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The subject of invisible disabilities is becoming more prevalent in the workplace. Invisible disabilities (as defined by the Invisible Disabilities Association) refers to symptoms such as “debilitating pain, fatigue, dizziness, cognitive dysfunctions, brain injuries, learning differences and mental health disorders, as well as hearing and vision impairments.” There are times when employees are hesitant to disclose their invisible disability to their employer or coworkers, which means that accommodations for disabilities may not be requested or made. Accommodations made in the workplace for invisible disabilities can include flexible schedule, special software for assisting with scheduling or prioritizing tasks, or architectural changes such as a standing desk. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

For this literature review, articles on invisible disabilities and accommodations were researched and used to support the importance of accommodations in the workplace.

Invisible disabilities are affecting the workplace and must be addressed. Those struggling with invisible disabilities need to consider sharing information about their disability with their employer as well as requesting accommodation. The question of whether or not to inform coworkers should be left to individual employees and what they feel comfortable divulging. More research needs to be done on how to create learning opportunities and sensitivity in the workplace to those with invisible disabilities. Perhaps training should be offered at the time a new employee begins work.

This literature review is of value because it speaks to an important issue facing today’s workplaces – invisible disabilities and accommodations. Mental illnesses are an invisible disability and as more people are diagnosed and enter the workforce, employers are faced with an increasing demand to meet the needs of these workers. Educating employers and employees on the topic of invisible disabilities and accommodations paves the way to a greater and more productive workforce.

The decision to disclose an illness is a difficult choice for many individuals. Despite national laws such Americans with Disabilities Act that protect workers with disabilities from discrimination in the workplace, the stigmas around certain illnesses, fears of being judged by others using different standards, and concerns about a lack of support regardless of legal requirements are all reasons why someone may hesitate to disclose a health condition in the workplace.

Using experimentally manipulated vignettes and a combination of theories on attribution and incivility, this study explores the dangers of not disclosing a disability/condition that can lead to behaviors that will engender judgments by coworkers.

The results of the study make clear that there are social benefits to disclosing a health condition rather than concealing. The findings clearly demonstrate that attributing an individual's negative behavior to their disposition will lead to more judgments of responsibility, and less sympathy and more anger compared to behaviors that can be explained by any health reason. Furthermore, more punishment, feelings of revenge and social distancing await individuals whose negative behavior cannot be explained by health issues.

This study combines issues of health, attributions, incivility in an experimental studies that illuminates issues surround disclosing a workplace disability that go beyond the typical focus of legal questions.

To outline the experiential nature of hidden mental illnesses (or “invisible disabilities”) in sport and physical cultures. A sociological account is given of how people living with a hidden mental illness or disorder manage their identities in physical culture.

The chapter begins by addressing the role of social stigma as a barrier to sport and exercise participation for young people living with hidden mental illnesses. From there, and venturing beyond typical sociological tropes about social stigma, the chapter presents ethnographic findings from a study of people living with epilepsy and their tactical uses of a range of physical cultures to craft their selves in innovative ways.

People living with so-called simple or nonmajor “hidden/invisible” disabilities are often overlooked as a differential needs population with sport and health zones. The people in this study identify how the desire to be mobile, self-expressive, and authentic through the physical activity pursuits is important yet unavailable to them in a wide range of sport, leisure, and health fields because of the ways in which these places privilege particular types of brain and bodies. Through their own self-styled physical cultural involvements, however, these people challenge the dominance of sport-based model of health promotion in broader culture and disrupt dominant ideological frames that privilege the normative, rational, calculating, and predictable brain in athletic zones.

The importance of identifying persons who may not participate in sport and physical culture due to perceived and felt stigma is highlighted. In addition, developing creative strategies and programs for these populations is underscored.

There has been very little empirical research for the need to identify the importance of an inclusive territory of commonality for “invisible” students with disabilities in Australian education testing, such as the National Assessment Program-Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN). The paper aims to discuss this issue.

The research methodology used a cross-sectional mixed methods, deductive quantitative, an inductive qualitative, functionalist perspective and interpretivist perspective from internet secondary data analysis. This was undertaken to investigate the government functionalist macrosociology of Australian education to the detriment of the microsociology debate of students with disabilities, for inclusive education and social justice.

This finding showed vastly underestimated numbers of students with disabilities in Australian schools experienced through “gatekeeping”, non-participation in NAPLAN testing and choices of schools, resulting in poor educational outcomes and work-readiness.

The research findings showed that functionalism of Australian education is threatening not only social order, well-being and resilience of an innovative Australian economy through welfare dependency; but also depriving people with disabilities of social equality and empowerment against poverty brought about by a lack of education and of the human right to do a decent job.

The study provided a critical evaluation of the weaknesses of government functionalism; specifically the relationship between the dualism of macro and micro perspectives, which promotes the existence of “invisible” students with disabilities in education, despite government legislation purporting an inclusive education for all students.

