Have you ever been out in town and seen somebody who looks perfectly healthy getting out of a car they had just parked in the spot for Persons With Disabilities? we are so used to visible disabilities that we forget Persons With Invisible Disabilities.
Invisible disabilities, also known as hidden disabilities or non-visible disabilities, are disabilities that are not immediately apparent and are typically chronic illnesses and conditions that significantly impair normal activities of daily living.
In the current world, everybody expects disabilities to be physical and easily identifiable by a glance which has led to an assumption that people with invisible disabilities are pretenders.
Generally, disability is defined as a physical or mental impairment that can limit one’s daily activities, an example of an invisible disability is a sleep disorder which is the changes in sleeping patterns that may affect the victim’s health negatively.
Invisible disability is an umbrella term that has got several types of disabilities under it, such as chronic diseases which are chronic fatigue which is the type of disability whereby the victim constantly feels tired.
Chronic dizziness is another type of disability whereby the victim is often associated with problems of the inner ear, other conditions include; ADHD, Anosmia, anxiety disorders, allergies, asthma, and autism among many others.
Countries such as the UK are now working towards creating awareness of invisible disabilities with several movements such as the Sunflower Lanyard Program which was launched in 2016.
Anyone claiming to have a disability should not be discriminated against and labeled as a pretender as it might be an invisible disability.
BY EMMANUEL ODHIAMBO