My son has a variety of disabilities and I find it problematic to focus on them as definers of what he should and shouldn't be able to do.
Amen. Defining what a person can do based on disability is an incredibly limited and confining approach. I think we can all think of examples (Helen Keller, Thomas Edison, Steven Hawking, etc. etc. etc.) where it would have been a huge mistake to predict a person's success focusing on their challenges. Few things in life involve using just a single skill area. People can be amazingly resilient and capable of finding ways to use their strengths to compensate for their weaknesses. While it certainly makes sense to get kids needed help to cope with weak areas, sometimes the biggest help we can give is our confidence and willingness to let kids try.
