Woman uses the disabled parking but is criticized for looking perfectly healthy: "Many disabilities are invisible!"
There are disabilities that are not always recognizable at first sight, but they are no less "real" than other, more visible disabilities. Asking a person to prove they have a disability can be very embarrassing for everyone involved: why not take a person's word for it when they say they are disabled? What reason is there to lie about such a serious condition? Katie Bennett-Hogg vented her anger on Twitter after a stranger accused her of using a disabled parking spot without actually being disabled. The reason? The stranger looked at Katie and didn't notice anything "disabled" about her, so he assumed the young woman was perfectly healthy. It was too bad then, that Katie's disability is not openly visible and she has every right to park in the handicapped spot.
via Twitter / Katie Bennett-Hogg
"Today I got really pissed off when I parked in a disabled space. I have all these feeding tubes hidden under my clothes, so I look like a young, healthy person. But actually I do have a disability, despite the fact that I chose to hide my tubes. This post is meant as a friendly reminder to everyone out there: most disabilities are invisible," the young woman wrote on her Twitter account, not expecting to go viral with her outburst.
The young woman has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a rare inherited disorder affecting the connective tissue that deals with unusual hypermobility of the joints, elasticity of the skin and fragility of bodily tissue. Due to this rare disease, Bennett-Hogg is forced to have a feeding tube which passes through her abdominal wall and into her stomach (and which allow her to feed on liquids and take drugs she needs). The young woman also has a catheter. Even though Bennett-Hogg hides her "disability" under her clothes, that doesn't mean she isn't entitled to use reserved parking.
Wikimedia / Not the actual photo
Of course, most followers took the side of the young woman: "You shouldn't have to prove your disability to anyone. I experience the same thing every day - I have an invisible physical disability and the amount of stares I get when I'm using disabled services is ridiculous! " wrote one follower. And another person shared an experience similar to that of Bennett-Hogg: an American man accused this person of pretending to have a disability in order to use the disabled parking. Although she seemed absolutely "normal", she had her disabled permit in plain sight. But this did not help very much, as the woman was Canadian and the American man stated her permit was not valid in another country.
No one should be put in a position to have to prove anything to anyone - especially if it is a question of disability. How would you have reacted?
