[chopete]

Your comment is a great follow up to the article. I am copying(with slight modifications) a few actions highlighted in the article.

>> Staring isn't staring if you're smiling. Or waving. Or if you say hi. Adults- do stare but do it smilingly or say hi

>> Just tell your child to wave.

>> And don't worry if he(your child) asks an awkward question, like, "Can't she talk?" That's a welcome chance for us to introduce Esprit.

>> Just ask a disabled child's parents whether the planned activity will work for their son or daughter. If an adjustment is needed we can figure it out together.

>> A nuisance like leaving a picnic early is normal (for parents with disabilities), so don't make a big deal out of an annoyance with a portent-filled comment like, "I don't know how you do it."

>> They desire the human contact that most of us take for granted. So increase your awareness, by reaching out to one of them.

[gowld]

And like most things, the cure for fear is exposure. The more time you spend with disabled/diverse/different people, the more natural it will feel to you, and the less weirdly you will act. This goes for your encounters with people with visible disabilities and differences, mental disabilities and differences, racial differences, linguistic differences, religious differences. . .