilities are brave and courageous.
- Myth 2: All persons who use wheelchairs are chronically ill or sickly.
- Myth 3: Wheelchair use is confining; people who use wheelchairs are "wheelchair-bound."
- Myth 4: All persons with hearing disabilities can read lips.
- Myth 5: People who are blind acquire a "sixth sense."
- Myth 6: People with disabilities are more comfortable with "their own kind."
- Myth 7: Non-disabled people are obligated to "take care of" people with disabilities.
- Myth 8: Curious children should never ask people about their disabilities.
- Myth 9: The lives of people with disabilities are totally different than the lives of people without disabilities.
- Myth 10: It is all right for people without disabilities to park in accessible parking spaces, if only for a few minutes.
- Myth 11: Most people with disabilities cannot have sexual relationships.
- Myth 12: People with disabilities always need help.
- Myth 13: There is nothing one person can do to help eliminate the barriers confronting people with disabilities.