Understanding invisible disabilities

When you say that someone is disabled, the common assumption from many people is that the person must be in a wheelchair, using a cane, using a walker, or unable to get around. This is a very inaccurate assumption, which is why it’s important to show that disabilities can be much more complex than that.

In fact, some are known as invisible disabilities. To the outside world, they could be all but impossible to see, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t have a drastic impact on a person’s life. Just because the person appears well on the outside and has normal mobility doesn’t mean nothing is wrong.

Examples of invisible disabilities include the following:

— Debilitating pain.– Overwhelming fatigue.– Frequent dizziness.– Brain injuries.– Cognitive dysfunctions– PTSD.– Learning differences.– Hearing impairments.– Vision impairments.– Mental health disorders.

The problem with these is that they can be harder to identify and explain. A person who is in a wheelchair may not have a difficult time showing that he or she is disabled, but a person who is suffering from consistent dizziness may not always have the symptoms and could look to be doing fine when he or she is really suffering and cannot work.

For this reason, it’s incredibly important to know about the medical evidence that is needed in a disability case. Having statements from a medical professional may be the only way to really show that a disability claim has merit. Be sure you know how this works and what steps to take in California.

Source: Invisibledisabilities.org, “What is an Invisible Disability?,” accessed March 17, 2016