When many people think about disability, they imagine somebody using a wheelchair or a cane; however, disability is not always visible. In fact, people with invisible disabilities, hidden disabilities, or non-apparent disabilities, actually represent a larger percentage of the population of students with disabilities both enrolled in higher education institutions and participating in study or volunteer abroad programs. Sometimes a non-apparent disability is eclipsed by other identities, and other times, it may cause a great deal of adversity, including when finding a place within the disability community. Unlike people with physical or sensory disabilities, however, participants with non-apparent disabilities sometimes have an option not to disclose– even to their friends and teachers with whom they interact with every day. This can lead to a wider variety of approaches towards disclosure.
In this release of the AWAY Journal, we dig more deeply into the many facets of non-apparent disabilities as we explore the varied stories of people with non-apparent disabilities studying and volunteering abroad.
We hope that the experiences of these students will give you more insight into the management of chronic health conditions, mental health and learning disabilities, as well as the varied ways of approaching disclosure.
A Note About Language
We recognize that there are different ways of referring to people with non-apparent disabilities:
- “Invisible disabilities” is used by the Invisible Disabilities Association.
- “Hidden disabilities” is used by the organization that promotes the Sunflower lanyard, which individuals can use to convey their need for certain accommodations during air travel (learn more about the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Program later in this issue).
- “Non-apparent disabilities” is the phrase we will use throughout this publication because it appears to be the word that is commonly used by U.S. organizations like World Institute on Disability and Disability:In as of the publication date.
How to Access the Journal
You can access this issue of the AWAY Journal in the following ways.
- Read it on our website by navigating back and forth through the articles or accessing them in the resources section.
- Read the issue as a PDF, Word formats, or ePublication (forthcoming).
The National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange (NCDE) is a project of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, designed to increase the participation of people with disabilities in international exchange between the United States and other countries, and is supported in its implementation by Mobility International USA.
Read the next article online.
