Copyright berkshireeagle
PITTSFIELD — At a Lenox high schooler's request, Gov. Maura Healey issued a proclamation recognizing Invisible Disabilities Week. Sen. Paul Mark, D-Becket, picked up the proclamation from the Statehouse and presented it to Lenox Memorial High School senior Amelia Gilardi on Friday at Pittsfield City Hall. Gilardi asked the governor in September to issue the symbolic document. She wrote that as many as 1 in 4 Americans live with a disability, and many are not readily apparent to others. “Invisible disabilities are the kind that too many people overlook because they can’t be seen,” Gilardi wrote in her letter to Healey's office. According to Harvard, invisible illnesses encompass a broad umbrella of ailments including diabetes, depression and digestive disorders. Healey’s proclamation, issued for Oct. 19 to 25, mirrors national observances that aim to draw attention to people living with invisible chronic illnesses and disabilities. Gilardi said she has suffered symptoms associated with electromagnetic hypersensitivity since age 12, while living in the Pittsfield neighborhood at the center of ongoing litigation surrounding the rights of local health boards to regulate cell towers. Gilardi said in a statement that she is "deeply humbled and grateful" for the proclamation. “It is an awful experience to be medically diagnosed with an illness, and worse yet, it is devastating to feel invisible as a result of it," she wrote. I'm speaking up and I'm speaking out and I can empathize with others who have invisible illnesses [for] which we constantly are asked questions about, proof is demanded, and in so many ways we are marginalized. When others, on our behalf, ask for help, they too are made invisible." Jess Stainbrook, executive director of the Invisible Disabilities Association, praised the proclamation. “This proclamation shines a light on millions of individuals whose challenges may not be seen but are very real," Stainbrook said. "Each day, the Invisible Disabilities Association works to build understanding and support for people living with invisible disabilities. This recognition is a powerful step toward greater awareness and compassion.”
