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The original was posted on /r/AmItheAsshole by /u/JustTooCompetitive on 2023-10-07 02:22:48.
I [18M] have an invisible disability, the gist of it being that I can't stand for long periods of time. Usually on the bus, I would try to sit if I can, sometimes in the priority seating. However, nothing appears wrong with me, I'm just a young "healthy" guy to most people.
Several times, I've been yelled at by strangers for not giving up my seat for someone pregnant or elderly, and I'm getting sick and tired of having to tell people that I actually have a disability, not that many people would believe me anyways.
I came up with the idea of getting a walking cane when I go in public, and occasionally I would walk with a slight limp when getting on and off the bus. Technically the cane does help with my issue a tiny bit, but I really don't need the cane. This usually gets people off my back, and when people give me the side eye, I usually put my cane in full view, sometimes stamping it on the ground a few times to indicate that I have a disability.
Some of my friends think I'm a jerk for "faking" my disability, since I can walk just fine, but I think I'm justified because I have a real disability, and the cane stops people from harassing me.
NTA. You’re not faking your disability you’re signaling it.
Like, a handicap placard on a car doesn’t really help a disabled person … except in that it grants them authorization to use certain resources.
Same with your cane. It’s a symbolic cane. It just happens to accurately symbolize reality. That’s not fakeness, that’s abstraction.
Source: lifetime of being autistic and having to articulate social rules to get them