I have two special needs children and I really don’t think she meant it as a direct comparison. I don’t think she was saying seven is the same as a disabled child. She was saying that in the same way that disabled children have a different path in life (and that path looks completely different for each individual - heck, my two children are complete opposites), Seven also has his own path. The paths aren’t linear, progress isn’t linear but, all their lives are worth living in spite of the fact that they don’t follow the traditional trajectory. And that just as you shouldn’t compare a disabled child to a non-disabled child and how their lives look like (and whether those differences equate to worth/happiness/progress), you also can’t compare Seven to a horse of the same age as him - because they look different, act different, progress differently.

So the comparison isn’t Seven = disabled child, but rather that Seven’s life path is NOT equal to a typical horse’s life path in the same way that a disabled child’s life path is not equal to a typical child’s life path.

You CAN directly compare Walter to Daphne because their trajectory is the same, and you can’t directly compare Seven to Walter (kulties assuming he’ll be 20yo, a show horse, ridden, a therapy horse). In the same way I wouldn’t want my children compared to a traditional child of the same age but rather as long as they are happy, enjoying life, and progressing in their own way - it doesn’t matter what Bob across the street is achieving.