Dos and don'ts of interacting with people in wheelchairs, from personal experience:
Do: Talk to close friends about their disabilities. It's an important part of our lives and something we want the people close to us to know. We may also genuinely enjoy talking about it
Don't: Talk to random strangers and very loose acquaintances about their disabilities, especially if you're only going to pity them
Do: Help people out if they seem to need it
Don't: Help impulsively in ways that aren't needed. Also, if I'm alert and moving my arms around and stuff, let me push the elevator buttons, it makes me feel like I'm helping out with the trip, and if you're pushing me, they're probably easier for me to reach anyway
Do: Make sure there's space for me to get through when I'm trying to move
Don't: Insist on giving me the right of way when I'm literally waving for you to go past me. Being in a wheelchair often means I'm going to be the last to leave public transit
Do: Offer a push if I'm struggling
Don't: Assume I can't push myself at all. I don't have the stamina for long distances, but I can park myself or push myself in at a table.
Do: If you are a staff member at a place I'm going, communicate clearly about what assistance is available and where things like elevators and curbs are, and ask what I need
Don't: Make assumptions about how much help I need. For example, with my partner pushing me, they can get me over 20 cm curbs without too much hassle. But if I was alone, I couldn't get over that without help.
Do: Try and give disabled people as much independence as is practical
Don't: Infantilize us
Note: this is just my own experience as an ambulatory wheelchair user, I'm sure others will have different perspectives, but hopefully it's relatively general
