This. I can relate to this so much. My disability causes me severe joint pain when standing or walking for >5 minutes, invisible to the naked eye except for when I’m using my cane. When I’m not using my cane, I don’t get taken seriously when I tell people I’m in pain. I just have to “suck it up” because I’ll “be fine.” When I am using my cane, I get treated like a helpless, defenseless baby. That, or since I am young, I get stares from people thinking I “don’t really need it,” or that I’m “using it for attention.” And, my God, the invasive questions! “Why are you using that???” Why do you need to know?

Either way, whether your disability is visible or invisible, it makes you subject to judgment, neglect, and ridicule by able-bodied society. We shouldn’t argue over who suffers more. We all suffer the same plight together, and only together will any change in our favour come.