What Does a Disability Look Like?

According to the World Health Organization, disability has three components:

1. Impairment in a person’s body structure or function, either physical or mental. Examples include loss of a limb, loss of vision or memory loss.
2. Activity limitation, such as difficulty seeing, hearing, walking, or problem solving.
3. Participation restrictions to normal daily activities. Examples include working, and engaging in social & recreational activities,

So as you can see, not all persons with disability have necessarily have a physical component. Additionally, there are medical conditions and disabilities that are not visible including diabetes, lupus & fibromyalgia.

I’m a good example of that in that I have fibromyalgia and other issues but I don’t use a cane at the moment. As a result, I don’t look like I have an impairment . Pain is invisible so they don’t know and cannot tell that my pain level is a 1/10 (I know, very funny) or 8/10 today.

Some Disabilities Can’t be Seen

Not all disabilities are visible! In fact, the majority are invisible.. Here is a ist of many of the conditions that are not readily apparent & are ‘invisible’. This list is by no means exhaustive

• Chronic Pain
• Arthritis, both rheumatoid and osteo.
• CFSME or MECFS
• Fibromyalgia
• Mental Health including but not limited to depression, anxiety, PTSD,, bi-polar, & schizophrenia…
• Sleep disorders including sleep apnea RLS and TMJ
• Diabetes
• Epilepsy
• Digestive issues such as Crohn’s, Celiac, Colitis, & IBS,
• Endometriosis
• HIV or AIDS
• Chronic migraines
• Lupus
• Lyme disease
• Multiple sclerosis or MS,
• Severe Food & Chemical Allergies including Gluten.
• Renal failure & heart failure
• Brain injury including concussions, stroke & meningitis
• Spinal Injuries
• Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder,
• Narcolepsy,
• Repetitive stress injuries like tendonitis & carpal tunnel syndrome
• Learning disabilities like dyslexia, ADHD, ADD, Dyscalculia, Dysgraphia & Processing Deficits
• , Ehlers-Danlos syndrome,
• Myasthenia Gravis
• Deafness, Blindness, Hearing loss, Speech impairments
• Autism

Temporary Invisible Disabilities include:

• Surgery
• Severe Muscle Strain/Sprain
• Pregnancy
• Episodal mental health conditions
• Severe infections