Just because you can’t see something, doesn’t mean it's not there: the truth behind an invisible disability.

 Just because you can't see something, doesn't mean it's not there: the truth behind an invisible disability. 

Janelle Cox / Teach Hub

From my personal experience,  people in my school with a visible disability got their accommodations from teachers with no questions asked. I however, have an invisible disability. To everyone around me, I look like a typical girl. I walk in the hallway with my friends, talking, laughing, all with a smile on my face. What people can’t see is the dark anxiety monster eating at all my thoughts and feelings. Everything is taken over by anxiety and turned into the most negative thing it can be. My teachers can’t see my disability, they just assume presenting isn’t a problem, but instead another assignment I wanted to get out of. As you can probably guess, it was a lot harder for me to get all my accommodations. Some teachers told me I don’t need them or that I can’t use them in their class, which is just stupid. I was diagnosed, I went through the process to get the accommodations, I need to use them, so I should be allowed to use them without having an argument with the teacher.  Just because you can’t see something doesn’t mean it isn’t there. My anxiety is exactly that, invisible. Just because it is invisible shouldn’t mean that I don’t get the accommodations I need. 

 Invisible disabilities are not something that should be ignored or overlooked. It impacts millions of people around the world. Kristin Perry defines these disabilities as “...impairments that come with few visual identifiers and are unapparent to an outside observer.” Everyday life can be very difficult for those who have a disability, visible and invisible. The difference is, people with a visible disability are often treated differently than those with an invisible disability. 

Exploring a Career and Having an Invisible Disability

A visible disability is very obvious to other people, and more often than not, those people are treated differently. They may be blind, or deaf, or maybe they have an amputation. More often than not, these people get special accommodations and are treated differently, simply just because you can SEE that they have a disability.

However, not all disabilities can be seen. Kristin Perry states “Over 42 million Americans are considered to have a severe disability, and 96% of these are hidden.” This proves that most disabilities are not clearly visible to others and go completely unnoticed in everyday life. Kyra Coates says invisible disabilities like “...depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, PTSD, and schizophrenia are just a few examples that can affect someone’s ability to work, socialize, or manage everyday tasks.” 

This can often lead to a lot of bullying. A study showed that “children with invisible disabilities are two to three times more likely to be bullied than other kids.” Some people say, “you look fine” or “doesn’t look like anything is wrong with you.”  Just because you can't see someone’s disability, doesn’t mean that they don’t have one. People with non-visible disabilities are often misunderstood and struggle in social environments. As a result, they can often end up feeling isolated and left out of activities with others. 

Westmoreland Psychotherapy Associates

Kristin Perry says, “Learning disabilities are the most common hidden disability in education affecting 1 out 5 students…” This shows that invisible disabilities are not rare, so why is it not getting the attention it needs to? All children have the right to an education. Special Education has an intention to support children in schools from ages 3 to 21 years old with a diagnosed disability. The goal is to provide these kids with support for their needs so they can learn and prepare for the future. 

Any child can struggle in a classroom, but it may be even harder to learn and participate when you have a disability. Children with an invisible disability should have the same access to help as those who have a visible disability. Kristin states, “Teachers and schools see those with severe disabilities and thus accommodate them more. Many students with invisible disabilities do not receive the accommodations they need and are entitled to.” This shows that students who have a disability that is not obvious to others are often overlooked and do not get the help from teachers that they are legally supposed to have. 

Alara Cahill says that there are special laws that public schools put in place to help students with disabilities both visible and invisible. “Section 504 mandates that students with disabilities receive accommodations that allow them to participate in regular classroom settings, such as modifications to tests or classroom environments.” The other is the Individualized Education Program (IEP) which is the school promising to “deliver the individually tailored program to the student and a failure to do so is a breach of the IEP and a denial of FAPE.” These laws are put in place to  make sure that ALL students are getting a fair chance at an education that they deserve. Schools need to ensure that their students are getting the accommodation that they need in order to succeed. This goes for both visible and invisible disabilities. 

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