Disability Friendly

7“You Don't Look Disabled”

Let's spend some time discussing the elephant in the room: visible and invisible disabilities.

If you look at most disability‐related signage, it shows a stick figure using a wheelchair. Sometimes it will show a stick figure holding a hand to its head to represent deafness. The symbology necessary for pictorial cues is always based on physical disabilities because they are easier to understand. Because of that, however, people seem to forget that not all disabilities manifest physically, some manifest occasionally, and others do manifest physically, but in nonobvious ways.

People may say, “But you don't look disabled!” A response to that is, “Well, what does disability look like?” If you think about it logically, there is no clear answer. Most disabilities are non‐apparent. And disability services are varied. Some people need mobility aids, and some do not. Some people need extended time, and some do not. Some need service or companion animals, and some do not. If someone has a disability, they are legally protected to receive civil rights protections and nondiscrimination in receipt of goods and services regardless of one's impression of its severity. And an even more subtle truth is that it is none of your business to know other people's life stories just as it's none of their business to know yours. It is a privilege when people share their truths with you, not a mandate.

In the Workplace: Disclosure Versus Passing

One contested element of disability ...