As disabled persons, we wish to express our concern on the award known as "The Prize for Kindness" and other initiatives that use disabled persons to set out an example for others.

We want to make it clear that our criticism is directed at the whole concept of such events and not at the generations of recipients of such prizes.

We urge readers to forget for some time all that the media might have said or written on disabled people. We also ask readers to consider why, as disabled people, we question the very real implications of such prizes or awards, despite any good intentions that might be present. We encourage readers to ask themselves the following questions:

Have you ever considered how the disabled child will feel on reading of the 'generous' deeds that the friend did for him or her? Would you not think that he or she would rather feel of less value or worth than his or her friend?

Do you think that the friend who receives the prize/award will be happy to receive the prize at the friend's expense? Here we are assuming that the friendship is genuine.

What message does such a prize convey about the social status of disabled people in general? Is not such a prize emphasising a culture of dependence and depicting disabled people as in need of charity?

Does not such a prize serve to lead us away from the real issue that creates disability in the first place, or the way society is organised? And the fact that society does not take into account our differences as disabled people?

Will not such a prize impact negatively on the friendship between the two friends, or indeed on other friendships in which disabled children are involved?

We should point out that such initiatives contradict the idea of inclusion as they highlight differences between children. A real inclusive society embraces its members regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, age, faith, sexual orientation, or disability. It is based on a concept of interdependence and mutual respect. That is why as disabled people we cannot remain silent in face of a prize that in its inception distorts the fact that biology is not destiny.

We do not choose our bodies, but the society we live in has the obligation to take our existence into account. It cannot afford to put aside the fact that for long it has been happy with tolerating us and treating us as second-class citizens. Our plight is similar to that of women, black people and gay people because it affirms that our inequality resides mainly in a society that excludes us in its structure and organisation. We have the right to direct our life and to have a decent quality of life like everybody else.

Initiatives that actively promote misconceptions about who we are or strive in perpetuating false stereotypes (however flattering they seem to be) do more harm than good to our position in society. After all, these are stereotypes which only serve to distract the public from the real causes of our disability: our socio-political exclusion.

Those who think that our impairment determines our character are really "less fortunate" than we are. But it is then, and only then, that we beg - to differ. Some of us even dream of being awarded the prize ourselves because it takes a lot of 'kindness' to keep a straight face when people you don't know constantly judge you by your impairment.