With the introduction of normalization, schools and service providers began to examine not only the attitudes of people in the community towards people with disabilities, but also how their services contributed to those attitudes. What many agencies discovered was that people with disabilities were viewed not as true members of their community, but rather as objects of charity or pity, or sometimes even as people to be feared. These perceptions were based on an individual having a difference that was seen as negative, or a stigma. Many of these attitudes could be traced to services that seem to make people stand out as "different" and add to stigma: programs and educational services that segregated people; grouping people of like disability together; and job supports, social services terms, and other trappings of disability.

Emphasizing perceived differences may stigmatize individuals with disabilities