Disabilities and chronic illnesses can sometimes be just as invisible to yourself as to others. It took me a long time to learn how my disabilities were impacting my life. The everyday effects are usually not what doctors tell you about growing up, for me it seemed like if I wasn’t having a flare up I was perfectly fine. Things like fatigue or the emotional effects didn’t cross my mind until I was older and it’s only looking back that I can see it more clearly. Being a woman with invisible disabilities means that a lot of the time I am not taken seriously. I think I would’ve been able to come to terms with having a disability much sooner if I had been treated with more empathy as a young person in hospitals and school environments. I am glad that I can recognise the impact of my disabilities better now than before and that I no longer hold myself to the standards that were projected onto me.
