When Disability Isn’t Always Seen

The image is a graphic that features two illustrations against a blue background with white text. On the left side, there is an illustration of a person using a wheelchair while holding a camera, representing a visible disability. Above this, the text reads: "Some disabilities look like this."On the right side, there is an illustration of a person standing upright, looking through binoculars, representing an invisible disability. Above this, the text reads: "And some look like this." At the bottom is text that reads " remember that not all disabilities are apparent. And some folks have both types."

This week holds a powerful overlap: Birdability Week and Invisible Disabilities Awareness Week (October 19 to 25, 2025) are both happening now.

That overlap isn’t a coincidence. It’s a reflection of an (often unseen) reality. Invisible disabilities are part of our birding community every day: chronic pain, mental health conditions, neurodivergence, fatigue, sensory processing differences, autoimmune diseases, and more. They’re not always visible, but they shape how we move through the natural world and how the world meets us.

Accessibility begins with believing people about their bodies and minds, and this week is a chance for us to tune in and hear the stories of folks with invisible - and visible- disabilities in the birding world. We know that the outdoors can be both healing and hard to reach, sometimes at the same time. For those of us with invisible disabilities, access needs are fluid. One day, you may be up for a five-mile hike, but the next, leaving the house feels impossible. You might love the idea of birding by ear, but some days the noise is too overwhelming. Perhaps mobility changes, pain flares, or anxiety spikes make an otherwise familiar trail feel inaccessible.

Invisible disabilities are often unpredictable, requiring flexibility and understanding from ourselves and our communities. Birding provides a beautiful opportunity to honor this adaptability. It can be as solitary or social, mobile or stationary, loud or quiet as needed.

We are sharing some of the stories from our community members living with invisible disabilities below, and then we have some reminders about what you can do below.

“Birding helps me reclaim space from pain.”

Birdability Captain Jayme Boucher, who recently joined pain scientist and author Dr. Rachel Zoffness in conversation for Birdability Week’s opening event, shared that birding has become a way to reconnect with herself beyond chronic pain.

“When my body hurts, birding reminds me that I’m still here — that there’s still beauty and presence and curiosity waiting for me outside of pain.”

Jayme’s story is one of thousands that show how birding can hold us through invisible experiences of disability, and how debilitating a disability can be, even when unseen.

“Some days I need my walker. Some days I don’t.”

Captain Carol Tepper describes the shifting nature of her mobility and how that unpredictability shapes her relationship with both visibility and access:

“I’m an unbalanced birder, literally and figuratively. Some days I walk fine, some days I need my walker. Accessibility means I don’t have to explain or justify that difference every time.”

Invisible disabilities remind us that access needs can change day to day, season to season, and over a lifetime. Designing programming and spaces with that in mind benefits everyone, whether you use mobility aids sometimes, always, or never.

“Being seen doesn’t mean being stared at.”

For community member Angela C., whose experiences include navigating sensory and mental health barriers, belonging in birding means being respected and recognized without being tokenized:

“When people say ‘you don’t look disabled,’ it makes me feel invisible. I want to be included without needing to prove why I belong.”

Belonging is not about visibility alone; it’s also about people understanding and EXPECTING that disability looks many different ways. About building communities where access is assumed, where curiosity replaces judgment, and where invisible disabilities are met with the question “Let me know how I can best support your birding experience today.”

“Birding makes me feel capable again.”

A community member, who participated in the recent Blind Birder Bird-a-Thon, reminds us that birding expands far beyond sight. But his words resonate far wider, for anyone navigating limits others can’t see:

“Birding makes me feel capable again. It reminds me that there’s still so much to learn and share, even when the world wasn’t built with me in mind.”

Whether we use hearing, sight, or touch; whether our disabilities are visible or invisible; whether we bird from a window, a wheelchair, or a park bench, our presence, our unique access needs, and our voices reshape what accessibility looks like.

The work ahead

Invisible Disabilities Awareness Week asks us to look again and to see what we may have missed - to design access that anticipates change, and to understand that disability isn’t always visible but is always valid.

Birdability Week invites us to celebrate belonging. To build a birding movement grounded in disability justice. To believe one another when we say, this is what I need to belong.

We invite you to be part of that work.

3 Tips for Being a Better Ally to Birders with Invisible Disabilities

1. Ask and Adapt
   Instead of assuming someone’s needs or capabilities, ask what support might help. It could be as simple as offering a place to sit, taking breaks during a walk, or giving someone space when they need solitude. Respecting these requests without judgment builds trust and creates a welcoming environment for all.

2. Be Mindful of Language
   Avoid making assumptions about what people are capable of or how they should be able to bird. Phrases like "You don’t look disabled!" can feel invalidating. Instead, honor people’s self-expressions and experiences. Focus on being supportive by using language that acknowledges and validates individual experiences, like “Let me know how I can best support your birding experience today.”

3. Promote Inclusive Birding Practices
   Familiarize yourself with accessible birding practices and help implement them when possible. Whether it’s choosing trails that offer resting spots, creating sensory-friendly birding experiences, or ensuring that events provide options for different types of access needs (such as birding from a car or having virtual options), your advocacy helps make birding more welcoming for all.

Whether living and birding with a disability (visible or invisible), chronic illness, or other health concern, or choosing to take on access and inclusion as an ally, you belong here.