• Of the 12 million people with disabilities in France, nine million have an invisible disability, according to APF France Handicap. Fibromyalgia, inflammatory bowel disease, ankylosing spondylitis, endometriosis: so many chronic pathologies as disabling as they are imperceptible.
  • In particular, these people with invisible diseases may have significant difficulty standing for prolonged periods.
  • But because they do not want to be scrutinized, to have to justify themselves, or even to receive derogatory comments, they may find it difficult to ask for a priority or a place on public transport.

You too have already experienced this situation: after ten minutes with your eyes glued to your phone screen (playing Candy Crush, swiping profiles on Tinder or watching the latest video of Lena Situations), you realize that a pregnant woman or a person on crutches is frozen in front of you. Normally (unless you're disabled yourself or just someone you wouldn't like to have as a buddy), you get up sheepishly from your seat to give up your seat. But now imagine that this person has an invisible disability.

Of the 12 million French men and women with disabilities, nine million have an invisible disability, according to APF France Handicap. Fibromyalgia, inflammatory bowel disease, ankylosing spondylitis, endometriosis: so many chronic pathologies as disabling as they are imperceptible. In particular, these sick people may have significant difficulty standing for prolonged periods. This can be a problem in the metro, the bus, but also at the checkout of the supermarket or cinema.

"I am relatively young and apparently healthy"

This is the case of Francis. Victim of a road accident a few years ago, he suffers from chronic leg pain. "I'm relatively young, quite dynamic, apparently healthy and, apart from a discreet limp, there is no other indication that I'm struggling."

In the subway, balancing efforts to react to the movements of the car exhaust him. "After two stations, I'm sweaty. After ten, I can no longer stand and I have to sit down, even if it means going down to the platform. Because he does not want to be scrutinized, to have to justify himself, or even to receive derogatory comments, Francis has great difficulty in asking for a seat or a priority. He feels a mixture of shame and fear of judgment.

Accusing looks and derogatory remarks

A legitimate fear in view of the aggressiveness sometimes encountered. "Invisible disability is a real hassle on a daily basis," says Marie, 41. Suffering from Crohn's disease and ankylosing spondylitis, a chronic inflammation of the joints, she occasionally makes her priority with her mobility inclusion card (CMI). "But because I'm young, with no visible physical disability, I often get derogatory remarks." Recently, a woman told him that she could wait, that she was faking and that these cards were given to anyone. "This is just one example among many. It is recurrent to have to justify oneself and to feel accusing looks. »

A similar story happened to Didier. The fifty-year-oldsuffers from severe sleep apnea. "One day, I was resting on the bus, my eyes were closed. A lady woke me up by assaulting me and telling me to give up my seat to a person with crutches because the bus was crowded. I told him I was disabled. I showed him my card. She snatched it from my hands and didn't believe me. »

Double punishment

An unpleasant feeling that Laurie knows well, who suffers from fibromyalgia, a chronic condition characterized by persistent diffuse pain. "I always see a suspicion in people's eyes and it's hurtful. I get a lot of black looks, even insults, as if what I suffer every day is not enough. A feeling of double punishment. "My illness is hard enough in itself, so having to justify myself on the slightest thing... It tires me even more. That's why Marie only uses her MIC in cases of extreme urgency.



Pierre, 60, who suffers from demyelinating polyneuropathy, a disease that creates muscle weakness, takes fewer tweezers. When he uses his priority card at the cash register and receives comments, he replies: "I gladly give you my card in exchange for one of your nights' sleep."

"I come to regret the days when I had a crutch"

Faced with these difficulties, everyone is trying to find solutions. François tries as much as possible to avoid trips or slots where he knows it will be difficult for him to get a seat. "I add constraints or limits to myself and my social life is inevitably affected." The forty-year-old comes to regret the time when his crutch was essential to him. "The easy way out would be to keep taking it, but that would mean giving up the progress I've made in terms of autonomy."

Marie regrets that store chains do not create cash registers exclusively reserved for people with disabilities. "It would avoid many awkward or hurtful moments for us." In April, the Auchan brand set up, at the checkout of one of its hypermarkets in Le Mans, a disability logo invisible next to that of a person in a wheelchair. A silhouette with red spheres spread all over the body. A first step.

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