Stereotypes of disablilties

I think my perceptions of disabilities are similar to most other people. While I personally know people in my own family with disabilities most of my ideas of people of disabilities come from mass media including television, paper, and movies. I have noticed that there is little coverage of people with disabilities UNLESS their story is inspirational or the subject of a 5K run. There are times when I wish someones disability wouldn't be in the back of my mind and I could just be "normal" but so often I find myself thinking about what I should or should not be doing at that point when the whole time I know I should just be myself because I know they are doing the same for me. For as long as man has been around there have been people with disabilities and while we are a long way away from throwing them to the side and into jails, I'd like to think we still have a ways to go before full equality is met.