Being disabled or having a chronic illness is not always visible from the outside, but that doesn’t mean it affects your life any less. Yet people who have invisible illnesses or disabilities are routinely asked to “prove” their condition to others.
Paralympic athlete Sophia Warner, who has cerebral palsy, tweeted about her experience of this on Tuesday, saying she was ordered to “publicly prove” her condition by EasyJet staff at an airport. “I was told ‘you look completely normal. Why do you need help?’ I cried all the way home,” she said.
EasyJet has since apologised and said it is investigating the way the athlete was treated, but other people with invisible illnesses or disabilities have told HuffPost UK unfortunately, being made to justify why you need assistance, time off from work or just a little understanding is not uncommon.