We've all inadvertently put our foot in it while trying to be helpful to a fellow human at some point or another, but what's it like being on the receiving end of this day-in, day-out? Pretty irritating according to a new Ask Reddit thread, which invited members of the disabled community to list all the ways able-bodied people think they are being supportive, but  end up being just the opposite. 'Don't call me an inspiration. Be your own damn inspiration,' one user wrote, amid nearly 4,000 comments made in the space of a day. Don't say it! A new Ask Reddit thread invited members of the disabled community to list all the ways able-bodied people think they are being supportive, but end up being just the opposite (picture posed by models) 'I don't want to be your inspiration, I want to be your next door neighbor and I want to be left to my own devices please,' another wrote. This was a popular theme. '[Don't tell me] how brave or strong I am,' one submitter wrote. 'I'm pretty sure I didn't say "Hey, universe, make me handicapped." 'There's nothing brave or strong about it. I exist. My strength and courage comes from what I do. Not what I am.' Many disabled people say it was insulting and patronising to be 'praised' for doing normal things, like going to university (picture posed by models) Another user echoed this, stating: 'If anything, I haven't been brave. Just careless for being in a place that I really shouldn't have been at the time.' Others said it was insulting and patronising to be 'praised' for doing normal things, like going to university. 'What am I supposed to do, sit on my a** all day and wait to die?' one posed. Another common complaint, particularly among wheelchair users, was people insisting they 'help', and not taking no for an answer. 'I have cerebral palsy,' wrote one. 'I love when people help me, but please always ask first, and I if I say, "No thanks, I've got it" then go on with your day.' Another raised some people's tendency to take charge of their wheelchair. '[The] situation would be similar to seeing someone who looked tired at the bottom of a hill, and offering to carry them up. 'To most people, no matter how tired, that would be pretty damn weird and infantilising.' A surprising number of disabled people have been accused of 'faking it' to earn perks . A surprising number of users claimed to have been accused of 'faking' their disabilities, or playing them up, particularity when it comes to disabled parking spots. '[My aunt] has MS and on good days she might go to a grocery store... and stand up to reach things on the top shelf,' one wrote. 'But if she tried to walk the entire store she'd be in bad shape.' Perhaps the most obnoxious habit mentioned was people recommending 'diets', 'remedies' or 'cures'. 'Believe me, unless you are a researcher who specialises in my condition, you probably don't know more about treatments than me,' one advised. Last but not least, whatever you do, don't bring religion into it. As one submitter put it: 'If you tell me "God does everything for a reason," I'll break your goddamned nose for a good reason.'
A new Reddit thread asked disabled people to submit their pet peeves.
Many said being labelled 'brave' or 'inspirational' is just patronising.
Others hate it when people take charge of their wheelchairs.