LSA junior Claire Abraham has been in a wheelchair since she was four. At 18 months, Abraham was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy — a neuromuscular disease that essentially breaks down her motor neurons and weakens her muscles, severely limiting her ability to move on her own. Despite these limitations, Abraham is now in her third year at the University, living in a residence hall on Central Campus.

Though Abraham currently lives on her own, it hasn’t always been that way. For her first two years at the University, Abraham commuted to Ann Arbor each day with her mother, Stacy Abraham, who helped her adjust to life as a college student with a disability.

The Abrahams said that, in her three years on campus, Claire hasn’t encountered much adversity, and that students have generally been glad to help — they will assist Claire by pushing buttons she can’t reach or isn’t strong enough to push and will open doors for her. Some students will, however, when in a hurry, let a door slam into Claire or only open one door, leaving her in a vestibule unable to get through the second door. “But for the most part, a lot of people are very aware of her chair and they’ll try to go out of their way or (apologize) if they didn’t notice to get the door for her,” Stacy Abraham said.

Though Abraham’s experience is often what people think of when it comes to those with disabilities, there is a larger group of disabled students on campus who deal with similar struggles but of a completely different nature. For these individuals, whose disabilities are considered ‘invisible’ — those that aren’t first apparent to the general observer — the struggle lies not only in coping with their disabilities, but doing so in a world that doesn’t know they’re sick.

Stuart Segal, interim director of Services for Students with Disabilities — a University organization that offers assistance to students with various types of disabilities — said there are about 1,200 students currently registered with SSWD. The majority of these students, however, aren’t visibly disabled. They have invisible disabilities — mental and chronic health conditions, traumatic brain injuries, pervasive development disabilities like Asperger’s syndrome and visual and hearing impairments. And though the majority of students registered with SSWD have invisible disabilities, to the University community these may appear less common simply because they are unseen.

Though Abraham says she has been well received and accommodated while at the University, many students registered with SSWD who have invisible disabilities shared different opinions. Many expressed feelings of isolation and stressed that further efforts need to be taken — like peer support groups or mentorships — to improve the experience of students on campus with invisible disabilities. Others said, however, that what truly needs to be done is to increase awareness for students with all types of disabilities, not just visible ones.

LSA sophomore Candyce Hill suffers from albinism, a disease that results from a lack of melanin pigment in the eyes, skin and hair. For some, albinism can be a visible disability, but for Hill, the disease is invisible. The albinism significantly affects Hill’s eyesight and her ability to read small print, but to the University, Hill simply looks like she has blonde hair and fair skin.

“I think the problem is that when (someone) looks at a disability that you can see — someone walking on crutches or someone who’s completely blind — then it’s almost as if they know that they have to be sensitive and they really don’t have a choice,” Hill said. “But when it’s not something you can notice right away — and in fact if they never told you, you might never know — it’s almost like they get the sense that it can’t be that bad.”

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When Beth Becker began her masters program at the University in 2006, her primary concern was, like most, academic success. But less than a year after moving to Ann Arbor, Becker was diagnosed with an uncommon, yet severe, disorder called Wegener’s granulomatosis — an autoimmune disease that damages the lungs, kidneys and other internal organs. Since the disease only affects internal organs, the condition is not visible to the public. But the symptoms of the disease and the results of Becker’s treatment are significant.

Because of her illness, Becker sometimes loses her voice and suffers from sporadic memory loss, making it difficult for her to participate in class. And while she was rarely absent before the diagnoses, Becker is now forced to miss class for extended periods of time to receive treatments that often require days of recuperation.

Throughout her time at the University, Becker has struggled to deal with limitations from her disease that negatively affect her academic performance.