June 23, 1997
Hidden Disabilities
We are NOT Lazy!
Imagine my surprise one day while parking my car at the local Safeway when I was approached by a perfect stranger who claimed I was too young to be handicapped! Silly me! I never knew there was an age requirement! I also get a kick out of those who approach me and tell me I don't look disabled! I usually reply with a smile on my face that they don't look like a doctor either!
Considering that a high percentage of disabilities don't include the usage of a wheelchair to announce our disability it's surprising how many people feel compelled to confront those of us with hidden disabilities. From one point of view I guess we should thank them for "looking after" us and protecting our rights, but from the standpoint of a person with a hidden disability it can be a very embarrassing moment.
Hidden disabilities can be very difficult to deal with. Those of us with them usually look "well" and people have a hard time accepting the fact that we have limits to our endurance. A person with MS might be having a reasonably good day and not need a wheelchair, another with Arthritis can't deal with all the walking in the grocery store or someone with Fibromyalgia can't push their limits because their pain levels will climb their personal Mount Everest. If their doctors have found that it's necessary for them to have access to a handicapped parking permit then why is it up to someone else to question that authority?
Yet another day at my local Safeway I happened to use their complimentary electric scooter. Imagine my surprise while shopping when an 8 or 9 year old child asked his mother why I was using it. Her reply was "because she's lazy". Lazy?!?!?!? I don't think so! The real truth of the matter was my pain levels were so high that day I had to take morphine and since it was only two days to Christmas did this woman honestly expect me not to have any groceries in my home over the holidays? Instead of using the opportunity to educate her child on the fact that some people have disabilities and require assistive aids to deal with daily living she instead decided to use it to educate her child that disabled people are lazy! Ten years from now that child could possibly approach me again and tell me I don't look disabled!
Just because a person isn't in a wheelchair doesn't mean they are any less or any more disabled than a person who does sit in a wheelchair. Their disability has a role in their life, it's something they have to accommodate on a daily basis. I use a cane and even with that assistive aid I still get questioned on a regular basis while parking in handicapped parking stalls. Sure I look chipper going into the Safeway but if that same person saw me leaving an hour later they wouldn't ask the same question! At that point I usually resemble something the cat dragged in! :)
So the next time you see a person parking in that handicapped parking stall remember if they are not in a wheelchair they just might have a hidden disability ....... oh, and it doesn't matter how old they are :)
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