What are Hidden Disabilities?

As a mild/moderate special education teacher, I talk about how the majority of learning disabilities, I work with are not visually apparent.  I also talk about how people with  disabilities, hide their disabilities in order to fit in and not have to justify their disability. I also talk about destigmatize mental health care and how people experiencing a mental health episode are treated with violence by the hands of law enforcement instead of care.  This episode is my current understanding on the matter and I welcome all feed back

Text Transcription for this episode is Available here
https://inclusiveeducationirl.buzzsprout.com/ 

Transcript

Unknown Speaker  0:00  
Welcome to my podcast. This is Sergio and you are now listening to the Inclusive Education IRL podcast.

Unknown Speaker  0:23  
In today's episode, we're going to be talking about hidden disabilities, and how that impacts people in education and in their daily lives. The reason why I want to talk about hidden disabilities in this episode is because I've seen how people disregard them and are completely unaware of them. And it actually hurts people with disabilities to receive their services, or it intimidates them to not be able to receive services or supports, because they are, are afraid of being called out by others, and being humiliated in front of others or seen as different. Like my previous episode of my podcast, I talked about how there's a stigma for special education. So obviously, someone would not want to identify themselves with that group unless they feel like they are able to hold their own or they are aware of the consequences, and they are 100% okay with taking on that, taking the flack for identifying themselves with an outside group and having the agency to feel like they can withstand that type of pressure in their life. So it's not for everyone, I do not blame anyone that does not want to be outed for having a disability, especially if it's a hidden disability and the ways that it could be kind of hidden and not outright, puts us into a separate category. So I just want to I want to talk about how that affects my work as a special education teacher, and how it affects people in general and have my listeners and have my listeners have a greater sense of understanding of what disability means. Through my work, I've been able to learn a lot about it. But I've also learned a lot through like Tik Tok and Instagram and YouTube and just talking to different people and meeting different people you get you get to come across different folks that have different needs and things that when I was growing up, I did not feel we're real, are actually very real. And maybe I did not feel that they were real, because the people around me told me they were not real. And I didn't know any better. So I listened to them. But through my experience, I've been seeing that a lot of those things weren't true. So when most people think about disabilities, especially in the special education field, or as teachers, let's just say teachers in general, they usually if you close your eyes, you think about maybe a student with crutches, or with a wheelchair, or that are blind, that have a speech impediment, or that they look a certain way. I think collectively, that will be what most people will think of someone as someone with a disability.

Unknown Speaker  3:54  
The way that we view disability should be kind of shifted, because most people with a disability, it is not one of the things that we that I just listed or that you might something that you might like, off the top of your head imagine. So in my experience, most of my students that I've worked with, that have a disability, it's been a learning disability. So there is no way that you will be able to tell from looking at the students that they have a learning disability. So I'll say that again, because I think that's, that might be new information for you. And I want you to have that. There is no way from looking at this from the students. There's no way that from looking at these students that you will be able to tell that they have a learning disability. So most of the students that I work with, their learning disabilities vary as well. So they might have what is categorized as a specific learning disability. And that might be in the categories of auditory processing, visual processing, or attention. So I'm not a medical doctor. And neither is anyone that works for the school. So we don't label students health diagnosis, like maybe like ADHD, or ADD or whatever attention acronym, acronyms are not my strength that the student might have as like a requirement for an IEP. In the previous episodes, I had mentioned how students that don't struggle academically, they usually don't get additional academic support, because they are deemed as someone that does not have a disability, even though it might take them like three times longer to finish an assignment, or they're putting in three times more work, which causes them a lot of stress and anxiety, because they no longer have a social life, or time to relax at home. And they don't want to disappoint anyone. That's like more of a high functioning, anxiety.

