Invisible Disability

by Annika McGraw

For today’s journal, I decided to focus mainly on the thirteenth episode of “The Technically Human Podcast”. In this episode, Professor Doing interviews George Estrick, who has illustrated textbooks for the human body. He also has published poems and prose in various ethics-focused journals and news outlets. He explained that we are in a time in the United States where we have made significant progress for people with disabilities. I found his viewpoint on disabilities to be very interesting. He explained how disability is not only physical, it is also invisible. I really respect the work that George is doing for many with people with disabilities and how he is trying to correct his misconceptions and feelings on raising a child with an intellectual disability.

I believe that the topic of human enhancement and therapy in relation to disability is an incredibly important topic to discuss. To begin, I want to explain my experience of having an invisible disability. I was diagnosed with Chronic Migraine Syndrome when I was nine years old. I have about 15 days a month where I am in a lot of pain. I think that having migraines is a part of who I am, and these experiences have helped shape my personality. Besides the pain, the only negative that comes along with migraines is the stigma or disbelief in the invisible pain of a migraine or headache. I have dealt with many people who brush off my pain as made up of people who have taken offense or criticized me when I have had to cancel plans due to pain. I think that my generation is doing the work to make sure people know that just because you can not see a physical disability does not mean it is not there. I think that people have begun to accept the prevalence of mental illness and migraines that are essentially invisible illnesses. I also believe that a positive shift has been made in not defining people based on their disability or illness. I think that accepting people and the illnesses that they bring along with them is very important in creating a new and more inclusive society. I work every day to push through the pain I feel so that I can succeed and so that my Chronic Migraine Syndrome does not define me. I also make sure not to take advantage of having migraines as in making it an excuse. I think that being responsible for how your illness affects you leads to people respecting you more and understanding that you are doing your best to be successful and live a happy life. While this is just my opinion based on experiences I have had, I realize that there are many people with widely different experiences around disabilities out there. I hope that we can continue to make positive steps forward as a society and make all those affected by visible and invisible disabilities feel heard.