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The field of physical disability is a relatively unexplored one. In particular, it is evident that little has been done to attempt an explanation of the reactions of people with physical disabilities to the labels, and consequent stigmas that are applied to them by the able-bodied. It is important to note that whilst people with physical disabilities are generally not considered deviant, many of them experience the same societal reactions to their conditions as other 'deviants' do. This occurrence is probably due to the fact that physically disabled people are seen by society as different, 'abnormal', or even 'deviant'. People with physical disabilities are isolated, stigmatised, segregated and discriminated against as a result of their disabilities. They are however, not intrinsically deviant because of their disabilities, but rather because of the undesirable differences that are imputed to them by society. The presence of a physical disability thus renders the disabled individual 'deviant', partially because of the limitations it imposes upon the person's range of activities and behaviour, but mainly because of the reactions of the able-bodied to the disability. People with physical disabilities are forced to remain socially and economically marginalised, not because of their disabilities, but because of discriminatory and exclusionary attitudes and practices on the part of the non-disabled. People with obvious physical disabilities, such as those confined to wheelchairs, are disadvantaged during everyday societal interaction, unless they constantly attempt to minimise their differences from the able-bodied. In this regard, many of the physically disabled suggested that non-disabled people believed them to innately possess the following characteristics: helplessness, dependency, an inability to take on any responsibility, and a constant need for guidance and supervision. The interviewees maintained that the aforementioned beliefs supplied 'normals' with seemingly, National Research Foundation (NRF)