History Main / DisabilityAsAnExcuseForJerkassery

* {{Averted}} with most of the disabled and/or IllGirl characters in the ''Literature/ChaletSchool'' series, but one exception is Naomi Elton in ''Trials for the Chalet School''. She is disabled as a result of a car accident, needing a cane to walk, and has what Elinor M. Brent-Dyer calls a 'warped personality', using her disability as an excuse to be awkward and abrasive. Of course, she gets better.

** In "Le Petit Tourette", he claimed to have [[HollywoodTourettes Tourettes]] so that he could get away with making racial slurs and insulting people. This is only assisted by the self-righteousness of a Tourettes' spokesman, who interprets every suspicion about Cartman as malicious bullying. He's eventually [[HoistByHisOwnPetard hoisted by his own petard]], though, as [[spoiler: his ability to self-censor disappears, meaning his outbursts reveal some ''very'' embarrassing things about himself]].
** In the episode "Ass Burgers" he attempted to do this with Asperger's Syndrome but failed due to a [[PunnyName very basic misunderstanding of the condition]] (he thought it meant that burgers come out of his ass; ironically, doing so and farting on the burgers made them taste really good, giving him an idea for a lucrative business venture).
** In "Buddha Box", he gets diagnosed with anxiety, which he uses as an excuse to spend all day on his phone while wearing the titular Buddha Box (a box worn over the head with a monitor inside, allowing a person to use their phone without any distractions). Whenever someone calls him out for using his phone while wearing a box on his head in inappropriate situations (like at school, or at a water park), he immediately bursts into a rant, screaming about how he's being mistreated for his anxiety, [[{{Hypocrite}} how his anxiety makes it hard for him to express himself]], and how everyone has anxiety. That last point ends up working a bit too well, and by the end of the episode, everyone in town has used that argument to self-diagnose with anxiety and wear the Buddha Box (except for PC Principal and Strong Woman, who take advantage of everyone's distraction to finally act as parents for their PC Babies without fear of being judged).

* Inverted in Literature/TheCuriousIncidentOfTheDogInTheNighttime, where Christopher's father considers his son's disability an excuse to be a jerk to him.

The "faking it" variation is a parody of a similar behavior in real life, which can be a BerserkButton for people who actually are disabled, due to the prejudice they are targeted with every day compounded with having to put up with ignorant assholes who are adding insult to their injury by claiming to have it just to get attention and/or have a convenient excuse for being a jerk.

** In "Petarded", Peter uses his recent diagnosis of being intellectually disabled to be even more of an asshole than usual, being abusive to people, shoving to front of lines, breaking into a women's bathroom, and just generally misbehaving all with a "sorry, retarded" to avoid any punishment. Deconstructed when his ridiculous behavior causes Lois to end up in the hospital with severe grease burns, and then child services makes the Griffin kids live with Cleveland until Lois heals up because Peter's actions have proved he's too unfit to be a single father.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheProudFamily'', ValentinesDayEpisode, Penny dates Johnny, a wheelchair-bound boy (voiced by a young Creator/ShiaLaBeouf), who seems angelic at first, but turns out to be a rude prick who uses his disability to get his way. When Penny finally tells him off for his behavior and breaks up with him, her parents tell her that they're proud of her for standing up for herself and their family.

* ''Fanfic/CodexEquus'': Defied with Prince Healing Song. Despite losing his eyesight to retinoblastoma as a baby and growing up blind, with all the difficulties and hardships that came with it, he never let himself fall or become embittered as many would've done in his situation. Instead, he's a pretty NiceGuy who's cheerful, friendly, and good-humored, and quite willing to [[SelfDeprecation joke about himself]] as much as he's willing to tease his friends. He does get annoyed and [[DisabledSnarker snarky]] when people insult/patronize him, however.

** In "Petarded", Peter uses his recent diagnosis of being intellectually disabled to be even more of an asshole than usual, being abusive to people, shoving to front of lines, breaking into a women's bathroom, and just generally misbehaving all with a "sorry, retarded" to avoid any punishment. Deconstructed when his ridiculous behavior causes Lois to end up in the hospital with severe grease burns, and then child services [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome makes the Griffin kids live with Cleveland until Lois heals up because Peter's actions have proved he's too unfit to be a single father]].

** In "Extra Large Medium", Chris goes on a date with a girl with Down Syndrome, who ends up treating him pretty awfully. Finally fed up with the abuse, Chris comments that he thought people with learning disorders were different and nicer than other people, but now realizes that they can be just as mean and selfish as everybody else, and they break up.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheBoondocks'': {{Downplayed|Trope}} in "The Passion Of Reverend Ruckus". Uncle Ruckus was always a {{Jerkass}} due to being a BommerangBigot, but when he gets diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor, he decides to use what little time [[spoiler:he thinks]] he has left to start a religion that preaches that Black People should hate themselves for being black. [[spoiler:Him being struck by lightning, which somehow cures his brain tumor, does nothing to make him a better person.]]

