My Nonprofit Reviews

The Invisible Disabilities Association has no logical right to the term "invisible disabilities."

I have an invisible disability. This is part of who I am. My identity is not for sale.

The term "invisible disability" has been in use for about a century. The fact that the IDA were able to copyright the term drives home the point that there is too little awareness of invisible disabilities--and the IDA is profiting from this. Adding injury to insult, they drove the Invisible Disability Project off of Facebook; a community of 50,000 people. They have reportedly sent cease and desist letters to others who use this established, descriptive term. The US Government has been using this term (through the ADA, EEOC, ODEP, etc.) since long before the IDA got their copyright. Is the IDA going to sue them, too?

The IDA protests that their stakeholders and Facebook followers have not expressed concern about the trademark. Yet they block their critics from their Facebook page!

It appears that the Invisible Disabilities Association is more interested in making a "brand," raising money, and selling t-shirts than helping people with invisible disabilities.