1) Invisible disabilities is an umbrella term for disabilities and challenges that are primarily neurological. They are not immediately apparent. I myself have an invisible disability called Capillary Telangiectasia, it is a bundle of blood vessels in my pons that is considered a lesion. I was diagnosed in January 2020, it has caused a range of issues from chronic fatigue to tinnitus that makes silence deafening to half of my body going numb. Integrating into society is hard, because I have an invisible illness there are not many accommodations or I am judged for using them because they can not see my disability. If I randomly become numb and have a episode of vertigo, it makes it hard for me to walk. What I’ve learned is that many places that have motorized cart or more than on so I am forced to try and find a place to sit until I feel better. I think it would be hard integrate and make accommodations for people with invisible disabilities however communities can make an effort to integrate more. For example, I used to work at an indoor play ground. To accommodate children with sensory issues, that had special time slots where the lights were low, the music and machinery were off to create a more sensory friendly experience. Or with Covid-19, many chain grocery stores mad special times for the elderly and immunocompromised. Both examples show how we can integrate invisible illnesses but I feel like we can do more, its a matter of how. I think it would be a good idea to keep special times for grocery stores past the pandemic.
2) Invisible (hidden) disabilities is a term used to describe neurological challenges or disabilities. These are considered to be visual or auditory disabilities that may not be immediately identified by people such as wearing contacts instead of glasses or discreet hearing aids for those who have hearing loss. An invisible disability isn’t only categorized by visual or auditory disabilities, it can also be used to describe people who may face a type of sleeping disorder or possibly even chronic back pain. Just because someone can’t visually see a disability doesn’t meant that specific individual isn’t disabled. There are four types of invisible disabilities that correlate with visual and auditory disabilities; Chronic pain, chronic fatigue, mental illness, and chronic dizziness (Disabled World, 2019). Mental illness truly took me by surprise when reading through this week’s course resources because I didn’t realize till now how important it is for students to understand that mental illness is a serious and hard topic to discuss. Anyone that suffers from depression or even Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) suffers daily without anyone really realizing that individual is currently battling that disability every day.