All posts tagged: unl

Invisible Disabilities in Graduate School

Invisible Disabilities in Graduate School

The APA and other academic institutions have made efforts to gather and report demographic information about persons in philosophy. One motivation for doing so is to ensure that various voices and perspectives are not being shut out, and to invite perspectives to participate in doing “philosophy.” I wish to call your attention to a group often not recognized as worth recording data about: philosophers, particularly graduate students, with invisible disabilities. According to the National Institutes of Health, an invisible disability is “a physical, mental, or neurological impairment that is not obvious to others, but may impact upon a person’s movements, senses, activities, and day-to-day life.” The adjective “invisible” in referring to disabilities is juxtaposed with those disabilities that include physical manifestations or markers; a wheelchair or someone missing a limb are such examples of “visible” disabilities. Navigating the world with any disability comes with its unique set of experiences and challenges; my goal here in emphasizing invisible disabilities is not to compare, but to bring attention to this group. I want to highlight some of …