The main point that she is trying to argue is that disabled people are still just normal people. She backed this up by talking about how she also "gets her period, uses mouth wash"... etc. However, what really changed my mind about something is what Nancy Mair wrote about how disabled people are portrayed in the media as people that need to be saved, or need someone to lean on.
The only time I've ever watched a move or TV show portray a main character with a disability is when I watched "The Fault In Our Stars". I never thought much of it; a girl that suffers from cancer falls in love with a handsome boy and he makes her life better for a while.. (until the end, which is extremely sad, but not the point). However, one of the main points in this story is the main female character in disbelief that a boy could love her because she is disabled.
Hazel is portrayed as this helpless girl that doesn't think she is worthy of love and is defined by her disability.. Instead of as a normal teenage girl that happens to have a disability. Obviously, I realize that it was just a book / movie, but after reading Nancy Mair's piece about disabilities, it opened my eyes a little to look beyond just the plot of the story.
A disability should not define anyone as a person, and shouldn't equate to helplessness. Because the reality is, as Nancy Mair has written, even the healthiest person is only "TAP".
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