Unknown Speaker  6:10  
Kind of response, but there are students like that, that need more support, but aren't getting it. And they just kind of push themselves really hard. And at times they break down and you know, they need additional support, but they they won't receive it because they are academically succeeding. So legally, unfortunately, the way that things are set up is 10, I won't be, I can't actually help them, the school can't really offer them academic support, because a lot of those parents are like, Well, my kid has been working so hard, he or she is such a hard worker, and you can see it through their grades like no way they're gonna get a special education support, like setup, all that stuff. I've seen that a lot as well, which is sad, because that student is really stressed out all the time, and they don't want to disappoint anyone. And they don't want to, you know, fall into that stigma, like I had previously mentioned on that stigma of education episode. But like moving forward with that. So if we're so most students, you know, they have a hidden disability they have, if a parent requests their doctor, if their child has some sort of attention thing that's diagnosed by a doctor, and the doctor can write a note to the school, and then the team can put in some accommodations and give the kid an IEP. But literally, like the doctor has to request it. And sometimes parents don't know, to advocate for themselves like that. It is difficult, it is difficult for parents to navigate that kind of thing, because ultimately, they have all the power, but they also have to rely on different institutions to kind of bestow accommodations upon their child. And it's hard to know what is useful and what is not useful. And, or as a result of that. That's why I see this kind of like educational material as something that's really valuable. So people can kind of know a little bit more and like give better advice to their family members want to make myself available for any inquiries as well. And then the other thing that I other eligibilities that I work with us work with is autism, mild to moderate. So there is no way that you can tell someone has autism by just looking at them. This is something that is like hotly debated by a lot of teachers. That kid has autism. And I don't know why that kid has autism. But are you sure he has autism mystery? And I'm like, Yeah, he does. Or she does. Because there are female students that have autism, just how like there are women in the world that have autism. In that tested community. There's like a back and forth I don't know, intergenerational, that they just want they want to be called autistic. In my training, we were trained to kind of refer to people, people first language, so like a person with autism. But honestly, like online, all the creators I've seen, they're like, oh, just call me autistic. It's fine. So I just want to be respectful to anyone out there listening. So it's nuanced. All this stuff is really nuanced. And it depends on the person as well. There's still a lot of like, generation of knowledge being made. And then it's amazing how like, we can create our own content such as this podcast and kind of put it out there into the world and just have it be a resource for others. So I've been drawing a lot from neurodiverse creators on the internet and people that I know, just having conversations Just to kind of further bolster my knowledge and understanding on these different communities, in order to kind of synthesize it for you guys, and then the other eligibilities that are more hidden, but way more common than a student being in a wheelchair is a speech and language impairment. So they have trouble either producing language in standard grammar, which is also a problem because at times, it's a little bit braces, why not a little bit. At times, it is racist, the way that they identify students to be in that program, especially for speech and language, because we're not sure whether this student is learning English as a second language, or like the people on their home just don't speak English in a way that is deemed Standard English. So the way that they speak is different than standard English. And that could vary from like, depending our community they're from, but there's many ways to speak English that do not involve having a speech and language impairment. And some children just develop slowly, their language and speech develops slowly. And I was a student, I remember being in first and second grade and having speech, speech pull out, where they would kind of help me pronounce words and stuff. Speaking definitely is not my strength.

Unknown Speaker  11:35  
It's definitely a skill I've improved on. It's not like I can't sing, you know, I can't like talk really fast. That doesn't mean I don't have good ideas, and that I can write them down and practice pronouncing words and stuff like that. So I don't really remember what my specific challenge was. I think my skills are just overall pretty low. And I was pretty reserved as a child, I didn't want to say anything. I was just watching people. But when I did speak, I'll speak like everyone else around me. I grew up around a lot of people learning English, or that didn't speak English. So I was speaking in a way that was not deemed Standard English. So then it comes down to like, intellectual disability. And people want to believe that people with intellectual disabilities look a certain way. But honestly, they don't. There are some people that may fall into those stereotypes. But I've had students that do not look like they have an intellectual disability. And when I try to explain to their teachers and admin, their capacity, they don't really believe me until they test it out in the classroom, and they start to realize how far apart our understandings are of this child. The other category that I've worked with is emotionally disturbed, there's also no way for you to be able to tell someone is emotionally disturbed from just looking at them. That one's kind of a really serious eligibility and special education. Because if you have that diagnosis, then you can't serve in the military or serve as a police officer, there are certain professions that won't allow you to kind of sign up for them if you have emotionally disturbed so that one's a little bit more serious, and needs a lot of different input from different people. As you can tell, I listed off a lot of different eligibilities you probably to get to OT which is occupational therapy, which is the students that you might like consider like, disabled, like at first glance like they're missing one other faculties are no longer able bodied. And that's, and even then there are still students that you wouldn't be able to tell because they have trouble with only their handwriting, like fine motor skills, or that they might become like exhausted after a certain amount of physical activity, even though they present us an able bodied person. That's all to say that you'd never know who has a disability. And we really need to be compassionate towards everyone and understanding and kind of bullied people when they tell you I can't do this, or can I do this in another way? Because then other students show up to school, trying to feel unsuccessful, so we have to help them feel successful so they actually want to continue on in their schooling and figure things out for themselves. Not that like school is the ultimate answer for any of the questions that we're facing in our society, but it definitely provides you a lot more options. In order to kind of support yourself and figure out some next steps for yourself, especially when it comes to like reading and writing. So I wanted to share a story to kind of illustrate the whole, like hidden disability thing. I had a student that one of her was also one of my co workers with, she was a math teacher and I was a special education teacher, RSP teacher. I had a few students from my caseload in her classroom, so I was pushing in trying to provide support for this teacher, she was pretty new. And just so you know, before I end the story, right, so she doubt it was her first year teaching, but she had been in the educational game for a long time, she I think she had like her own tutoring business or something. But she, yeah, and then she got checked by a few people afterwards, which makes me feel good. Because she wasn't gonna listen to me. And I wasn't gonna get in trouble for yelling at her either. So she had this like, really old school mentality about how students should behave, and whatnot. And like, the classic,