* In ''VideoGame/DanganronpaAnotherEpisodeUltraDespairGirls'', [[spoiler: BigBad Monaca fakes having to use a wheelchair to garner sympathy and foster a fake relation with the other kids of Hope's Peak Elementary to manipulate and use them to further her plans for ultimate despair. She shows callousness towards the Warriors of Hope's personal issues and the rampant death and destruction they're causing and even manipulates their feelings towards her to get whatever she wants. She shows no sympathy or remorse for the manipulation and even states that pitiful children are able to get away with anything.]]

* Averted in ''Film/{{Doctor Strange|2016}}''. After his car accident that makes him lose most of the function in his hands, Stephen's [[OldFlame ex]] Christine genuinely tries to be there for him even though they're no longer a couple. He eventually pushes things too far with her and she breaks up with him for good because he's being such a {{Jerkass}}.

** In "Petarted", Peter uses his recent diagnosis of being intellectually disabled to be even more of an asshole than usual, being abusive to people, shoving to front of lines, breaking into a women's bathroom, and just generally misbehaving all with a "sorry, retarded" to avoid any punishment. Deconstructed when his ridiculous behavior causes Lois to end up in the hospital with severe grease burns, and then child services [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome makes the Griffin kids live with Cleveland until Lois heals up because Peter's actions have proved he's too unfit to be a single father]].
** In a later episode, Chris goes on a date with a girl with Down Syndrome, who ends up treating him pretty awfully. Finally fed up with the abuse, Chris comments that he thought people with learning disorders were different and nicer than other people, but now realizes that they can be just as mean and selfish as everybody else, and they break up.

* Assiette Genoise, the girl in the wheelchair from ''VideoGame/PrincessMaker 5'' always speaks rudely to the daughter protagonist, except for when there’s a third person in the conversation.

** It comes with some serious {{deconstruction}} though; although Dr. House justifies his jerkassery with his injured leg, he was a {{jerkass}} well before that. He does however at least once (seemingly sincerely) say that his injury did make him worse. Or at least, an excuse to be worse. In one episode, Wilson argues against diagnosing House with Asperger's Syndrome because he'd just use it as an excuse to be an even ''bigger'' jerk (though his jerkassery often brings some humorous moments).
** One episode had a real [[{{Jerkass}} jerkass]] teenage patient. After almost an hour of showing just how obnoxious this kid was, including insulting everyone, sexually harassing Cameron, and even flashing her, it turns out that the kid really is sick: Iron Poisoning. His liver has difficulty processing iron properly and his mother asks House if the illness is the cause for the kid to be such a jerk. House denies it.

** In "Petarted", Peter uses his recent diagnosis of being intellectually disabled to be even more of an asshole than usual, being abusive to people, shoving to front of lines, breaking into a women's bathroom, and just generally misbehaving all with a "sorry, retarded" to avoid any punishment. Deconstructed when his ridiculous behavior causes Lois to end up in the hospital with severe grease burns, and then child services [[RealityEnsues makes the Griffin kids live with Cleaveland until Lois heals up because Peter's actions have proved he's too unfit to be a single father]].

* In an episode of ''Series/ThreesCompany'', a man named Jim Walsh who bullied Jack in the Navy is invited by an unknowing and well-meaning Chrissy to the roommates' apartment. Walsh is a complete and utter {{Jerkass}} who happens to be blind, and plays on sympathy to get away with his abhorrent behavior, even shaming Jack for attempting to hit him after ''relentlessly'' egging him on to do so. Frustratingly, Walsh ends up being a KarmaHoudini.

* ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'': When Hank hires a man named Leon, he later finds out that he's actually a drug addict and promptly fires him. Unfortunately, this gets Hank in legal trouble with the Americans with Disabilities Act; since drug addiction is considered a disability, he cannot be fired because of it. Leon starts to make unreasonable demands to accommodate his work and it doesn't take long for the rest of Strickland Propane's employees to take advantage of it as well, using their so-called "disabilities" to justify their own laziness.

*** In fact, the episode's EurekaMoment comes when House realizes the kid's attitude ''isn't'' a symptom of his disease. Realizing the kid is a genuine jerk who is also genuinely sick is what allows House to deduce the illness is iron poisoning.

* In an episode of ''Series/LawAndOrder'' the grandfather of a hacker on trial for tampering with medical computers uses his impending blindness as justification and encouragement for the grandson's behavior. Sort of a disability jerk by proxy (the grandson had done this to avenge his grandfather, whose condition they blamed on some doctors whom they couldn't successfully sue).

** It comes with some serious {{deconstruction}} though; although Dr. House justifies his jerkassery with his injured leg, he was a {{jerkass}} well before that. In one episode, Wilson argues against diagnosing House with Asperger's Syndrome because he'd just use it as an excuse to be an even ''bigger'' jerk (though his jerkassery often brings some humorous moments).