Selective disclosure

The practice of revealing disability identity to specific people or in specific contexts while keeping it private in others, based on a continuous assessment of safety, trust, relevance, and potential consequences. Most people with invisible disabilities practice selective disclosure, choosing different levels of openness with family, friends, employers, healthcare providers, and strangers. In digital design, supporting selective disclosure requires granular privacy controls that let users specify who can see disability-related information and in what context — rather than offering only public or fully private options.