I am interested in a series of articles in a newspaper that I subscribe to at home, which reports on a high school girl who is a wheelchair user due to Ullrich's congenital muscular dystrophy. One of the points that attention is the patients' association led by the younger generation (high school students) and not by their parents. (I feel a strong aversion to the use of the word "parties," but I will leave that aside for now.) In an interview published in today's morning paper, she talked about her activities as a "wheelchair JK" (a term coined to refer to high school girls who are wheelchair users), uploading images of herself dancing on SNS and working as a model. Her activities seem rooted in her desire to "break down the barrier between able-bodied and disabled people" (the quotation is not precise).

I have no intention of criticizing the activity of the patients' association and her personal it. They are one way to "eliminate the 'barrier' between able-bodied and disabled people".

What I believe should be questioned the media outlets, including newspapers, are covering the issue. In other words, we must ask how the newspapers and others represent her. As I read the interview with her, it was as if the interviewer (the reporter who interviewed her) wanted to create "an image of a cheerful high school girl with an incurable disease".
Both incurable diseases and disabilities are the same, but apparently, newspapers (and not only newspapers) want to feature "cheerful people who have incurable diseases (or disabilities)".

Of course, I think she has a cheerful personality. If her character had been gloomy, would the newspapers have covered her? As she also answered, because of the image of "disabled people = poor people," "cheerful disabled people," which could be said to be the opposite, are the focus of attention. In addition "cheerful disabled people" are often perceived as rare. Again, this is why they are attending and featured in various media.

At the end, who is creating the stereotype of disabled people? I understand that it is important to pique the interest of readers, whether in newspapers or other media. This is called reader acceptance. I must consider what "acceptance" means. In the first place, should disabled people be accepted by able-bodied? That is disabled people have to become convenient for able-bodied. This point is often raised in academics, but my impression is that generally not even considered an issue. I believe that one of the reasons for this is the way the media represents the disabled.