History Main / HidingTheHandicap

* In ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', All Might hides his true form from the public so they won’t lose hope in him. No one besides Deku and a few colleagues at [=UA=] knows until his battle with All For One that he’s actually a skeletal, emaciated wreck with several missing organs who constantly coughs up blood.

* On a similar note, UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy kept his Addison's disease a secret until after his election in 1960. At one point, his opponents leaked the story, but Kennedy's doctors released a (true) statement that JFK did not have Addison's ''[[ExactWords as a result of tuberculosis]]''; as it wasn't yet widely understood that only 20% of Addison's cases are TB-related, the opposition's claim didn't damage Kennedy's "fit young candidate" image.

* UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt kept his polio-caused partial paralysis hidden from the public by giving public speeches and presentations either sitting down from his desk, standing behind a podium and using it to support his weight, or by using a walking cane to support himself. He also had one of his sons travel with him at all times to lean on so they could help him walk. Eventually, it became so severe that the secret eventually came out, but he served the majority of his four terms as President keeping it hidden from the public.

* An episode of ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' involves a [[SemperFi marine]] who was deafened when a faulty weapon malfunctioned and spent months hiding her deafness. A few shots from her POV come with almost no sound.

* In ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist2003'', two orphaned Ishvalan brothers thought their mother had [[ParentalAbandonment abandoned them]] when she ran away during a bombing. In reality, she was going blind and didn't tell her kids. She had gone inside the house looking for them when she died in the bomb.
* ''Manga/DrStone'': Suika and Kinrou both have blurry eye disease - which just means they need glasses. Problem is that they're not exactly available in the Stone Age. It's not as big a deal for Suika, who's found ways to work around it, but Kinrou is one of the town's guards. As such, the only person who knows about his eyes is his brother Ginrou.
* [[spoiler:Itachi]] from ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' hid the fact he was going blind and was SecretlyDying until his death.
* [[spoiler:Yashiro]] from ''Manga/{{Twittering Birds Never Fly}}'' manages to keep the fact that he is blind in one eye from his underlings for four years.
* ''Manga/CaptainTsubasa'' has several instances of this, starting with Misugi keeping his heart illness a secret from most everyone (except for his girlfriend/manager Yayoi and the Musashi coach) until it finally comes out in the semifinal match against Nankatsu. Tsubasa himself averts it during the middle school nationals, since everyone knows of his shoulder and ankle injuries, but played straight during the Japan vs Mexico match, as he got an abdominal wound the night before, and tried to keep it hidden until it opened up and he started bleeding in the middle of the match.

* In the pilot episode of ''The Powers of Matthew Star'' Matthew -- named David here -- is cared for by an older man who, we learn towards the end, has a robotic hand with only two fingers which he hides in a glove at all times. Had this version of the show continued we'd have learned about why he had this robot hand, but in the show, as broadcast Matthew has a different guardian who doesn't have a robo-hand.

* Mel from ''Series/GrowingUpFisher'' spent decades not letting anyone outside his immediate family and friends knowing that he's blind, doing things such as memorizing the layout and contents of an art gallery beforehand so well that his date was fooled. It's not until he divorces his wife and starts living alone that he has to acknowledge his limitations and begins using a guide dog.
* An episode of ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' involves a [[SemperFi marine]] who was deafened when a faulty weapon malfunctioned and spent months hiding her deafness. A few shots from her POV come with almost no sound.

* In the later years of [[UsefulNotes/TheRulersOfNorthKorea Kim Il-Sung]], a calcium deposit tumor started to grow on the right side of the back of his neck, visible [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Il-sung#/media/File:KimIlSungCalciumDeposit1970.png here]] during a visit with UsefulNotes/MaoZedong in 1970. Kim ordered reporters to only photograph him from the left side of his face in order to hide the growth, but it became increasingly difficult to hide it over the years, as it grew to the size of a baseball by the 80s. It was long believed that the proximity of the growth to Kim's spinal cord made it inoperable, however, a former bodyguard of UsefulNotes/FidelCastro who met him in 1986 claimed he was so paranoid that he refused to get surgery.

* In the later years of [[UsefulNotes/TheRulersOfNorthKorea Kim Il-Sung]], a calcium deposit tumor started to grow on the right side of the back of his neck, visible [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/KimIlSungCalciumDeposit1970.png here]] during a visit with UsefulNotes/MaoZedong. Kim ordered reporters to only photograph him from the left side of his face in order to hide the growth, but it became increasingly difficult to hide it over the years, as it grew to the size of a baseball by the 80s. It was long believed that the proximity of the growth to Kim's spinal cord made it inoperable, however, a former bodyguard of UsefulNotes/FidelCastro who met him in 1986 claimed he was so paranoid that he refused to get surgery.

* Emperor Meiji allegedly bore his famous beard to conceal his underbite, one of his several birth defects from RoyalInbreeding.

* In ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist'', two orphaned Ishvalan brothers thought their mother had [[ParentalAbandonment abandoned them]] when she ran away during a bombing. In reality, she was going blind and didn't tell her kids. She had gone inside the house looking for them when she died in the bomb.

*** "Farewell, My Turnabout" features a witness whose icy demeanor hides the fact that she is codependent.

** Richard Wellington from "The Lost Turnabout" neglects to mention that he is nearsighted until an error in his testimony prompts Phoenix to confront him about it.
** A case in ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyJusticeForAll'' features a witness whose icy demeanor hides the fact that she is codependent.

* A subplot in one of the prequel series of ''Anime/LegendOfGalacticHeroes'' involves a student at a prestigious Empirial academy who hides the fact that he's colorblind.

