A small room on the second floor of the Oak Park Public Library was filled with vulnerable and honest stories last Wednesday night as four people shared tales that induced laughter, empathy and openness.
The authors also shared one thing in common: They all have hidden disabilities.
Shelley Harris, an Oak Park Public Library employee, hosted a healing circle event for people to share their experiences and stories of dealing with their hidden disabilities. It’s a gathering Harris has been hosting occasionally since 2023, she said.
The four people who came this time talked about what they’ve overcome throughout the years with their disabilities. Harris prompted them with questions that weren’t specifically targeted to their disabilities. Rather, they talked about the growth they’ve made in the last year, activities and events they were looking forward to and difficulties they were currently facing.
Everyone was required to speak only when holding a toy figurine, referred to as a speaking piece, so others couldn’t interject.
Millie Grandt, 75, has idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a disease that causes scarring in her lungs and has been hindering her everyday life for five years, she said. She went to the meeting to learn from others, and to teach people from her experiences.
“People won’t know what’s going on if you’re not open and honest with them,” Grandt said. “If you keep things hidden, people don’t realize what’s out there.”
She walked away from the meeting feeling empathy and compassion for others, something she feels is missing from the world, she said.
Fredrick Kendricks, a self-diagnosed neurodivergent, said he traveled from Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood to attend the meeting.
“I like this particular healing circle as a healer myself from different modalities,” Kendricks said. “I have an appreciation for healing as a primary step for moving a community forward.”
He’s a part of other groups that are centered on his hidden disability, but has a closer connection to the Oak Park library group, he said.
“This is definitely one of those supporting activities, if you will, that kind of supports my development, my sense of belonging,” Kendricks said.
Having a space to openly discuss hidden disabilities and share experiences about them is something he cares about, he said. It allows him to not feel alone.
Kendricks said meetings do not feel like therapy, but more like a healing space, with set rules he appreciates such as only talking when holding the Funko Pop speaking piece.
Helping others with disabilities is nothing new for Harris, one of the organizers for the event.
Her brother was born with Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome, a rare disease that causes physical disabilities. He is non-verbal and uses sign language as well as an augmentative communication app, she said. Harris said her life has been in advocacy for him.
She received a bachelor’s degree in speech and hearing sciences from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and received her master’s of library science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Harris, who’s been working at the library for nearly two decades, is also neurodivergent and has an autoimmune disease. She wanted to create an open and welcoming space at the library for people with disabilities.
Harris said she understands the vulnerability and pressure people have to share their stories with strangers.
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“We’re all coming into this having to trust each other in new ways that we don’t often have the opportunity for with our families or our friends because what we experience is so different,” Harris said.
She cohosts the group with Nora Sanchez, a culture librarian at Oak Park Public Library who couldn’t be at the group’s most recent meeting. Although nervous about running this session alone, by the end of the gathering, she considered it a success.
“I thought we had a great mix of personalities and experiences,” Harris said. “People were thoughtful and interested. People understood that they could interpret questions however felt best to them, so they were able to share what they wanted to share. So I thought it was a really great group last night.”
The next hidden disability healing circle is scheduled for Sunday, July 26 at the library, 834 Lake St.