Unknown Speaker  16:18  
like control center teacher where they want everyone to listen to them. The students learn directly from the teacher kind of mentality. So she's a math teacher. So she's given her instructions. And students are just supposed to write it down and maybe ask a question. But it's kind of discouraged, that type of I see kind of went off on one of my students, and then that this was the thing when I was in the classroom, she wouldn't like, go over the top with the students, because I feel like she might have been embarrassed by that type of behavior. But usually, when teachers come in with that type of mentality, like, students automatically want to test them, because they know there's gonna be a reaction in a struggle. And ultimately, the students always win. Because there's, like, 30 of them, there's only one teacher. And I, maybe for a period of time, like, the teacher might appear to be winning. But it's like, ultimately, it's not worth it as a teacher, in my opinion, because there's a lot of stress, and unnatural, and it doesn't really result in like, students learning. But a lot of people would argue against that. One day, she actually, you know, she did lose her cool with one of my students. She wasn't doing her work, or whatever, because she didn't get it, trying to work with her. But it was later on in the semester, and she had basically given up, she's like, this is too hard skin to coast, in this class, and not do any of the work. But, you know, a teacher took offense to that. And, you know, try to lay it in, like, lay it on her, try to yell at her about, like, why she wasn't doing any work. And then, you know, I think I stopped it, or I tried to look, you know, I was probably in the classroom. So I probably gave her a look and try to redirect her attention as a teacher, because also, I don't want to confront the teacher in front of the students, because then the students will egg on a fight between the teachers. So, there's a lot of dynamics here. So it's kind of like trying to de escalate the student and the teacher at the same time. I had a conversation with the student afterwards and be like, hey, you know what, like, you know, I understand that, you know, you gave up like, whatever, just don't listen to her. I'm gonna talk to her later. Like, we're cool. Just chill, like, Don't do anything crazy. classes on silver, you got like 20 minutes left or whatever. So that was like what I said to the student, you know, she was fine. Whatever she's moved on in life. She's has a great life. And then afterwards, I think I talked to the teacher after during like, the passing period, or maybe was lunch. This conversation really stuck with me, because I was not expecting it from her. But it makes sense now, like, in retrospect, it should. She was angry at her because she wasn't doing the work. And I was like, okay, yeah. I'm like, have you kind of broken it down step by step for her like she, I don't think she understands it. Like, I'm working with her during a different period. And we're like, working on like, step one, and you're like on step 10. And she's like, No, but like, you know, she's been a class every day she should know this material. Blah, blah, blah, like I think that's, that's a big one for a lot of teachers out there. They say like, oh, you should know this by now. And that is not the case that I can assure you that students don't need to know anything, when they step into that classroom, like, you should probably assume they don't know anything, and you'll have a way better time. And teach them a lot of things instead of just going over their heads, especially in math. So she was like, she should know this material. So she was like, she should know this material. And I was like, okay, but she has a learning disability. And we've been working together. And she's been putting a lot of effort. And you know, she's not there yet. But you're gonna have to break down the steps for her a lot more. And the teachers response was like, oh, like what, like, shows I have a learning disability, like, we sue pretty for that. And then that's when I was like, What did you just say? Like, in my head, I was like, freaking out. I was like, what? Like, I was so confused in my head, like, I don't know, like, I guess, my first,