* [[SidetrackedByTheGoldSaucer ADD/ADHD]] individuals often do this, only telling about it to those who absolutely need to know about it. This is because it has been overdiagnosed in the past, it's relative lack of visible symptoms (especially in adulthood) means some non-ADHD people don't believe in it[[note]]Common claims include: "Watch less TV/Play less video games", "It's not a real disease and just an excuse for laziness/a conspiracy made by doctors to make money" You can't have it, you don't [[AttentionDeficitOohShiny chase squirrels]]" and ''dozens'' of other arguments[[/note]] and the fact that some, even non-ADHD people, abuse the stimulant medication leading some to believe it's addictive[[note]]Studies say that when taken properly, the medication is not addictive; in fact, it's been noted that medication reduces the chances of addiction, as the person is less likely to drink or use illegal drugs for self-treatment[[/note]]. As a result, there's a social stigma against the disorder, and many prefer to keep it hidden to avoid problems with their family/friends/workplace in case someone they know doesn't believe in it. While it's been getting better in recent years, most people still, unfortunately, know only of the stereotype of a 9-year old boy running around 24/7, causing underdiagnosis in girls and adults of both genders.
* Related to the above, many autistic people hide their diagnosis if they can; this is again often down to other people not believing that the autistic person can really be autistic[[note]]The logic is usually along the lines of [[NoTrueScotsman "But you can speak/have a job/are married/have a sense of humour/can write/etc! You're nothing like my actually autistic child/cousin/sibling/etc,]] [[InsaneTrollLogic therefore you must be lying!"]][[/note]], and the fact that stereotypes regarding autistic people can definitely change how an autistic person is treated by others. Like with the ADD/ADHD example above, this also leads to there being a social stigma against autistic people (something that organisations seeking a "cure" capitalise on) and again has led to a stereotype that prevents AFAB individuals and people of color from getting diagnosed. This trope definitely acts as a double-edged sword, however; the ability to hide autistic symptoms, or allow the more obvious once to be viewed as [[DitzyGenius eccentricity]] or [[ShrinkingViolet shyness]], can often mean that it's more difficult for a person to actually access resources or help [[MortonsFork because it's assumed that they're "high functioning" enough to not need any help anyway.]] Like with ADHD, things have been getting better in recent years, but not enough to prevent this from being a DeadHorseTrope yet.

* An episode of ''Sweet Valley High'' involves a high school student who hides the fact that he's analphabetic.
* Mel from ''Growing Up Fisher" spent decades not letting anyone outside his immediate family and friends knowing that he's blind, doing things such as memorizing the layout and contents of an art gallery beforehand so well that his date was fooled. It's not until he divorces his wife and starts living alone that he has to acknowledge his limitations and begins using a guide dog.

* Related to the above, many autistic people hide their diagnosis if they can; this is again often down to other people not believing that the autistic person can really be autistic[[note]]The logic is usually along the lines of [[InsaneTrollLogic "But you can speak/have a job/are married/have a sense of humour/can write/etc! You're nothing like my actually autistic child/cousin/sibling/etc, therefore you must be lying!"]][[/note]], and the fact that stereotypes regarding autistic people can definitely change how an autistic person is treated by others. Like with the ADD/ADHD example above, this also leads to there being a social stigma against autistic people (something that organisations seeking a "cure" capitalise on) and again has led to a stereotype that prevents AFAB individuals and people of color from getting diagnosed. This trope definitely acts as a double-edged sword, however; the ability to hide autistic symptoms, or allow the more obvious once to be viewed as [[DitzyGenius eccentricity]] or [[ShrinkingViolet shyness]], can often mean that it's more difficult for a person to actually access resources or help [[MortonsFork because it's assumed that they're "high functioning" enough to not need any help anyway.]] Like with ADHD, things have been getting better in recent years, but not enough to prevent this from being a DeadHorseTrope yet.

SecretStabWound is a short-term version. Contrast ObfuscatingDisability and IAmNotLeftHanded. A subtrope to ClothingConcealedInjury, where clothing is used to hide the handicap.

* Longtime Kansas Senator and 1996 Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole was usually seen with a pen in his right hand. Dole lost the use of that hand due to injuries suffered in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.

* Related to the above, many autistic people hide their diagnosis if they can; this is again often down to other people not believing that the autistic person can really be autistic[[note]]The logic is usually along the lines of "But you can speak/have a job/are married/have a sense of humour/can write/etc! You're nothing like my actually autistic child/cousin/sibling/etc, therefore you must be lying!"[[/note]], and the fact that stereotypes regarding autistic people can definitely change how an autistic person is treated by others. Like with the ADD/ADHD example above, this also leads to there being a social stigma against autistic people (something that organisations seeking a "cure" capitalise on) and again has led to a stereotype that prevents women and girls from getting diagnosed. This trope definitely acts as a double-edged sword, however; the ability to hide autistic symptoms, or allow the more obvious once to be viewed as [[DitzyGenius eccentricity]] or [[ShrinkingViolet shyness]], can often mean that it's more difficult for a person to actually access resources or help because it's assumed that they're "high functioning" enough to not need any help anyway.

* Used as a murder method in ''Literature/FatherBrown'': The victim was convinced that willpower could overcome anything including physical ailments, and smashed her sister's glasses to prove it applied to anyone, not just her. [[spoiler:She was nearly blind,]] her ego fed by a guru leading a sun-worshipping cult who [[spoiler:accelerated her eyesight's degeneration]] with a ritual where they looked into the sun. [[spoiler:He arranged for her to]] fall into an open elevator shaft after [[spoiler:signing a will leaving everything to him]], but unbeknownst to him the sister had replaced [[spoiler:the will with one leaving everything to her]].