Don146;t come close, you146;ll catch it!

As a handicapped person, it8217;s easy to spot these diseases

I8217;ve often wondered if disability is contagious. Can one catch it by being around a disabled person, like one catches flu? Empirical evidence suggests that this might well be the case.

Push and Shove Motor Syndrome: This can affect a perfectly 8216;normal8217; person when he or she is within 10 feet of someone with a disability, especially if the disabled person is in a wheelchair. It can also occur around blind people. In this condition, the affected person is overcome by spasms of charity. The altruistic virus takes sudden control of the brain and the person is overcome with a mad impulse to either push the wheelchair, or to assist in any other way. It does not matter if the person in the wheelchair is in mid-conversation with someone 8212; off he goes, having to finish the conversation abruptly. I8217;ve even seen a rare case of this syndrome at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi, where a person was pushing two sportspersons on wheelchairs at the same time, struggling to control them, while the wheelchair users struggled to break free. One antidote is a well-aimed slap.

Disability Erasitis: This is a severe condition of the eye that lasts as long as a disabled person is within sight. By a mysterious phenomenon, the affected person will erase the disabled person from her sight. Affected people will then speak only to the companion of the disabled person. Even if a question is raised by the disabled person, the answer will be given to the companion. This condition seems to get cured if you poke the person in the stomach forcing him or her to acknowledge your existence.

Decibel Disorder: This is a curious case, but nevertheless it is common. On meeting a blind person, someone who has been speaking normally suddenly speaks in high decibels 8212; so that the blind or visually impaired person can hear him properly. Sometimes the affected person will start speaking very slowly, and sometimes they will do both 8212; speak loudly and slowly. One can certainly mitigate the disorder by saying a magic word after the person stops speaking: 8220;What?8221; It will force the person to repeat every syllable, leading to vocal exhaustion.

Curiosidosis: This occurs when a person suddenly comes face to face with a disabled person. They behave in one of two ways 8212; either the pupils dilate and the eyebrows are pulled towards the forehead, or the face muscles are instantly paralysed and the jaw sinks. This disorder also seems to have a socio-cultural aspect. It can affect conservative people when they see disabled persons doing tasks such as getting into the driving seat of a car or working on a computer. Sometimes one encounters yet another variant of this disorder. They will start asking questions, the pet one being, 8220;Is this from birth?8221; As soon as you hear that question, you know what to do. One of the most effective being to ask many questions back, such as, 8220;Hello, I am so-and-so. Do you always ask personal questions before you get to know someone?8221;

There could be other kinds of diseases. This is just a quick list.