How do we see pain and disability?

Leonor’s disability and her pain are invisible. A disability hinders the ability to function like others, whether physically or mentally. Having an invisible disability means not being able to see the disability at first sight, like you might when someone is in a wheelchair.

The fact that people don’t know that she’s disabled or in pain, makes it more difficult for her to talk about it. It's often hard for her to establish boundaries. When a professor in class asks students to stand up and move around the chairs, it’s awkward having to explain your disability to the whole class. Every time you meet a new person, you have to explain your condition over and over again. ‘It’s kind of exhausting. People also try to give you advice every time. I know they mean well, but it’s like: yes, I’ve tried yoga.’

Sometimes, she is also questioned by people around her. When she uses the elevator in university buildings, people have stopped her to ask why. Or people have told her: ‘Yes, but you’re not that disabled, right?’. The invisibility of her disability makes it easier for people to invalidate her experience.

‘I fit the visual idea of being a ‘normal’ person. That gives me a lot of privileges in some ways, but it also makes it harder for me to advocate for myself. I’m scared to use the disability bathroom, I’m scared to go to the gym and to put the weights very low. What if people ask me: oh, you can do X but not Y? You must be faking it.’