Grace Warnock is 10 years old and she has Crohn’s disease, an inflammatory bowel disease you can’t see from the outside. The condition can be painful and requires her to make a lot of bathroom stops.  Grace would get judgmental looks when she used the accessible bathroom stall, so she designed a accessible bathroom sign that includes a standing person with a heart and one in a wheelchair.  The Scottish Parliament installed the signs on three of its accessible bathrooms.  These toilets are there for everyone with a disability, regardless of whether or not it is “visible.”  Grace won the Child of Achievement Award for her design.

Grace has Crohn’s disease, an inflammatory bowel disease you can’t see from the outside. The condition can be painful and requires her to make a lot of bathroom stops

The term invisible disabilities refers to symptoms such as debilitating pain, fatigue, dizziness, cognitive dysfunctions, brain injuries, learning differences and mental health disorders, as well as hearing and vision impairments.  These are not always obvious to the onlooker, but can sometimes or always limit daily activities, range from mild challenges to severe limitations and vary from person to person.  Unfortunately, people often judge others by what they see and often conclude a person can or cannot do something by the way they look. This can be equally frustrating for those who may appear unable, but are perfectly capable, as well as those who appear able, but are not.

Adapted from an article written by McKinley Corbley.  The full article can be found at http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/scottish-parliament-approves-childs-invisible-disability-bathroom-signs/ and What is an Invisible Disability? By the Invisible Disabilities Association https://invisibledisabilities.org/what-is-an-invisible-disability/

If you have a Facebook account, you can find “Grace’s Sign.” https://www.facebook.com/gracessign10/

(Image description: Grace is standing with a man from the Scottish Parliament in front of a bathroom door that has a the invisible accessible bathroom sign.  The sign has an white image of a female with a red heart in the middle of the image. In the middle of the sign is the white universal wheelchair image, followed by a white male image with a red heart in the middle of the male image.)