What Does Disability Look Like? 

You don’t ‘look’ disabled. Is a comment I often hear disabled people saying non-disabled people have said to them. But what does disability look like? There isn’t one ‘look’. We don’t go around with a sticker on our head saying ‘I’m disabled’!

Some Disabilities are Visible

Yes, I hear you. Some disabilities are more visible than others. You can often see from features for example, if someone has Downs Syndrome. If someone is an amputee it can be visible. However, it can also not be, if they have a prosthesis and trousers for example, are covering up the prosthesis. You would not know any different.

Disability Aids make some Disabilities Visible

You can see I am disabled because I use a wheelchair. But that is an aid, that I use to help me to go about my day-to-day life. You can’t see my conditions, the pain, the fatigue etc.

If I didn’t need to use a wheelchair but still had the same conditions and illnesses, and daily tasks were still challenging for me, I would still be disabled. The difference is you would not ‘see’ it.

Not All Disabled People Use an Aid

I think society often associates disability when they ‘see’ an aid. However, there are so many other disabilities. One example being, not all visually impaired individuals use a guide dog or cane, but it doesn’t mean they are not visually impaired or their life isn’t affected by their disability. 

The definition of disability doesn’t actually include these aids, that people so often associate as a clear indication of disability. Disability is so complex, and affects different people in different ways, even two people with the same condition.

You Don’t Look Disabled

People sometimes say ‘You don’t look disabled’, as a compliment. This is not a compliment. Individuals with invisible illnesses often don’t think of themselves as disabled, until their illness or disability is having a profound impact on their life, as they feel like an imposter or not ‘disabled enough’ to call themselves disabled. This is enhanced by societies view on what disability ‘looks’ like. As such, imagine you have finally acknowledged you have a disability, and then someone says to you that you don’t ‘look’ disabled, it must feel really hard. Like you are not believed or you are not affected as much as someone else. Or can’t validly say, you are disabled.

Variable Conditions

With some people that have variable or fluctuating illnesses, they may have days or weeks when their disability doesn’t really affect them, or to a lower extent, and then periods when it does. The time period can vary, depending on the illness, and can even be good days and bad days.

Society can be very judgemental, that someone did something yesterday, it means they can do it today, but this is not always the case.

Disability Looks Different on the Same Person at Different Times

Even to the extent of the point in the day. If you saw me sitting in my arm chair, apart from the fact it is a special arm chair, you would not ‘see’ my disability. If you saw me using the pool lift and a shower chair to get into the swimming pool with help from my PA, needing noodles, support and spasming, you would see my disability. But if you saw me 20 minutes later, powering up the pool doing front crawl you would not ‘see’ my disability.

Society Struggles to Accept What it Can’t See

Society seems to struggle with accepting disabilities that are not visible. It is like it need to see the aid, deformity or amputation to accept it. Where is the trust or acceptance? Why should a disabled person need to ‘prove’ their disability to be accepted?

What Should You Take From This?

Disability has no look. You never know if someone has a disability, more people have disabilities than just those with aids or are more visible, and even then, you are probably only seeing part of their disability and how it affects them. Be open minded. Don’t judge and be kind!

Hannah x

You may be interested in reading: Coping With A Chronic Illness.