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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/43107
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

We all have seen the headlines: "Touching Moment Where Autistic Boy is Asked to Prom", "Watch This Child With Downs Win Her Heat During a Swim Competition", etc., that are touching at first glance, but in actuality, embody the objectification of disabled people by society, the pity able bodied shower them in, and the habit that able bodied people have of patting themselves on the back for including disabled people or being nice to disabled people.

Of course, overcoming physical or mental impairments to go on and do great things as if you weren't impaired _is_ inspiring; but there is a certain point where congratulations on achievements morph into sympathy, pity, and repetitions of "you poor thing".

I want to avoid this feeling when I write a future character for one of my books, a witch who is blind and has two prosthetic legs. This character overcame a lot and although they exist in a fictional fantasy world of witchcraft and demons, their struggles are very real, and their blindness and physical limitations made things hard for them, just as they would for anyone.

**_How do I affirm that this character is strong and made it through the struggles of their disabilities, while avoiding the "inspiration porn"?_**

Original score: 8