Believe disabled people.
Believe disabled people, whether or not we look disabled.
If you can absorb that statement, you can probably skip this post. However, read on for some more nuance and examples from my life.
Tag: Ableism
Using A Cane With An Invisible Disability
Posted in Creative Commons, and Life
I thought I’d write for a moment about what it means to use a cane as a person with an invisible disability (fibromyalgia).
Invisible disabilities are life-altering health conditions which are nonetheless not always visible to a normal observer. Even a trained medical professional might miss them under casual observation. Fibromyalgia is a debilitating, and poorly understood condition. It combines chronic pain with other symptoms like sleep disturbance and severe fatigue.
I don’t use a cane every day, which can contribute to confusion from people who don’t understand how disabilities can work. I might seem “able bodied” one day, but the next (or even later the same day) be hobbling around in pain.