Marie’s invisible handicap can give rise to misunderstandings: “When we meet me with looping, we sometimes think that I am a trainer for assistance dogs … or that I am visually impaired.”
Rare disease is often an invisible handicap
A neck to discreetly report the presence of a handicap or a disease
Marie discovers the existence of this neck tower signaling a hidden handicap on social networks, Instagram and Tiktok, and decides to get one. “”I have had it for a year or two, I have already worn it in certain circumstances in Belgium, but it is not known at all.”
On the other hand, during her vacation in England, this summer, she notes that notoriety is different. “”In England and Germany, the logo is much better known. When we wear it, people offer their help spontaneously, but without being intrusive.“The neck does not identify the disease, it just points out that the person needs more time, or needs a little help.
And in the case of Marie, it can be important to identify that there is a hidden handicap, because it is not always able to answer people’s questions. “At the very beginning when I had my assistance dog, I had to sit in the shopping center, because I did not feel well. I got on my side … and people took me for a homeless one, they thought I was doing the sleeve”.
Where does this symbol of yellow sunflower come from?
The symbol of yellow sunflower on a green background was born at Gatwick airport in England in 2016, thanks to a collaboration from the passenger council group, charitable associations. “The goal was to create a discreet symbol to identify passengers with a hidden handicap, who may need assistance during the trip,” explains the association’s website. We were looking for a discreet sign, both easy to identify at a distance, and joyful, dynamic. “
The Sunflower network today extends to 300 airports. It goes further than the United Kingdom, swarming according to the association in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand, United States, United Arab Emirates, Netherlands … and Belgium. It should normally be recognized in other means of transport: trains, buses, bus, ferrys. But it also plays a role in other sectors than travel or tourism: teaching, health, government agencies, sport, themed parks, cultural and financial institutions.
Unfortunately, the Belgian site is only an extension of the Dutch site, moreover, with a Dutch URL address: https: //hdsunflower.com/nl … and an approximate translation only offered by the search engine. This may explain the ignorance of the sunflower in Belgium.
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What is a hidden handicap?
The association “Hidden disabilities Sunflower” lists some diseases concerned such as diabetes, narcolepsy, migraines, Gilles de la Tourette syndrome, endometriosis, and dyslexia, among others. But she adds: “There is no list of invisible handicaps: you simply choose to wear sunflowers to indicate that you may need additional support, help or just a little more time.”
“80 % of handicaps are not seen in the naked eye,” recognizes Marie. “”This is why it is important that this neck is increasingly known. I have friends suffering from epilepsy and other invisible handicaps … It is important to be able to be identified, both by the general public and by help.“
