You Don’t Look Sick: Assisting Individuals with Invisible Disabilities

Abstract

Parking Lot Vigilantes Abuse Woman with Invisible Disability.” This was the headline in the January 2, 2015, edi- tion of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Shocking? Yet, this is precisely what happened to 58-year-old Debbie Mizrahi, a brain cancer survivor, who faced abuse from strangers who accused her of faking her disability. It would not be obvious from looking at her, but Debbie suffers short-term memory loss, and has a handicap placard which she relies on in order to find her car. But parking lot vigilantes yelled at her and left nasty notes on her car. Worse still, she returned to her car to find a bent windshield wiper, snapped antenna, and smashed side view mirrors.