When You Don't Look Sick

People with invisible disabilities and chronic illnesses number in the millions, but they're often alone with their struggles. Here's why they deserve attention and respect-and how to give it.

- By Lizz Schumer

Sagirah Ahmed Norris finished the San Francisco and New York City marathons last year, and she's training for another one. So you might be surprised to learn that she has multiple sclerosis, which causes numbness, tremors, and fatigue. Because she doesn't always walk with a cane or use a wheelchair, she's been yelled at for using a disabled parking space.

Rich Casias has worked for years as a hydrogeologist and an environmental consultant, but one summer he survived an airplane crash and fire. Now one-third of his body is covered with burn scar grafts; he also suffered a traumatic brain injury that affected his ability to focus. He is a "hidden burn survivor," since his clothes often cover the scars. With the help of speech and cognitive therapists, he has learned how to maintain his concentration, so no one is aware that his days are filled with mental and physical challenges.

Aunia Kahn is a successful, award-winning artist and digital marketing agency owner with two dogs, a longterm boyfriend, and a "ticking time bomb" inside her. She suffers from Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and mast cell activation syndrome as well as other invisible disorders, which leads to a great deal of pain and makes eating most foods and going out into the world dangerous. For two decades of her life, doctors, friends, and family just didn't take her seriously.

Sagirah, Rich, and Aunia live with invisible disabilities. If you met any of them, you would probably have no idea that their challenges were constantly on their minds. Bridging this gap, and understanding more about the silent ways illness and disability can change lives, is one of the most important things people can do for one another.

WHAT COUNTS AS AN INVISIBLE DISABILITY