Ableist discrimination and bigotry materialize in countless ways, but talk to anyone whose disability isn’t immediately obvious and this kind of story pops up again and again. Encounters turn bad because a random individual—sometimes in a position of official authority, other times just a meddling onlooker—decides someone is getting away with something. They cry “fraud.” They demand proof. They seek to restore order. Such incidents often result in humiliation or forced disclosure. Worse, as in Minnesota, they can spark violence and trauma.

Anyone who uses accessible parking but who doesn’t look sufficiently disabled or who only uses their wheelchair sometimes has encountered the “Good Samaritan” stranger who demands that they prove their disability. It happens a lot in parking lots, because accessible parking spaces are hotly contested proving-grounds for disability.

We need to learn to expect disability. There’s no one way to look or be disabled. When someone asks for an accommodation, believe them. If someone is behaving in an atypical way, pause to reflect whether there might be a disability-related reason. Or just lighten up. Humans are diverse. We do things in our own unique ways.

When Disability Is Misdiagnosed as Bad Behavior – Pacific Standard

Annie Segarra, who makes terrific YouTube videos about the intersections of disability with race, gender, and other aspects of identity, recently kicked off a viral Twitter thread concerning the constant barrage of micro-aggressions that she notices every time she gets out of her wheelchair. Thousands joined the thread to share their experiences: Anyone who uses accessible parking but who doesn’t look sufficiently disabled or who only uses their wheelchair sometimes has encountered the “Good Samaritan” stranger who demands that they prove their disability. It happens a lot in parking lots, because accessible parking spaces are hotly contested proving-grounds for disability.

When Disability Is Misdiagnosed as Bad Behavior – Pacific Standard

Hello, hello! So if you clicked on this video I’m pretty sure you’re here to find out what are those clues you should be looking for when you’re trying to figure out if someone is disabled or not.

Well, I’m here to tell you…
…
…you can’t.

In case you missed it, you cannot tell if a person is disabled just by looking at them.

Disabled people face a lot of harassment because of this misconception that there is some kind of epidemic of people faking disabilities.

A common interaction that will occur is when a person will park at a handicap spot and leave that spot without a mobility device, which then will make a total complete stranger feel entitled to harass that person whether verbally, confrontationally, or leaving them harassing messages on their vehicle.

Time after time after time.

Statistically speaking, if you see someone that parks in a handicap spot and doesn’t “look disabled” to you, more likely than not, they have an invisible illness or invisible disability. For all you know, that person has a feeding tube underneath their t-shirt or prosthetic limbs under their clothes, they could suffer from a heart condition, fragile skin, muscles, bones, etc.

HOW TO SPOT A FAKE DISABILITY [CC] – YouTube

Almost every time, like clockwork, that I get up from my wheelchair to transfer to a different chair, people are STUNNED.

People’s eyes grow large! In case you missed it, some wheelchair users can walk.

Often not for long periods of time, often there are variables, often it might hurt too much to walk or they might not have enough strength to walk, but some wheelchair users can indeed walk.

And just because a wheelchair user stands up from their wheelchair or walks does not mean that they are faking needing their wheelchair.

People who use mobility devices run a high risk of harassment whenever they stop using their devices for whatever reason, whether they put it down or get up from their device.

A lot of us are scared because there’s a lot of ignorance in the world and a lot of people are ready to attack and ready to call us “fakers” just because they don’t understand that disability comes in different forms.

HOW TO SPOT A FAKE DISABILITY [CC] – YouTube

I often bring up the ableist action of harassing/accusing ambulatory wheelchair users (as well as scooter, walker, crutches, and cane users) of “faking” because it’s something that happens ALL the time under the guise of “allyship” that people seem to WANT to remain oblivious to.

A person standing up from a wheelchair or standing without their mobility aid SHOULD NOT be cause for alarm, should not inspire accusations of faking, should not inspire you to say, “it’s a miracle!” in a mocking tone, or to ask me if I should “really be parked here”, or recommendations of weight loss so I won’t “need that chair anymore”, or whispering about how my karma is coming or how I’m going to hell for “playing with a wheelchair”; all comments I’ve received from strangers for just standing in public, getting my chair out of the trunk of my car on my own, or doing something as minimal as riding my chair while being young and smiling.

It’s prejudice; it lacks understanding to how diverse disability is, it uses a singular representation of wheelchair users to judge all wheelchair users. When people are called out on that ableism, those who do it will become defensive and claim to be acting in defense of disabled people because they truly deeply believe in the myth of a “faking disability epidemic”, but hear this: non-apparent disabilities/invisible disablities, etc. are REAL disabilities and you are harassing the very people you are claiming to be advocating for.

Annie Elainey – Standing Up From My Wheelchair in Public – Standing Up From My Wheelchair in Public

Further Reading