Most disabilities come with some form of stigma, but not all disability stigma is created equal. The Squeaky Wheel ranked all seven disabilities (yes, any disabilities not on this list are fake) by how humiliating they are to reveal.
7. Cancer
Revealing a hidden cancer diagnosis is the biggest power move possible. After they know, people pretty much have to do anything you ask them to do, and with a smile. While chemotherapy and chronic pain absolutely suck, at least you can revel in your unparalleled abundance of social capital.
6. Wheelchair (the disability)
Wheelchairs aren’t the easiest thing to “reveal,” but rolling up to a job interview without advanced notice is pretty “Regina George attending prom in a neck brace” of you. Surely the interviewer will treat you with extra kindness, generosity and compassion before they reject you.
5. Blindness and d/Deafness
We’re grouping these two together because for some reason society is obsessed with comparing them. While announcing your absence of vision or hearing will always lead to corny jokes and weird “super senses” theories, at least you have one less method of perceiving their ableist cringe.
4. Chronic Illness
Telling someone you are chronically ill can result in a wide range of responses. From “how long will that last?” to “are you sure you’re not just a big baby?” you may be met with skepticism or even dispute. Still, “chronically ill” sounds badass, so at least they can’t deny that you’re cool as fuck.
3. Autism
Having to disclose your autism to a normie usually leads to one of two outcomes, and we honestly don’t know which is worse. On one hand, they might be surprised and say that you probably don’t have autism and that you just love anime a lot and have all the symptoms of autism. On the other hand, they could be like “oh yeah we could tell.” Pick your poison!
2. Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome
Thanks to Jameela Jamil and all the hottest but most infuriating girls you know, there’s enough awareness of EDS that it’s now got a stigma problem. Whether it leads to doubt, invasive and ignorant questions, strange skin comments or outright denial, it’s hard to win when disclosing weak connective tissue.
1. Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Awww, does your belly hurt? Nothing fills one with more shame than admitting you can’t eat literally anything that tastes good without turning into a gaseous monstrosity of sweat and odors. On the plus side, it gives you infinite excuses to spontaneously leave uninteresting conversations so … it’s a breakeven?