Unknown Speaker  21:09  
my first reaction to a lot of things in the professional setting is like, alright, let's fight. But that's definitely not the professional reaction. And then after that, I'm like, What am I supposed to do? Like, a lot of the times, I'm just like, what? So I have to like this associate myself from what they just said, and kind of regroup and just like, not lose my cool or like, be aggressive. And so I kind of told my sped team at the time, and I was like, you know, this happened, like, what, what, and then they like, kind of helped me in understanding of it, and kind of be like, be able to work through it. And like, tell me the next steps that I was supposed to do, to kind of go about it professionally, with her. But yeah, that really stuck out to me that like most people, they think that you know, they someone has a learning disability that they are, they're going to look a certain way, that they're not going to look pretty, that's what I learned from her. So it was shocking for me, I just wonder if that was a shocking story. And it will stay with me because I think that was one of the first times where I realized the extent of how people operate. So I wanted to go through a list of different hidden disabilities that you may or may not be aware of, and this is not a comprehensive list, but I just want to share a few of them. Maybe give a few examples. So Fibro Fibro mil mil I can't even say it but it affects a lot of people. It's like just being super painful all over your body constantly Fibro mil millones. Yeah, well, can't say it. Arthritis, it's way more common than people realize. It's not just older folk that have it. Some people have arthritis when they're young as well. Diabetes, super popular in our communities, in families, ADHD as well. Like being time sensitive, and getting tasks done is difficult, like people with ADHD at times need assistance, to do everyday tasks, dysgraphia and dyslexia so there might be people in your life that makes up their numbers or letters as well, or have difficulty with that, like auditory processing, visual processing are like hidden disabilities that a lot of people just kind of skirt around. Since we're not in school, it's not as apparent but people are embarrassed to kind of admit that they have these type of problems or they just kind of play it off and never hear what people say. And just like general poor health can be a disability as well. I type there's a lot of misunderstanding of diabetes, like you have to be overweight to have diabetes, but there's a lot of people that are born with diabetes, a lot of people that are thin that have diabetes. So things like that. There are so many autoimmune disease says that I was not aware of and when I grew up I didn't know about but now I'm starting to realize that like diet plays a huge part into your auto immune response. And there's a lot of things that especially growing up you can't control like your diet and your environment. But when you get older you can definitely change your environment and your diet in order for your body not to freak out constantly. So different people have different reactions in their body. But it's definitely a hidden disability, it could be debilitating can't leave your house, it can't do anything. So that's definitely one. And then there's a, like a whole slew of mental health ones that are kind of quickly mentioned because like depression, people that are actually the press can leave your house, they can shower, they can eat, they need help from somebody else. Anxiety, there's a lot of people that have anxiety that it prevents them from doing what they want to do or have to do. And recently, I've been learning more about people that have high functioning anxiety. And what that means is that they're like, constantly anxious, but the way that they kind of cope with it is by completing tasks, and like worrying about completing more tasks. So we definitely reward that behavior in our society

Unknown Speaker  25:56  
with like more. Like, we see that as a good thing, like being able to do things constantly, constantly, like checking your email constantly being available 24/7 For work, like that is something that is rewarded, but it takes a huge toll on the person mental health. Also, other things like bipolar, and being schizophrenic are things that we see a lot as like reactions to like stressors or traumatic events. And a lot of people that I know, don't really receive mental health services because of these events. So it definitely complicates and develops into other things. But it is difficult for those people to go about their daily lives. And if we tell someone that we're bipolar, that's usually not a good thing. Like it's like a red flag for a lot of people. But there's like medication and different mental health services that you can access if you have a diagnosis. So it's not like a deal breaker for a lot of people. But it is when you feel like it is in seeking out support because of it, or actually wanted to, I've recently realized there was mental health awareness. So just so everyone knows, I just want to come out and be in support, I think the way that D stigmatize things is by talking about them. So I definitely have been going monthly, as a mental self care routine. To go to like a therapist, I don't even know what I would call him. It's like a mental health provider. Just talked to them like monthly, whether I feel good or bad. And I think I've been doing that since 2019, that since the end of 2019, it is now may 2021. So this is what I'm doing to kind of kind of break the stigma is just to kind of let you guys know that like, there's no shame in receiving mental health support, even if you feel good if you feel bad. And just kind of keep that pushing. And then the other one would be autism as well. I wanted to mention autism as well, because I'm going to transition to a story that happened to my friend, son, since we can't, you know, always readily identify someone with autism by just looking at them. My friend, Juan Garcia, that's also an RSP teacher. He told me that one time he bumped into. He was at the grocery store. And he was shopping doing his own thing. And then a really large person carelessly bumped into him. And his initial reaction was anger and wanting to react back to the sky, just bumping into him because he felt like he did it on purpose. And he was angry, you know, and he might have done something he might have regretted. But before he reacted, he kind of looked around and noticed that this guy was with his mom and his mom was kind of scared to see him being coming angered. By her son's behavior. Definitely the guy that bumped into him was large and wants, like initial reaction wasn't one of like, oh, this is someone that needs support from their mother needs a supportive, supportive living style where they need to be like they need to have a guardian. So obviously his reaction wouldn't be one that we might take with someone that is doesn't have a supported living style and If they bumped into you into the grocery store, there might be different reaction, right? But just knowing that and him being RSP teacher and being aware of certain things kind of informed his reaction. And I think it's like way more common than people realize, but they might not really understand that there's so many different things going on with people. And I just want to mention, like, it's, it's way more common that what we expect in our society. And definitely people with like mental health, that need mental health support are definitely a victim of like police violence, a lot more often, people experiencing homelessness is