Hi. I have an invisible disability. A rare condition called Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. It’s a connective tissue disorder and it causes my tendons to be weaker than most. It causes me to dislocate multiple joints in my body if I even sneeze wrong.
I don’t want to be 37 and need a disabled placard, but I do. I don’t want to have hips that dislocate if I step wrong. But I do. And I don’t want my invisible illness to be a joke to people like you. But it is.
Every day I am judged by a world who sees a 37 year old person. They don’t see the days I need a wheelchair. They don’t see the six surgeries I had in the last three years. They don’t see the horrific pain each step I take causes me. They see me on the one day a week I feel up to leaving the house because I’ve run out of food and need to go grocery shopping and need to not risk having my hip go out in the parking lot. They see me on a GOOD day. And judge me.
To get a placard you need a doctor to fill out a form. You need a doctor to agree that you are disabled enough to warrant the placard. You don’t want to be young and need one, not just because being disabled sucks, but also because of the judgements you face from people who know nothing about you.
Not all disabilities are visible. Don’t judge what you don’t know. Choose compassion first.
Hi. I have an invisible disability. A rare condition called Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. It’s a connective tissue disorder and it causes my tendons to be weaker than most. It causes me to dislocate multiple joints in my body if I even sneeze wrong.
I don’t want to be 37 and need a disabled placard, but I do. I don’t want to have hips that dislocate if I step wrong. But I do. And I don’t want my invisible illness to be a joke to people like you. But it is.
Every day I am judged by a world who sees a 37 year old person. They don’t see the days I need a wheelchair. They don’t see the six surgeries I had in the last three years. They don’t see the horrific pain each step I take causes me. They see me on the one day a week I feel up to leaving the house because I’ve run out of food and need to go grocery shopping and need to not risk having my hip go out in the parking lot. They see me on a GOOD day. And judge me.
To get a placard you need a doctor to fill out a form. You need a doctor to agree that you are disabled enough to warrant the placard. You don’t want to be young and need one, not just because being disabled sucks, but also because of the judgements you face from people who know nothing about you.
Not all disabilities are visible. Don’t judge what you don’t know. Choose compassion first.