Invisible Disability

disability

Not every disability is visible folks. I don’t know how many times we need to repeat it for the people in the back.

Let me say it again.

NOT EVERY DISABILITY IS VISIBLE

I have had my fair share of people tell me that I’m not old enough to be disabled (and… not everyone who is disabled is a senior citizen), that I don’t look sick. Well folks, considering that I’m not an animal with an exoskeleton, you can’t see where my spine is seriously injured. Guess what? I was a child when the initial injury happened. I also have fibromyalgia – which means my nerves are pretty much set to eleven most days. We’re not even going to get into the mental health disabilities because that’s an entry all on its own.

Combine those two alone and there is a reason I have an accessible parking permit. Contrary to most able-bodied persons thinking – they don’t hand those things out like candy.

Today it really hit me about my disability. I can no longer go to events where I am going to have to stand for a long period of time. I can’t even guarantee that I’ll be able to sit for a long period of time without severe pain. I saw a concert listing, something that just five years ago I’d have leapt at the opportunity to go to.  I measured my want to go with the pain that actually going would cause me, and I decided no.

People who don’t have a disability don’t get how it limits your world. You can say “go beyond” all you want – there comes a point where “going beyond” is nothing but ableist bullshit. You get shamed for having something wrong with you. For 99.9% of us who have something that disables us in life, we didn’t ask for it. If we could have chosen freely, we’d have NOT chosen to have it.

And that’s all I currently have to say about that.