Why do so many people think just because someone is in a wheelchair that something is wrong with their mind?

Stereotyping as a result of lack of understanding and knowledge

people have preconceptions that if one thing is wrong with a person other things must be as well

Because a lot of people are simple minded, and recognize invalids as mentally retarded. Stereotyping at it’s worst.

A lot of people are exposed to a lot of people that are mentally handicapped.. though, some people have injuries that limit them to a wheel chair until they heal… nobody should rule out the fact that the person could be 100% fine except for maybe a couple of broken legs.

I’ve honestly have never even assumed just because someone was in a wheel chair that they were “mentally off”.

Because people are too damn judgmental even though they have no right to be. And from what I’ve seen, even the non-mentally handicapped are often picked on. Pathetic world we live in sometimes…

When my husband was recovering from a back injury last year, we rented a wheelchair for him for a couple of weeks. We went out and took a lot of walks where he would push the wheelchair along while his upper body was gaining strength. Sometimes he’d get me to sit in it while he did that. I can’t believe how much attention we got. Passers by would stop, stare, smile sweetly and sympathetically to us both. Not just that, but cars would slow down as well, just to take a good look. The attention was really over the top.

It gave us a first-hand view of what it was like for people in wheelchairs. I guess people in general are drawn to things that look different but yes, that whole thing of assuming other stuff is incredible. It’s like some people who speak extra loudly to a person who is struggling with English.

Well sometimes that is what you see a lot of the time. My brother is in a wheelchair & he does have a mental delay. And your right it’s not true for everybody, at the end don’t take it so personal, people are just wondering, part of what we do when we don’t fully understand something.

Story time. Okay, I was at double d’s with my dad, we’re sitting down, he’s drinking hot coffee, Im drinking a coffee coolata, some crazy old b1tch in a wheelchair is banging on the window and waving for me to come open the door for her like it’s her right or something to have strangers jump to her aid, so I look at my dad like, are you sh1tting me? I got up and held the door open for her just to stop her from knocking on the window. Get this, she starts scouching her wheelchair WITH HER FEET into the building. Im like, WHAT? What an insane old b1tch, if you can use your feet to make your wheelchair go, then what in the hell are you doing with a wheelchair? Get a f-cking walker!

I think sometimes people are uncomfortable and have sympathy but don’t know how to show it respectfully so they “act differently” towards a handicaped person when they don’t know them and it may appear that they are thinking that “everything” must be wrong with them. The best way to be towards a person who is handicaped is to strike up a conversation with them as if you didn’t even notice the wheelchair.

Dude that is mean and judgemental. Just open the door for the lady and count your blessings. It’s called having character.