If a colleague uses a wheelchair, wears a hearing aid, or uses an assistive device, it is immediately evident that they have a disability. But not all disabilities can be seen, and they are known as invisible disabilities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
An invisible disability is a physical, mental, or neurological condition that can\u2019t be seen from the outside. But it can impact someone\u2019s movements, senses, or activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some examples of invisible disabilities include autism spectrum disorder, depression, diabetes, and learning and thinking differences such as ADHD and dyslexia. Invisible disabilities can also include symptoms such as chronic pain, fatigue, and dizziness, according to Understood<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt is important to understand invisible disabilities in the workplace,\u201d Jess Stainbrook, executive director of the Invisible Disabilities Association told Understood, \u201cbecause based on statistics, a significant portion of your employees are likely to have one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to a 2017 study<\/a> by the Center for Talent Innovation, among white-collar, college-educated employees around the world, 30% have a disability. But only 3.2 percent self-identify as having a disability to their employers. And of all employees with a disability, 62 percent have an invisible disability. In the survey, those employees responded: \u201cUnless I tell them, people do not know that I have a disability.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n That means many people go through their day-to-day work lives without revealing what disability they may be experiencing or how it impacts them physically, emotionally, and mentally. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Fear is a major reason why people with disabilities \u2014 invisible or otherwise \u2014 don\u2019t disclose them. \u201cThose who are already employed may be afraid of opening themselves up to discrimination,\u201d says Claire Odom, senior program manager at Understood. \u201cOn the other hand, some people don\u2019t want to be seen for their disability, which they may consider to be a minor part of their life, so they don\u2019t disclose.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another reason for silence: People with invisible disabilities may think that co-workers won\u2019t believe they have a disability. \u201cThere\u2019s no easy way to convince people you have something that no one can see,\u201d says Stainbrook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And job seekers may be reluctant when asked on an application if they have a disability. \u201cMany fear that answering yes will reduce their chance of getting the job,\u201d Stainbrook adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You may be surprised by the high percentage of employees in the workforce who have invisible disabilities. So, what can you do to help? Here are concrete steps you can take.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. Make employees feel comfortable disclosing their disability. <\/strong>Employees with invisible disabilities will feel more comfortable presenting their authentic selves if they know they work in an inclusive environment<\/a>. This starts with communicating disability inclusion efforts across the whole company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And those who disclose their disabilities are more than twice as likely to feel regularly happy or content at work than those who have not disclosed to anyone, the 2017 study by the Center for Talent Innovation<\/a> found. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. Review the type of accommodations your company offers for people with disabilities. <\/strong>Under the Employmente Equity Act, people with disabilities are entitled to reasonable accommodations. \u201cPeople with disabilities, invisible or not, can perform their job at or above expectations if given a way to do it that meets their needs,\u201d says Odom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. Offer services and support for people with disabilities. <\/strong>Creating or promoting an employee resource group (ERG) that focuses on disability is an empowering forum for employees with disabilities and their colleagues who are allies to network and raise issues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Your company can offer support for employees with invisible disabilities in other ways. This can include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The benefits of supporting employees with disabilities \u2014 both visible and invisible \u2014 go beyond improving the work lives of individual employees. A 2018 study by Accenture<\/a> discovered that companies that adopt best practices for hiring and supporting people with disabilities achieved \u2014 on average \u2014 28 percent higher revenue, double the net income, and 30 percent higher economic profit margins than their peers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An inclusive workplace<\/a> that supports people with disabilities of all kinds leads to more than just bottom-line benefits. It fosters a culture of openness and creates an environment where all employees can succeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sources: Understood <\/a>\/ Invisible Disabilities Association<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If a colleague uses a wheelchair, wears a hearing aid, or uses an assistive device, it is immediately evident that they have a disability. But not all disabilities can be seen, and they are known as invisible disabilities. An invisible disability is a physical, mental, or neurological condition that can\u2019t be seen from the outside. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4818,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[152],"tags":[300,282,301,302,303],"class_list":["post-4815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-the-workplace","tag-autism-spectrum-disorder","tag-depression","tag-diabetes","tag-dyslexia","tag-invisible-disabilies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.disabilityconnectexpo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.disabilityconnectexpo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.disabilityconnectexpo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.disabilityconnectexpo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.disabilityconnectexpo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4815"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dev.disabilityconnectexpo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4815\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.disabilityconnectexpo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.disabilityconnectexpo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.disabilityconnectexpo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.disabilityconnectexpo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The statistics on invisible disabilities<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Why many people don’t disclose their invisible disabilities<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
How you can help employees with invisible disabilities<\/h3>\n\n\n\n