Guidance and Signposting for Life's Challenges
Workplaces aren’t always designed with hidden disabilities in mind. And when your needs aren’t visible, they’re often ignored. You may be masking chronic pain, fatigue, sensory overwhelm or mental illness — all while trying to perform at the same pace as colleagues who aren’t facing the same barriers. Too many people burn out, quit, or […]
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Autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and other forms of neurodiversity aren’t just ‘quirks’ or ‘learning differences’. They can be hidden disabilities — affecting how someone communicates, processes information, manages daily tasks, and experiences the world. Because they’re often invisible, neurodivergent people are frequently misunderstood, unsupported, or expected to ‘just try harder’. But being neurodivergent in a world […]
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When your disability is hidden, you often have to work twice as hard to be believed — especially when navigating systems like benefits, housing, health care, or employment. You may be told you ‘don’t look sick,’ ‘seem fine,’ or are ‘too articulate’ — as though being ill means losing your ability to speak or try. […]
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Fatigue isn’t just tiredness. It’s bone-deep exhaustion that sleep doesn’t fix. For people with conditions like ME/CFS, fibromyalgia, Long COVID, lupus, and even some mental health disorders, fatigue can be a full-body shutdown — often triggered by doing too much, too soon. This is where pacing comes in. It’s a self-management strategy that helps you […]
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Mental illness doesn’t always look how people expect. It doesn’t always come with tears, breakdowns, or visible crises. Sometimes it’s a quiet struggle — getting out of bed, masking anxiety, zoning out in conversations, or feeling like you’re carrying the weight of the world and no one notices. That’s the reality for many people living […]
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You can’t always see a disability. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Hidden disabilities — also called invisible or non-visible disabilities — are conditions that affect a person’s day-to-day life but aren’t obvious to others. These include things like chronic fatigue, autism, bipolar disorder, PTSD, sensory processing issues, and many long-term physical and mental […]
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Next week, from 1–7 September, the Mark Hewitson Foundation is running our first ever *Hidden Disabilities Awareness Week.* It’s for everyone who’s ever been told:– “But you don’t look sick.”– “You seemed fine yesterday.”– “You’re just being dramatic.” Because disability isn’t always visible. Pain, trauma, fatigue, and neurodivergence don’t always come with a walking stick […]
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Walking into a food bank for the first time can feel like swallowing your pride in one giant gulp. There’s this idea that food banks are for ‘other people’ — people who’ve messed up, people who haven’t tried hard enough, people who don’t manage their money. But that’s not the truth. The truth is that […]
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Summer holidays can be a strange time. They’re meant to be a break — a chance to breathe, spend time with the kids, maybe even enjoy a bit of sunshine. But if I’m honest, they often feel more like a pressure cooker. The cost of keeping children entertained, fed, and kitted out for the next […]
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Living with chronic illness is exhausting. Not just the pain, the brain fog, the fatigue, the flare-ups… but the endless admin, the explaining, the guilt, the “you don’t look sick” comments. It’s a full-time job in survival — and most days, it pays in exhaustion. And some of the worst moments? They’re not even about […]
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