Last week, 3 News’ Mike McRoberts ran the New York marathon. Nobody noticed much, because we were busy balking at the Roastbusters and the police. Turns out McRoberts’ report was something to balk at too. He quoted Peter Loft, the head of the Achilles Foundation, an organisation which helps disabled athletes complete the marathon, saying:

They come here with disabilities — and they leave feeling like full human beings.

One of my favourite bloggers, Philip Patson, has written a post here that covers the main issues with this statement, so I won’t go into it again. One thing I do want to talk about, though, is what McRoberts said when Patson questioned him on Twitter:

Feeling emotional and needing to find inspiration are how we are socially conditioned to respond to disability.

What I notice about this statement is that McRoberts acknowledges that our “need” for inspiration from people with disabilities is socially constructed. Of course, he doesn’t then go on to say that he, and the mainstream media, are the preferred suppliers for that construction. I didn’t realise how damaging the dominance of the “disabled hero” was until I faced disability myself.

With all the hype about disabled athletes persevering through adversity, the message is that anyone can do anything. It’s bullshit. I was never going to be an athlete before I was disabled, but there’s no way in hell that I could be now. Any kind of intensive sport would leave me in pain, and if I pushed through the pain, I would do further damage to my muscles. That’s the reality for a lot of people with disabilities, and the picture we are so often presented with doesn’t match up. It’s easy to feel like a failure when you can’t make your bed in the morning, if the poster-boy for cripples is climbing a mountain with prosthetic legs.

These athletes deserve full credit for their achievements (except maybe Oscar Pistorius). I don’t for a second want to belittle what they have accomplished. What we should be celebrating more frequently is people with disabilities living normal lives, contributing to their communities and overcoming barriers to their independence. Go find inspiration and feel emotional about that, Mike.