People also associate disability with a physical indication such as a leg injury or an illness that somehow requires equipment. Society learns from patterns. If many people who have a disorder demonstrate common traits, and then somebody else with the illness does not show that trait, it is common for the mind to assume that lack of a common trait means less severity. Or, if certain traits are promoted by media as common signs to look for in an illness, then the general public are being taught to think that.

I required use of an elevator for a while, because I could not walk up stairways. Yet, to look at me, I appeared "normal" with no visible equipment showing I could not use my knees for that function. People then assumed that if I could walk into and out of the elevator with ease, I should not have been using it.

We have to remember that people without a condition or new to a condition, are constantly fed misconceptions about illnesses all the time. You have the power to advise people patiently that this trait is not common among all people with schizophrenia.