Tinychickenlady: First, I wasn't addressing any of your comments. I was addressing another person who said that they felt the disabled were "put here for them to learn from." Second, we can all learn things from others, that does not mean that their (handicapped/disabled) purpose (reason for existing) is to teach the non-disabled a life lesson. The disabled do not exist to teach non disabled people things, that is a very non-disabled centered point of view. As for your suggestions about me learning things from my bf, but its not uncommon for folks to view the disabled as either "cripples/defective" or the opposite, on a "pedestal", but thats not why he exists, thats not the point of our relationship, hes just a person with challenges that are more obvious than the challenges of many able-bodied people. Of course I have learned things from my bf, just as I have learned things from my exes and my parents and just about every other person I have met. But, my relationship with him is like that of any other couple, he is not a buddha, hes a regular person like you or I. I am not trying to argue, nor do I want to, but I do want to educate, thus my clarification.