17th – 23rd October 2021 marks Invisible Disabilities Week, a week to raise awareness that not all disabilities are visible, but why do we need a dedicated week to specifically highlight this?
People tend to have a particular expectation or image come to mind when they think of a disabled person. This might be a particular look, way of acting or use of things like wheelchairs, hearing aids or white canes.
But disabled people don’t have ‘a look’ or way of acting, no disabled person is the same whether considered to have an invisible disability or not, and disabled people don’t always use or need aids. This is why the term invisible disabilities was coined; to describe disabled people who aren’t instantly recognisable as disabled and more importantly to help others acknowledge this.
Even though some people may be considered less visibly disabled, they may still have needs that are met in a the same or similar way to more visibly disabled people. And that’s what people tend to find difficult to get their head around and, for me, is the reason this week needs to exist.
The issue
When someone doesn’t look or act in a way society generally expects disabled people to look or act, this can trigger people to respond in a not so positive way.
We see this all the time with people being confronted, accused and questioned (even assaulted) about parking in accessible bays, using accessible toilets or most recently whether they’re entitled to specific support or exemptions throughout the pandemic.
I’ve experienced this when the standard toilets have been too dark for me to get around in so I’ve used the accessible ones, only to have people frowning and tutting at when I come out because I’ve not rolled out in a wheelchair or look how they expect.
I can’t overly blame people for this. What’s rammed down our throats is that disabled people should act, operate and look a certain way. Even the accessibility (wheelchair) symbol itself suggests this. We’re also encouraged to think people fake being disabled so feel inclined to shout it out.
While i can appreciate the reasons, this doesn’t make it right. Negative responses have people questioning whether they’re able to use the very thing they’re entitled to and even stop people using for fear of confrontation. That needs to change.
Most efforts to solve this currently rely on making a person more visibly disabled by wearing lanyards, having cards which prove they are disabled and in recent times face coverings.
These things are no doubt well intended, but they’re effectiveness is questionable, and should it really be down to disabled people to prove they’re disabled just so people don’t respond to them in a negative way? It’s not their issue people respond in this way so why should It be down to disabled people to take on the responsibility for solving it? If it’s peoples response that is the biggest issue, then that’s what we should put energy into sorting. So how do we do it?
A way forward?
A big step would be a review of the accessibility symbol. This is the symbol people are most frequently exposed to, see and associate with disabled people and accessibility. If this symbol is suggesting what disabled people or people requiring certain accommodations should look like, alongside a culture of trying to ensure that people aren’t faking being disabled, can we blame the current reaction? The icon is far too specific and does nothing to reflect the diversity of disabled people it’s supposed to.
We need something vague and generic which doesn’t suggest disabled people look or act a certain way but is still synonymous with the demographic. While i’m not overly keen on ‘Disabled Access Day’ as a title, i quite like the logo and feel this would work well as a more modern and reflective option.
I also feel invisible disabilities as a term is just far too vague. It’s difficult for people to quantify and understand and if anything provides justification and excuses people who respond to disabled people badly.
“Well what do you expect? How was I supposed to know? Their disabilities invisible!”
People using invisible disabilities as justification for a negative response.
A way around this might be to educate people on the make-up of people considered to have invisible disabilities and raise awareness of how subtle and discreet some people’s disabilities and needs can be rather than just using it as a catch all term. This will give people things to look out for and be conscious of. I don’t really believe any disability is invisible, it’s just whether we’re tuned into being considerate of differing needs or not. You’d hope this would help people stop and think when they see something that might usually evoke a negative, knee-jerk reaction and consider whether this response is appropriate given what they now know.
But, in saying this, these things will take time. At the very least I’d advise just leaving people to it. Don’t get involved, question or confront because you’re worried someone is using or doing something you think they may be not entitled to do. Most people who use these things or claim to be disabled are genuine. Don’t let the media and a select minority influence your thinking and potentially further exclude people already facing their fair share or barriers and issues.
If we can do these things, hopefully we’ll get to a place where we don’t need a specific day for invisible disabilities, as whether disabilities are invisible or not, our response would mean tthis wouldn’t really make any difference.
Ben Andrews INC 