{"id":172989,"date":"2023-06-15T13:08:17","date_gmt":"2023-06-15T17:08:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/?p=172989"},"modified":"2024-09-23T11:11:50","modified_gmt":"2024-09-23T15:11:50","slug":"life-with-an-invisible-disability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/california\/life-with-an-invisible-disability","title":{"rendered":"Life with an “Invisible” Disability"},"content":{"rendered":"
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”172990″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_empty_space height=”50px”][vc_column_text]\u201cHey! Hello! Do you not talk? Do you speak English? You\u2019re a weird person! You need help!\u201d<\/p>\n

This is something I deal with on a daily basis as someone with what is known as an \u201cinvisible disability.\u201d My name is Tsukasa Richard Nakai and I have Autism Spectrum Disorder Level 1 formerly known as Asperger\u2019s Syndrome. An invisible disability is something that you cannot see, such as autism, ADHD. With an invisible disability, people often assume that because you \u201cdon\u2019t look disabled\u201d, that you are \u201cfaking your disability.\u201d<\/p>\n

My diagnosis started when my preschool teacher, who had a background in special education, suspected something was off with me and suggested to my mom that I be tested. They found I have sensory integration dysfunction, which was severe at that time. I went to occupational therapy as I had to learn how to regulate my senses. As I progressed in school, nearly all my teachers said, \u201cHe\u2019s exceptionally bright, but something isn\u2019t right!\u201d It wasn\u2019t until the fall of my freshman year of high school that my occupational therapist suggested to my mom that she read Dr. Tony Attwood\u2019s book \u201cAsperger\u2019s Syndrome.\u201d My mom thought \u201cA-ha!\u201d That October I was evaluated at the UCLA Help Group for two days, and the results showed I was autistic.<\/p>\n

As someone with an invisible disability, I have faced many obstacles in trying to get accommodations and trying to get people to understand me. People judge me based on preconceived notions of what someone with a disability \u201cshould look like.\u201d That is why sometimes my actions can be misinterpreted by people that don\u2019t know me or know I have autism. For example, sometimes when I do not know someone, I do what is known as \u201csituational mutism,\u201d where I do not speak to them. People often mistake this as me purposefully ignoring them and showing them disrespect when it is actually quite the opposite.<\/p>\n

In a world with both visible and invisible disabilities, I want to use my platform to remind people to take the time to get to know one another. We should not judge a book by its cover or make assumptions about someone without getting all of the facts first. We should strive to get to know each other on a personal level and not jump to conclusions about an individual\u2019s abilities based on their appearance.<\/p>\n

In friendship,<\/p>\n

Tsukasa Richard Nakai[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”20px”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An important reminder from a Best Buddies State Ambassador – Richard Nakai<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2080,"featured_media":172990,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"ca-single-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-172989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-california-news"],"yoast_head":"\nLife with an "Invisible" Disability - Best Buddies International<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bestbuddies.org\/california\/life-with-an-invisible-disability\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Life with an "Invisible" Disability - Best Buddies International\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An important reminder from a Best Buddies State Ambassador - 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