Rich - there's a deal of difference between being physically disabled to such an extent that you need an aid such as a wheelchair or a cane, and not taking the trouble to learn a set of songs properly. (One of my best musician friends uses an arm crutch because of problems with arthritis - he's a marvellous singer who performs professionally at folk clubs with no prompts).

At my own session/singaround - where the standard is mixed - we all sit round a table and chat and play and sing and have fun and drink beer. Sheets of words and chords are used if people need them, and I have no problem with that - and I'm the organiser and host of the session.

However - and it's a big however - if I'm paying to go to a club where people are performing, whether as guests or as floor spot singers, I'm expected to (and happy to) sit still and quietly and give them my full attention. I get very bored with people who waste my time by (a) fiddling with a music stand (b) shuffling interminably through a folder of songs until they find one they want to perform (c) stare at the music and even lose their place while not communicating in any way with the audience (d) stopping and starting in spite of having the music. I've lost the will to live with this style of public performance - which is not a disability but sheer laziness and incompetence.

If a performer keeps a crib sheet to one hand, I can live with that. But I have to say - harsh as it may sound - that, if a would-be performer has a genuine difficulty with learning a repertoire, then perhaps public performance is not their métier. I first played in folk clubs in the '60s and I can't ever remember even floor singers using cribs. When I returned to playing occasionally in folk clubs after years playing other music (jazz, blues, rock'roll, funk) for 40 years, I couldn't believe the difference.

I'm not a traditionalist, by the way - I'm just a musician who loves all styles of music - and (I hope) in no way pretentious. I've done free workshops for beginners on performing in public and made available literally hundreds of music arrangements and transcriptions on my web site, plus a large number of instructional videos on YouTube. All free - and all because I care about good music. Don't confuse genuine disability with laziness.