My Disability May Be Invisible, But I’m Not! | Disability.Blog

Posted by melissaicd on April 22, 2014
Posted in: advocacy, disability, health, social justice. Tagged: , .

Image of a blue field with a symbol of a human being standing above the universal symbol for handicap. It has a caption that reads, "Not every disability is visible."My Disability May Be Invisible, But I’m Not! | Disability.Blog.

Many people are genuinely willing to help, but do not know where to begin. Because of this, we often offer by saying, “Call me if you need anything.” This is a great effort to reach out, but unfortunately, it does not work. For that reason, we cannot put the ball in their court and expect them to call us. So, how can we help if they will not ask when they need it? Simple…we call them!

Most of the time, I feel I have to apologize for not meeting other people’s expectations of me, even if I am greatly hampered by my various conditions, all of which are hidden, invisible, and unmarked. I often feel that I need to wear some visible sign that I can point to, so I can remind myself and others of the various challenges I experience, regardless of how comparatively mild and unremarkable they may be.

Then, I remember that I am not on this Earth to explain and apologize for my existence.

Image with the caption, "I'm sorry my invisible disability brings out your obvious ignorance. Wait, no. I'm not sorry."

Click to go to InsideHigherEd.com: Dropping the Ball on Disabilities

As an added bonus, here’s an awesome Bingo card! Share it with your friends!

Text translation: card has white text on a black background. Title (in white) reads, “annaham presents: Invisible Illness Bingo 1.0,” followed by “Now With Straighter Lines” in red: First Row, Square #1: All that’s keeping you from being healthy is a positive attitude! First Row, Square #2: My ex/friend/co-worker had that, but he/she was just a hypochondriac. First Row, Square #3: Maybe if you lost weight/found a man/read The Secret, your problems would be solved. First Row, Square #4: Why can’t you just suck it up, get out of bed, and find a job like the rest of us? Second Row, Square #1: Lucky! You get to stay in bed all day. Second Row, Square #2 (middle square): Free Space/DIET AND EXERCISE!!!11 Second Row, Square #3: You don’t look sick/you’re just complaining too much Third Row, Square #1: Obviously, you get something out of being sick. Otherwise, you’d get better! Third Row, Square #2: If I haven’t heard of it, then it doesn’t exist. Third Row, Square #3: But I went through hard times too, and I got through it. Let’s talk about what a great person I am. Third Row, Square #4: You have it so much better than some people! Think of the starving children in Africa… Fourth Row, Square #1: Let go and let God/Power of prayer/God is punishing you Fourth Row, Square #2: You just want an excuse to be lazy and have people pity you. Fourth Row, Square #3: Why haven’t you tried crystals/vitamins/other dubious “cure”? IT REALLY WORKS!!! Fourth Row, Square #4: Smoke pot/take illegal drugs. It will totally take care of your pain, man!

Disability Bingo v.1.0 by Annaham

One comment on “My Disability May Be Invisible, But I’m Not! | Disability.Blog”

  1. Hello Melissa. I am very happy to read this article because I totally understand the difficulties living with hidden disease and it is very important that we speak up. I tried to reach out to you through facebook and linkedln. Is it possible for you message me through facebook? I need to ask you something about my project related to invisible disabilities. Thank you very much!

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