NAMI
Invisible Disabilities
PERIOD.
Philanthropy in Action
Myth or Fact?
100

What does NAMI stand for?

What is National Alliance on Mental Illness?

100

True or false: You can always tell when someone has a disability simply by looking at them?

What is False?
100

PERIOD. works to eradicate period poverty and this social problem surrounding menstruation.

What is stigma?

100

Collecting unopened pads, tampons, liners, and other menstrual products most directly supports this cause.

What is menstrual equity/ending period poverty?

100

Standard health insurance plans in the U.S. are legally allowed to place lower lifetime financial limits on mental health care than on physical health care.

 Myth

The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) legally prohibits insurers from providing less favorable benefits for mental health than for medical/surgical care.

200

More than this fraction of U.S. adults experience mental illness each year.

What is 1 in 5?

200

A disability or medical condition that may not be immediately apparent to others is often called this.

What is an invisible disability?

200

PERIOD. describes itself as this kind of global nonprofit: not adult-led, but ______-fueled.

What is youth-fueled?

200

Providing seating, allowing breaks, using captions, and avoiding assumptions about what disability “looks like” are examples of this practice.

What is accessibility/accommodation?

200

Because the majority of disability accommodations involve expensive structural renovations or advanced software, they pose a heavy financial burden to employers.

What is myth?

Data from the Job Accommodation Network (JAN) shows that nearly 50% of workplace accommodations cost absolutely nothing to implement (such as flexible scheduling, modifying lighting, or altering dress codes). The remaining accommodations usually average a one-time cost of only $300

300

NAMI focuses its work in four major areas: advocacy, education, public awareness, and this.

What is support?

300

Invisible disabilities can affect much more than mobility; they can involve illness, chronic pain, neurological conditions, mental health conditions, and other limitations. Therefore, this common phrase — “You don’t look ______” — can be dismissive.

What is disabled/sick?

300

As of 2026, this is the total number of U.S. states, along with Washington, D.C., that have passed legislation mandating free menstrual products in public school restrooms.

What is 27?

300

Advocacy aimed at eliminating taxes on menstrual products targets what PERIOD. calls this discriminatory tax.

What is the tampon tax?

300

Less than 2% of all mammal species on Earth actually experience a menstrual cycle, making periods an evolutionary rarity largely unique to humans, certain primates, bats, and elephant shrews.

What is a fact?

Out of over 5,000 species of placental mammals, only about 84 species (roughly 1.6%) undergo overt menstruation. Every other mammal on Earth reabsorbs their uterine lining internally through an estrous cycle rather than bleeding meaning dogs, cats, cows, and horses do not get periods!

400

According to Half of all lifetime mental illness begins by this age.

 What is 14?

400

Instead of assuming someone requesting an accommodation is exaggerating, the Invisible Disabilities Association emphasizes listening, supporting, and doing this.

What is believing them?

400

The inability to afford or access menstrual products is commonly known by this two-word term.

What is period poverty?

400

Making an event accessible by offering captions, flexible seating, breaks, and quiet spaces helps support people with these conditions, even when others cannot see them.

What are invisible disabilities?

400

Global health organizations consider a lack of basic handwashing stations with soap and water to be one of the largest systemic barriers to managing periods safely.

What is Myth

Public data from organizations like UNICEF highlights that over 2.3 billion people globally lack basic sanitation services, transforming a natural bodily function into a severe healthcare crisis due to an inability to clean reusable products safely

500

Someone experiencing a mental health, suicide, or substance-use crisis in the United States can call or text this three-digit number 24/7.

 What is 988?

500

The Invisible Disabilities Association summarizes its mission with three actions: encourage, educate, and ______ people and organizations affected by illness, pain, and disability.

What is connect

500

According to PERIOD.'s 2025 State of the Period Study, nearly this fraction of students struggle to afford period products.

What is one in four?

500

Before planning a service project, asking a nonprofit what it actually needs helps prevent this common mistake: providing help based on assumptions rather than the community’s priorities.

What is performative philanthropy? or What is ineffective service?

500

NAMI's work is limited to helping people who personally have a diagnosed mental illness.

What is MYTH? NAMI also serves families, caregivers, educators and communities.

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