If you stop holding people to this societally constructed standard, you’ll be more open to the differences that come up when you meet people with invisible disabilities. The way you can support this population is by tabling your conception of normality. Folks with invisible disabilities are constantly fearful of being perceived this way. If we do disclose, others may think that we are making it up or exaggerating in order to receive accommodations. If we don’t disclose and a misunderstanding takes places, we will feel responsible for not telling people sooner. These kind of misunderstandings can create stress and conflict.įurthermore, people with invisible disabilities are constantly trying to figure out who they should disclose to and when. People who have assumed that I’m neurotypical often end up misinterpreting my lack of eye contact as rudeness. Just by looking at people with invisible disabilities, others will assume they are “normal.” Then, when their disability makes an appearance (typically as an “unusual” action, statement or behavior) non-disabled people tend to be surprised, skeptical or confused. However, there are some unique challenges that accompany invisible disabilities. Additionally, those of us with invisible disabilities can choose whether we tell people that we have a disability at all. No one looks at me and immediately assigns me less value. This is where I have personal experience. Having an invisible disability is a whole different ball game. When the world says that able-bodied people are more capable or more valuable, you must reject that falsehood and give your disabled peer the opportunity to show you what they can do. Thus, when able-bodied people interact with disabled people, they must make a conscious effort to separate themselves from society’s lies about disabled individuals. It should never be the responsibility of a disabled person to convince you that they are worth taking seriously. It’s up to non-disabled folks to change this reality. They experience the snap judgments of non-disabled people with disheartening frequency, and those judgements can have a lasting impact. People with visible disabilities often describe feeling underestimated and undervalued. Regardless of what it is, it’s hurtful and almost certainly not true. Maybe they’ve assumed that you are unintelligent, or unwilling to work hard, or unable to contribute a meaningful perspective. Imagine if you joined a new group, and before getting to know any of the members, they all decide that you are most likely useless to the group.
Thus, the stigma that accompanies a visible disability can be impossible to escape. When someone has a visible disability, people can typically tell before that person ever introduces themselves. I’m going to discuss some of those challenges, and offer suggestions about how communities can be thoughtful and inclusive of people with either type of disability. People with visible and invisible disabilities often face very different challenges in daily life. Some examples of these disabilities are learning differences, ADHD, autism, psychiatric disabilities, diabetes, some vision and hearing deficiencies and chronic pain (among others). The individual can be just as impacted – sometimes even more so – by their condition even though you can’t see it. You would likely look at someone with an invisible disability and say they look “normal.” You would never know without getting to know the person (or simply asking them outright) that they have a disability. There are also “invisible” disabilities, which have none of these indicators. That indicator might be an assistive device, a particular set of actions, a communication method, a physical feature or something else. This category includes disabilities which have any visible indicator that the person is disabled. That’s accurate, and these are what we would call “visible” disabilities. When you think of disabilities, you probably imagine a person in a wheelchair or someone using sign language.
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