This chapter addressed the professional, interpersonal, and functional experiences of teachers with physical disabilities and their employers. To obtain different perspectives on these issues, I conducted 67 in-depth interviews with teachers with disabilities (motor disabilities, sensory disabilities, and chronic health conditions), their colleagues, principals, disability researchers, and two individuals who hold positions of leadership in the educational system. In addition, I analyzed 10 YouTube videos featuring teachers with disabilities. The findings reveal the organizational and personal barriers teachers with disabilities face. Tackling these barriers is important since teachers with disabilities have unique opportunities to contribute both personally and socially.

The chapter presents the similarities and the differences between the different case studies reported in the book and suggests some conclusion on the impact of COVID-19 on policies and practices devoted to persons with cognitive disabilities from a macro, meso and micro point of view. The COVID-19 surveillance regime has made people with disabilities, and particularly with intellectual ones, even more invisible, since their rights have been consistently under-represented in the different national contexts. Persons with intellectual disabilities have been considered objects of protection and this overprotective stance turns into an increasing process of institutionalisation, segregation and familiarisation of care. The COVID-19 surveillance regime has brought into light the limits of the implementation of the UN Convention and of the EU Strategy, but the book and the emerging epistemic community, in the framework of public sociology, contribute to support the rights of all persons, with or without disabilities, in public welfare policies in Europe.

The legislative progress in India to make education inclusive has shown promise over the past few years. However, the process of implementation does not match up to it. The objective of education is to include students with special needs in regular schools where required preparation and support is not enough. Inclusive practices are seen in physical infrastructure as well as in the curriculum and educational activities. Support means not only financial assistance but also preparing schools, heads of schools, teachers, students, and communities to be inclusive in their minds and actions. In addition, it should be reflected in student outcomes in terms of academic and social participation. To begin with, several positive sparks could be seen in schools in having a special educator, resource rooms, and adaptations in curriculum, teaching methods, evaluations, and an alternative education. Visibility and attendance of students with special needs in schools has increased which is a huge change. However, the question remains about their sustainability and outcomes. This chapter presents insights and practical aspects of inclusive practices, their implementation, and challenges for students with special needs in India.

Researchers examine the new landscape of higher education, which is changing and evolving in the twenty-first century, as many non-traditional students, especially learners with physical disabilities, are “knocking on the door of higher education” (Harbour and Madaus, 2011, p. 1). Students with physical disabilities must decide how they desire to become engaged (or not) in campus life. This study also provides a theoretical lens of the moral responsibility of the multicultural academic community. Thus, the purpose of this study is to present findings that indicate gaining insight into the isolation, stigma and advocacy of these students’ lived experiences will require openness for inclusive practices to uplift all students with goals of graduation and employment.

This research investigation includes the process of discovery being analyzed and interpreted through participants’ narratives as a rigorous act of coding, imagination and logic to aggregate findings. To elicit the findings most effectively, transcendental phenomenology is the specific qualitative approach chosen for this study.

This study includes critical findings that indicate gaining insight into the isolation, stigma and advocacy of these students’ lived educative experiences. Concerns regarding communication and support are emphasized through the participants in the findings.

A core limitation would be that this study takes places without regard for historical lived experiences.

Implications exist for this new landscape of Higher Education, as we work beyond the gates of higher education for real-change and social progress. We need to learn about others (non-traditional students) while working toward multicultural competence that should be modeled in academic spaces to impart this knowledge to students to impart into broad society. Let us remember the growth that happens when social support exists, because each person has a value and role in society so that we live together and support each other in lessons of self-empowerment

This is an original study about learners with physical disabilities and the moral issues of how to create an inclusive, multicultural environment in higher education.

The purpose of this study is to analyze public perceptions of disability and gain insight into the types of health conditions nondisabled people believe should be protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Understanding how the public interprets the ADA could offer perspective on which disabilities are viewed as legitimate and which are not. Data were gathered from a convenience sample of members from local community groups and college classrooms in a metropolitan university setting. Our analyses evaluate the clustering of health condition types due to similar traits and identify which attributes of the health conditions generate this clustering. Results from a series of quantitative and qualitative analyses (e.g., hierarchical cluster analysis, frequency analysis, discourse analysis, etc.) indicate nondisabled respondents perceive physical and cognitive health conditions that are visible, static, and externally acquired as legitimate disabilities that should be protected by the ADA.

This paper reviews the literature on disability inclusion (DI) in supply and demand chains of hospitality and tourism (H&T) organisations. The purpose of this study is to assess disability support and interventions within H&T organisations. Through the assessment, we identified gaps to recommend H&T scholars’ and practitioners’ knowledge of DI from new perspectives.

An integrative review was conducted to examine the published evidence on DI in H&T organisations. This study used high-ranking H&T journals from the Scopus and Web of Science databases between 2001 and 2023. In total, 101 empirical papers met the criteria for the review analysis.

DI focuses heavily on customer disabilities, with scant research on DI in H&T employment. The review emphasises the critical need for empirical research into the varied disability employment ecosystem within H&T organisations, focusing on social integration for inclusive workplaces.

This study contributes to the H&T literature, which previously overlooked the disability context in diversity. The research offers strategies for creating inclusive environments in the H&T industry for disabled consumers and producers.