Representative Ontario Tillman, D-Birmingham, has filed a bill to allow Alabama citizens with “invisible disabilities” to signify that status on their drivers licenses or non-driver identification cards.
Tillman said his background as a special education teacher made him pursue the legislation after seeing stories of situations where having that information could resolve issues for law enforcement and other first responders.
Under the law, an “invisible medical condition” would be defined as “a physical or mental condition that may interfere with an individual’s ability to communicate with a first responder, including a communication impediment; hearing loss; blindness or a visual impairment; autism spectrum disorder; traumatic brain injury; schizophrenia; or a cognitive disability.“
Individuals who have been diagnosed with one or more of those conditions would have the ability to signify that by requesting a special insignia on their ID. According to the law, that would take the form of the state flower, the camellia, as a logo to signify to responders that the individual has a condition. There would be no fee for individuals requesting the designation.
In order to prove the condition, a citizen would need to provide diagnosis from a physician licensed to practice in the state of Alabama. The bill is part of a larger package of bills moving through the Legislature in recent sessions aimed at interactions between responders and individuals with invisible disabilities.
Representative Leigh Hulsey, R-Helena, brought a bill in 2023 to provide free training for law enforcement officers on interacting with individuals facing invisible disabilities. In 2024, Hulsey followed that law up by expanding the program to firefighters.
