Eric’s I.D. Law Sheds Light On Hidden Disabilities
SALISBURY, Md. — The butterfly sometimes seen on a Maryland driver’s license may not look like much, but it can communicate something important.
For some Marylanders, a routine traffic stop can become anything but routine. Beginning Oct. 1, 2025, a new option for state IDs is designed to help law enforcement recognize when someone may have a hidden disability.
Eric’s mother, Linda Carpenter-Grantham, said, “Eric’s I.D. law is you can get a black butterfly suit put on your Maryland State I.D. that would let law enforcement know you have an invisible disability.”
The law isn’t just about what’s printed on an ID. It’s about the person behind the butterfly and the family that pushed to get it there.
Carpenter-Grantham decided to have a conversation with her son, Eric, about what to do if he gets pulled over by law enforcement. “Yell out, ‘I have autism,’ yell out my number and yell out, so I’ll call my mom.” Eric started crying and he said, “Mom, I could do that, but the police might shoot all my friends that have autism because we’re all different,” Linda said.
She recalls Eric saying they needed to do something. “We got to do something now, and he came to me later and said, ‘I have an idea. I want to put something on the Maryland state I.D. that would let the police know me and my friends and I have an invisible disability.’ And then he asked me to take him to Congress,” Linda said.
Eric explained that getting a bill passed is no joke. It takes work.
“We are blessed to say that 13 senators and 49 delegates, including the Senate president, have co-sponsored Eric’s I.D. law, and the showing right there that sometimes you have to get through the process and you will have challenges, and that had taught me that and when the bill finally got passed and signed into law by Gov. Wes Moore, I felt a sense of hope. This was going to be the next step: to protect hidden or invisible disability in the disability community. They use their voices to feel safe into the world,” Eric said.
Eric could speak up about his disability, but he knew some of his friends couldn’t. He wanted police to have a way to recognize that someone has a disability, even when they can’t explain it themselves.
“Over 30,000 Marylanders have gotten it, and it hasn’t been a year yet. October is going to be one year, and it’s showing right there that one law can change a person’s story. We have saved so many lives with this law, and I pray that it’s going to save lives forever,” Eric said.
With the butterfly making its way onto Maryland IDs throughout the year, Eric told WMDT that the symbol represents hope, freedom and resilience for people with hidden disabilities.
But the work isn’t done yet, as Eric and Linda hope to bring the bill nationwide. It was introduced to the Delaware House of Representatives at the beginning of this year.
“When I tell you I’m super proud of him. I am super proud of him. Eric has received close to 60 awards within this year about this law, and we are just so super, super grateful for all of the support that we’ve received for this. People are writing us letters asking us to come to their states to bring this law. Their concern for their children, their mothers, to have dementia, brain injury, diabetes, whatever your invisible disability is, it’s for this. The purpose is for this butterfly,” Linda said.
Click here to learn more about Eric’s I.D. Law.
