On Partial, Temporary and Invisible Disability

For many years now, I’ve been sensitive about invisible disabilities. First, through friends who have cancer or chronic illnesses but appear fit and healthy, and then people give them dirty looks when they use parking for disabled, for example. And second, since I became diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis which is largely invisible but chronic joint pain, even when I don’t have a flareup. No, hold up. I’ve had chronic neck and back pain since I was in a car accident at age 21, but I don’t ever even bring it up because it’s just part of who I am, I guess. So  I guess I have two invisible disabilities that are chronic.

For some reason I have never requested help at airports with things like getting my luggage onto that thing where they weigh it, even though it harms me every single time. Every trip. I just do it and bare it.

For the first time in my life, doing it and just baring it seems to no longer be an option so I asked for help. The odd thing about airport assistance is that they have this generalization of “you need help, you get a wheelchair”. And I’m like, ok, but umm, you can see that I can walk, right? I just need not to carry my luggage or handle my hand luggage up and down from the overhead compartment. And they’re like, “you gotta use the wheelchair if you want assistance”.

So of course, fine, I took the wheelchair thing, at least on my way down from the plane. Of course the air hostesses saw me walk up and down the plane normally for the entire flight, so I got some dirty looks.

The person pushing the wheelchair saw me get up and stand and get on the wheelchair. I tried to chat with him, but he wasn’t too happy with me, I think, or maybe it was a language barrier. It’s also a bit uncomfortable not to see their face, and then also, honestly, a bit scary to have no control. The wheelchair seemed old and creaky, so I worried a screw would get loose at some point, and going down an incline felt like being on a roller coaster without a seat belt. Why don’t wheelchairs have seat belts?

I am sharing this to explain that although I am extremely grateful I got this service, I understand completely why I never asked for it before. Looking young-ish (no longer so young) and healthy, feeling mostly healthy, it does not feel good to take up a resource like a wheelchair when all you need is help with your bags!

Why can’t airports have several tiers of support for people who are sick or have partial disabilities? The symbolism of wheelchair as a symbol of disabilities is problematic in how it assumes all disabilities are both visible and related to your legs. Not your arms. Not your eyes. Not your neck. Not your stomach. You know?

So I wonder what is being discussed in disability studies about how lots of what is considered accommodation is either one-size-fits-all or you get none, almost. I did manage to refuse the wheelchair during check-in, but was advised if I didn’t take it upon arrival, I would lose all other assistance 🙈 so I took it. What could I do?

I also know I was put in several situations before where short transit times had me having to run across an airport with my hand luggage and this is also not ok given the arthritis in my knees… but I had never requested assistance for this. A wheelchair would have helped there, but I also don’t wanna waste a person’s time when someone else needs  the help more than me.

Anyway, just wanted to share this experience… thoughts?

Header image by geralt from Pixabay. It has a rainbow of people standing on top, one of them in the middle on a wheelchair, and to me it represents a variety of disabilities along a spectrum even if the only visible one is the one on the wheelchair.