Invisible Disabilities Week 2025: Making the Invisible Visible - you do not have to see it to believe it.

From 19 to 25 October 2025, the UK will mark Invisible Disabilities Week, a time to celebrate strength, raise awareness, and recognise the millions of people living with conditions that may not be seen but are deeply felt.

This week is about visibility, understanding, and belonging. It is about reminding everyone that not every disability is visible, and that compassion begins with awareness. Most of all, it is a week to make courage visible, to celebrate those who show quiet strength every day, and to remind them that their experiences matter.

Seeing the Unseen

Invisible disabilities are as varied as the people who live with them. They may affect energy, movement, communication, or concentration, and they include conditions such as Long Covid, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia, autism, ADHD, hearing loss, mental health conditions, and many others.

For those living with these conditions, daily life can be a balancing act between managing symptoms and managing perceptions. Because the signs are not always visible, many face misunderstanding, disbelief, or even judgement from family, friends and even the public; yet behind that invisibility can lie incredible resilience.

This week asks us all to pause, listen, and recognise that you do not have to see it to believe it.

The Hidden Impact of Long Covid and ME/CFS

The growing awareness of Long Covid and ME/CFS has opened the nation’s eyes to what life with an invisible illness can be like. The exhaustion, pain, brain fog, and unpredictability can be life changing, yet the people living with these conditions often show extraordinary courage.

Their stories remind us that visibility is not about being seen, it is about being understood, believed, and valued. It is about creating a world where compassion outweighs doubt, and where access, flexibility, and kindness are the norm.

This message is powerfully echoed in the Long Covid SOS “Bill of Rights”, which calls for visibility, respect, and fair treatment for everyone living with Long Covid. It reminds us that equality begins with recognition; that being seen, listened to, and believed are not privileges, but rights. The Bill of Rights challenges health and social care systems, workplaces, and communities to acknowledge invisible illness and to treat those affected with dignity, empathy, and understanding. It stands as a call for visibility, not pity, and for meaningful change driven by lived experience.

Making Courage Visible

Invisible Disabilities Week is a call to share stories of strength, adaptation, and hope. It is a reminder that we can all play a part in making life more accessible by slowing down, listening, and believing.

Every person who wears the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower or shares their journey helps build a culture of understanding. Every conversation brings visibility to someone who has long felt unseen. Every act of empathy says, “I see you.”

A Future Built on Understanding

To truly support those with hidden disabilities, we must build systems that see the whole person. That means inclusive healthcare, flexible workplaces, compassionate communities, and policies shaped by lived experience. Because people feel valued when:

• They see others like themselves shaping and delivering care.

• Their background does not limit the care they receive.

• All parts of who they are recognised and respected.

• They are heard, seen, and involved, not just treated.

When we design with empathy, we create a world where everyone can thrive, not just survive.

Make the Invisible Visible

This Invisible Disabilities Week, stand together in understanding and celebration.

Make kindness louder than assumptions.

Make courage visible.

Because when we choose to see the unseen, we do not just change how we look at disability, we change what it means to belong.