When we talk about disability, we talk about people with mobility problems, or blind people, or
deaf people – these are all disabilities you can see, understand, and process. However, other
types of disability exist above and beyond these types. These different types of disability are
often things we can’t see, and maybe don’t consider when talking about disability as a whole,
but rest assured that they do, in fact, exist, and their presence can fundamentally alter the life of
someone in a profound way.
There are a lot of different hidden disabilities. They come in all shapes and forms. It could be
autism, sensory processing disorders, brain injuries, multiple sclerosis, or a plethora of other
conditions besides. Understanding them is often harder because they don’t have a visual aspect
to go with them. For a lot of people, the way they understand these things is tied entirely to the
way they process them, and the type of physical evidence they can see. It is hard to understand
that which doesn’t come with any real physical presence.
As champions of disabilities in all forms, it’s safe to say that we feel strongly about this
inequality and the way it affects people. We want people to pay more attention to disability and
take notice of what so many people are going through. It’s only natural that people should get
the support and recognition they deserve. However, so many people are judged or looked at in
a specific way without taking any notice of their hidden disability, the thing they struggle with in
plain sight, which makes it hard to give them the support they deserve.
It’s hard to get people to do more for those with disabilities, of course. The things they go
through can be difficult to explain to people and the impacts hard to show. However, we strongly
believe that these people have a right to do more, and should be given all the support they need
to make that happen.
We’ve often talked about our belief that there should be a taskforce in every major government
composed of people with disabilities, and that group of people should always include those who
have hidden disabilities. Imagine for a second that you have this hidden disability. If nobody
sees you and nobody acknowledges you, it can be very isolating, and that makes it hard to try
and live your life with the knowledge that you’re not considered part of that group because your
disability isn’t as publicly acknowledged or perceived.
We hope people call more attention to hidden disabilities, because the lack of support they get
can be a major challenge for anyone who struggles alone without support. Lots of people have
these disabilities, and unless we strive to be more inclusive and help them to feel like they
belong, we aren’t helping everyone in the right way. It can be vital for the future that we aim for
a more inclusive society, regardless of whether the disability a person has is visible or not.