Disability isn’t something that only happens to “other people.” It’s the only marginalized group that anyone can join at any time, without warning. One moment you’re going about your life, and the next, an accident, illness, or diagnosis shifts your identity forever.
Sometimes, it’s sudden, a car crash, a stroke, a fall.
Sometimes, it creeps in, chronic illness, degenerative disease, or the slow changes of aging.
Either way, it’s a reminder that the line between “abled” and “disabled” is incredibly fragile.
You Could Be One of Us Tomorrow
This isn’t fear-mongering. It’s truth. According to the World Health Organization, over 1 in 6 people globally live with a disability. And that number increases every year, not just due to population growth, but because many people become disabled as they age or encounter health complications.
And yet, so much of society treats disability like it’s someone else’s issue. Accessible design, inclusive hiring, universal healthcare, assistive tech. it’s often seen as “extra” or “optional,” rather than essential infrastructure that could benefit everyone.
But when you understand that disability can happen to anyone, you begin to see accessibility not as charity, but as smart, compassionate design.
When You’re Not Seen as Disabled, Even If You Are
There’s another layer to this conversation: the people who are technically disabled, but don’t identify as such.
Plenty of folks live with chronic conditions like diabetes, celiac disease, arthritis, epilepsy, or PCOS and while these are all disabilities under most legal definitions (like the Canadian Human Rights Act or ADA in the US), many don’t claim the term.
Why?
Because of stigma. Because they don’t feel “disabled enough.” Because they fear being treated differently at work. Because they’ve internalized the idea that unless you use a wheelchair or cane or hearing aid, you don’t count.
But this often creates problems for everyone:
- When someone hides their disability, they may forgo needed accommodations.
- Employers may point to them as proof that “nobody needs adjustments, that other person manages just fine.”
- Coworkers may weaponize comparisons to deny others support.
- It dilutes collective advocacy, and lets systems off the hook.
This isn’t about blame. It’s about understanding that denying disability, culturally or personally, can ripple out in ways we don’t always expect.
Why It Matters, For All of Us
Disability rights aren’t just for the people who already have diagnoses.
They’re for the people who are one diagnosis away. The aging parents who will need mobility support. The injured worker who suddenly can’t return to their job. The kid who survives a bike crash but now lives with chronic pain.
You might not be disabled right now.
But someone you love already is. And one day, you might be too.
To the Able-Bodied Reader
Think of a time when you were sick or recovering from surgery. Remember the frustration of needing help, the exhaustion of trying to do simple tasks, the way people either hovered too much or ignored you altogether?
Now imagine that every day. For life.
That’s what many disabled people live with. Not always visible. Not always dramatic. But always there.
This isn’t about guilt. It’s about empathy. If we build systems that only work for the healthiest, most able-bodied people, then we’re all one bad day away from being excluded.
Disability Can’t Be an Afterthought
We need a world where accessibility is baked into everything:
- Workplaces that adapt, not punish when health changes
- Public spaces that assume mobility diversity, not just accommodate it after complaints
- Conversations that include disabled people from the start
Because in the end, disability doesn’t discriminate. It doesn’t wait for you to be ready. It arrives. And when it does, the support you built for others might just be there to catch you too.