i'm brianna couture: personal instance of invisible illness

This video, I'm Brianna Couture, is about a girl with a neuromuscular disease called mitochondrial disease. How would you expect her to look? How do you tell which of the 3 girls is her? How do you tell who's healthy from who's not when it comes to invisible illness?

 



 

highlights from the video:
- there are almost 33 million people in the US with a severe disability ( keep in mind this video was from 6 years ago, so the number now is most likely higher )
- only 10 million use an assistive device, so 67% DO NOT use these devices
-you can't tell who has an invisible illness from those who don't
-not all people who are sick "look" handicapped
-sometimes these people who "look" the same, can't act the same as healthy people
-these people want "respect, credibility, admiration, belief"

commentary:
- when it comes to invisible illness, it is honestly impossible to tell who is sick from who isn't. so the next time you see someone park in a handicapped spot, or use an elevator, and think that they're somehow 'abusing the system' or taking advantage of something that is there to  help "real" handicapped people, stop and remember this video. remember that not everyone who is sick looks sick, not everybody who has an invisible illness get belief. in a public sphere they are often ridiculed, given nasty looks, and encounter a general lack of understanding from ignorant people. these people are severely disabled and struggle tremendously with their illness on a day to day basis, so the last thing they need is any more difficulty or any more stress.
- as someone with a disability that includes severe joint pain, muscle pain and weakness, and other physical obstacles, I sometimes need to use an elevator at school. the one in my dorm requires a special key that only the cleaning people have since all the students take the stairs. every single time someone sees me go into the elevator they say "you can't take that...it doesn't work for us" "why do you get to use it?" "what's wrong with you?" "what's up with your legs?" 
some days I debate if its worse for me to painfully and slowly drag myself up the stairs just so I don't have to deal with it, but then again I will run into kids in the stairwell that will ask me the same kinds of questions or huff and puff that I'm not going fast enough for their liking even when there's plenty of room for them to go around me.
this is why for so long I've been struggling on whether or not to get and use a handicapped parking spots. would it be incredibly useful for the times when I'm really struggling, but is it worth all the negativity and comments from ignorant people? that I haven't decided yet.