Work and Invisible Disabilities: Practices, Experiences and Understandings of (Non)Disclosure

Abstract

Invisible disabilities involve dilemmas that differentiate them from visible disabilities. However, little is known about the situation persons with invisible disabilities face at work, as empirical studies are scarce. The present article contributes in-depth knowledge of practices, experiences and understandings that affect the work situation for people with invisible disabilities in a Swedish context. The article draws on qualitative, in-depth interviews with 10 persons with invisible disabilities and seven persons who -in their professional work as employers, HR managers, medical doctors or psychologists in the occupational healthcare -regularly have dealings with persons with invisible disabilities. The analysis shows how practices, experiences and understandings regarding disclosure differ between the two groups of informants -differences that lead to dilemmas for the persons with invisible disabilities. These results indicate that persons with invisible disabilities are in a vulnerable position despite the fact that working life in Sweden is relatively well-regulated.

Disclosure, Privacy and Workplace Accommodation of Episodic Disabilities: Organizational Perspectives on Disability Communication-Support Processes to Sustain Employment

“…Currently, there are few studies examining workplace disclosure and support from an organizational standpoint [ 31 , 36 , 37 ]. This perspective is critical in addressing support gaps, understanding the interplay of key stakeholders, and in identifying new directions that can enable workers with episodic disabilities to better sustain employment or return to work.…”

Aligning stakeholders’ understandings of the return-to-work process: a qualitative study on workplace meetings in inpatient multimodal occupational rehabilitation

“…Although none of the participants described any dilemmas regarding disclosure, the additional cases revealing that openness can have repercussions underscore the importance of questioning disclosure as a norm in return-to-work. A previous study found that while employer representatives framed disclosure as a valued practise leading to greater understanding and improved psychosocial work environment, employees experienced it as an “uncertain balancing act” (Norstedt, 2019 ), pp. 21.…”

“…Norstedt ( 2019 ) also underlines the paradox that refraining from disclosure to pass as normal possibly only serve to reproduce norms suggesting that the able worker is the ideal one (Norstedt, 2019 ). In our study, one employee associated disclosure with being honest with his supervisor.…”

“…In our study, one employee associated disclosure with being honest with his supervisor. However, Norstedt proposes that “(non)disclosure should not be reduced to personal traits such as honesty/dishonesty” (Norstedt, 2019 ), p. 22, it should rather be viewed as a struggle for normality and strategies to preserve control over one’s identity. Although the participants in our study mostly celebrated disclosure, a few employees described omitting details they deemed too personal or irrelevant to the return-to-work process.…”

Online resources supporting workers with chronic episodic disabilities: an environmental scan

“…The invisibility of many episodic disabilities can also result in misperceptions or stigma about a worker's abilities or motivation. Even when a worker discloses an episodic disability, supervisors may be unsure how to initiate conversations about worker performance and accommodations or be concerned about doing more harm than good (Brouwers et al, 2020;Gignac et al, 2012Gignac et al, , 2020Norstedt, 2019;Toth and Dewa, 2014).…”