She also says that she faced challenges obtaining accommodations from a prospective employer. Medosch has had similar experiences with her handicapped parking tags. But what if they have chronic pain, what if they have PTSD - anything from cancer to peripheral neuropathy to autism?" "When they see someone in a wheelchair, OK, they get that they're in a wheelchair. "We'd park in disabled parking and she didn't use a wheelchair or a cane, and so people would always give us dirty looks and scream at us," he recalls. He started the group after his wife was diagnosed with Lyme disease and multiple sclerosis. "You know, it's that invisible nature of an illness that people don't understand," says Wayne Connell, the founder and head of the Invisible Disabilities Association. ![]() The severity of each person's condition varies, and the fear of stigma means that people often prefer not to talk about their illnesses.īut in employment disability discrimination charges filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission between 20, the most commonly cited conditions were invisible ones, according to analysis by researchers at Cornell University's Employment and Disability Institute. Their conditions may range from lupus to bipolar disorder or diabetes. It is hard to pinpoint the number of Americans with an invisible disability, but it's estimated there are millions. "So I can pass as a normal, healthy, average person, which is great and definitely helps ease my everyday life - especially in interactions with strangers, getting your foot in the door in a situation like a job interview." "I kind of call it being able to pass," she says. ![]() But that isn't apparent from the outside. Walking to the subway or even bending down to pick something up can take a lot out of her. ![]() "So you kind of blow-dry your hair and then you sort of sit down for a little bit." "Washing my hair, blow-drying my hair, putting on makeup - those kind of activities can exhaust me very quickly," says Medosch. Mundane, everyday activities can be more difficult. More recently, she was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, a condition that leaves her in a state of full-body chronic pain and intense fatigue.įor Medosch and others who struggle with an invisible disability, occasional hospital stays and surgeries are not the hard part. There have been times, she says, when she's "been laying on the floor in the bathroom, kind of thinking, 'Am I going to die? Should I jump out in front of traffic so that I can die?' Because you're just in so much pain." But she has suffered from Crohn's disease, an inflammatory bowel condition, since she was 13. area - busy, with a light laugh and a quick smile. People who live with them face particular challenges in the workplace and in their communities.Ĭarly Medosch, 33, seems like any other young professional in the Washington, D.C. But others - known as "invisible" disabilities - are not. Many are immediately apparent, especially if someone relies on a wheelchair or cane. Some disabilities are more obvious than others. ![]() She took part in a 2014 Stanford Medicine X conference that included discussion of "invisible" illnesses. Carly Medosch has conditions that cause intense fatigue and chronic pain.
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