Disabled textarea returns FALSE

[eluser]NateL[/eluser]
I have a textarea that has some text in it when the page loads. By default, I have it set to Disabled. When I submit the form, that textarea then posts empty (false).

How can I get around this?

I thought disabling a textarea was just a way to make sure the contents weren't altered...but I'm not quite sure why the contents are being completely removed on POST.