Disability vs. Learned Behavior

Working in a high school level life skills class one gets to see how the educational system has benefited or hindered a student. It never ceases to amaze me how people can undermine the abilities of a person with a disability. Case in point: K. who is a student who has autism and seizures.
This student would throw fits and scream when he did not get his way. So in order to prevent the behaviors, his former teacher put him a wheelchair in case he had a seizure. This also controlled him enough that the were able to push him around the gym to appease him. He was isolated from his peers. He had no expectations placed on him.
Then he gets to Steve's amazing class. And Steve creates an environment where students are given the tool to be independent to the best of their ability. The student no longer has the wheelchair (he only needed it in case he had a drop seizure). He goes to P.E. and joins the group. He gets his own snacks. He even uses a switch to go in front of the class and communicate a message of his choice (i.e. talk about the weather, schedules, something special, etc.). He has a voice.
The reason I bring up students like K. is because they have so much potential in the right hands. So much of what we define as "disability" is actually a learned helplessness. I am not downplaying the fact that these students do have disabilities and it means that they may interact with their environment in more creative ways than most people. BUT sometimes the people who should be pushing them to be the best they can be (i.e. parents and teachers) are the ones holding them back. I think every person wants to have a voice and be heard. This population is no different. They don't want to be treated like helpless babies. They can be successful if they have creative people working with them who think outside of the box in order to find ways for them to be heard. That is what I strive to do in my class. Let's see how it works out:).