“Some disabilities are more obvious than others. Many are immediately apparent, especially if someone relies on a wheelchair or cane. But others — known as ‘invisible’ disabilities — are not. People who live with them face particular challenges in the workplace and in their communities,” said National Public Radio (NPR).

“You know, it’s that invisible nature of an illness that people don’t understand,” says Wayne Connell, the founder and head of the Invisible Disabilities Association. He started the group after his wife was diagnosed with Lyme disease and multiple sclerosis.

“We’d park in disabled parking and she didn’t use a wheelchair or a cane, and so people would always give us dirty looks and scream at us,” he recalls. “When they see someone in a wheelchair, OK, they get that they’re in a wheelchair. But what if they have chronic pain, what if they have PTSD — anything from cancer to peripheral neuropathy to autism.” –National Public Radio (NPR)

Listen to full radio interview below, first published on March 8, 2015, by NPR (National Public Radio).