Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Invisibility Can Create a Burden

Powerful article by Tara Kiene, the director of case management with Community Connections Inc., in Colorado.

I don’t think that invisibility has all the advantages implied in fairy tales and Harry Potter films. It has never allowed me to reveal nefarious plots or infiltrate secret organizations. I don’t believe it has ever made someone rich or famous (indeed, fame is the exact opposite of invisible.) The only super power invisibility has is the power to make someone feel inferior.
You may already know the experience of invisibility. Perhaps you experienced it the time that someone at work made a brilliant suggestion that you know you mentioned six months ago. Or maybe you feel invisible any time you are around your 16-year-old daughter. Invisibility is, unfortunately, a common human experience.
But for one group of people, invisibility is still systematically institutionalized. People with developmental or intellectual disabilities experience a level of invisibility that would make the rest of us cringe.

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