This is what I love seeing, disabled people doing awesome stuff. It was reported today in the Herald that year 13 Westlake Boys student Ryan Leitch “topped the world” in his NCEA Level 3 Geography exam, such a grade achieved by only around 36 students every year. It is of little consequence to his academic success that Ryan also has muscular atrophy, but nonetheless the entire article has this tone of “Wow, look how well this kid has done, even though he’s disabled”, as if being smart and in a wheelchair is some sort of extreme oxymoron? I don’t doubt for a second the difficulties Ryan faces in his everyday life, I can even empathise to an extent, but this whole notion of succeeding in spite of a disability is, as far as I’m concerned, not only quaint but utterly patronising.