Not All Disabilites are Visable.
Recently, I was at a concert (the logistics of which, I will cover in another post), and the usher in the ADA section told me an interesting story.
She was saying that there was a concert there earlier in the week, and that some people complained because a couple of people occupying the ADA seats didn’t appear to have a disability.
Turns out, they did.
As I’m sure you know, there are plenty of disabilities in the panoply of experience that aren’t immediately visable. Sometimes, people are overwhelmed by crowds, or sound, or have balance issues…again, not things that you can see.
According to the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower, a program that allows people with hidden disabilities to identify themselves and seek help, those “invisible” disabilites include, but are not limited to:
Cognitive & Neurodevelopmental: ADHD, autism, dyslexia, and dementia.
Mental Health Conditions: Major depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and PTSD.
Chronic Illness & Pain: Fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, migraines, Crohn's disease, and lupus.
Sensory Impairments: Partial hearing or low vision.
Medical Conditions: Diabetes, epilepsy, asthma, and heart conditions.
In short, not everone who needs help is in a wheelchair.
And yet, there is a sort of “zero sum” attitude that some people have about disabilities, especially in situations as the one I described, where they feel as if people are “getting over” on others by just requesting accommodation.
There is not a finite amount of help, of compassion, and there shouldn’t be a finite amount of resources for people who need them.
People have been incredible to me since the amputation, going out of their way to make sure I’m comfortable and well taken care of in public and in private. I have been able to reacclimate to much of life, and to do it without being terrified to do so, although every trip outside my house is scary, to a certain degree.
I can’t imagine how scary it would be to do those things and have people not only not believe me, but to place themselves in active opposition to my getting the help I need to live with as much normalcy as I can get.
Look, the world is a hard place for everyone. You have no idea what people are going though, disabled or not. I believe that the only way we can get through with a semblance of happiness and self-satisfaction is to realize that, and to show relentless compassion and kindness whenever possible.
How hard is it to just enjoy your life without feeling that others are impeding on that?
If you’re the kind of person who feels personally offended when others get a marginal amount of help to have the basic joys you have, then the issue lies with you.
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As always, if you have it in you, please give a thought to donating time or money to Hospice Austin. They do amazing work for people who are going through the hardest thing a person can face.
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