Parking with a blue badge when looking "normal.."

lyniced

This hs happened to me several times. Because I'm not old (47) I've been asked 'what's your disability?'. My husband gets my wheelchair out of the boot and they shut up! Funny thing is most of these people are older than me, usually OAPs!

LadyMorticia

I get the same too. I have M.E (which is similar to Fibro in some aspects) which is classed as an "invisible" illness and I get "So, you're just tired?". !!!!!!! NO I AM NOT JUST TIRED!

Sorry, but it really !!!!es me off. This week is M.E Awareness week so alot of sufferers and friends and family have been trying to raise awareness of the condition, which is commonly misunderstood and I swear the next person who says "So, you're just tired?" will regret it!

Lum

The specialist treating my partner reckons that ME and Fibro are the same damn thing.

TeeferTiger: You know you can apply for a BB before you've gotten DLA don't you? There's a form you can get from the council, it's nowhere near as arduous as the DLA form, and it's a lot easier to get than DLA.

Ellejmorgan

TeeferTiger wrote: »

I'm now 31, with chronic migraines and fibromyalgia. I tend not to drive now (don't feel safe to because of auras etc) and get very tired when walking with pain soon following. I don't have a BB because I'm still fighting the DWP for my ESA and DLA, I also don't feel ready to accept that I can't manage to walk just that little bit further (even though my body is telling me it can't!).

Unfortunately, it seems to be the way around here that as soon as you get your pension, you apply for a BB. And as this area is retirement central, even if I had a BB, I wouldn't be able to park in a designated bay because they're full up with old dears' cars. Apparently 8% of the car park has to be designated for BB holders, but they're always full. When I was taking my neighbour (who has a BB and double twisted spine) out shopping last year, I usually had to drop them off and then go park somewhere else. There are just as many parent and child spaces at our local supermarkets as there are disabled bays. And even then when my neighbour (who is only a few years older than me) gets out with their stick, we get glared at for being in a disabled bay! Unfortunately, my neighbour is also one of these who is of the mindset that no one is as ill as she is. Yes, they've got a fair bit wrong with them, but I don't need reminding all the time.

I often say that missing a limb would be "easier" (obviously it wouldn't be) than putting up with the sh*t I get from the DWP and other people who say "Only a migraine? Can't you take some Migraleve?". Yeah, I *could* take some... they wouldn't touch the pain, nor stop the flashing/spots in my eyes and the feeling that I'm not in my own body. And as for the FM, they've either never heard of it or tell me "I know someone who had that, they died". Well, that makes me feel a whole lot better doesn't it?! lol BTW, I'm sure they got FM mixed up with something else... What's wrong with me isn't visible. If I could remove the bits that hurt, I'd be dead.

You have my sympathies, I have spinal and neck problems, and currently my neck is badly affected...
I suffer excrutiating headaches from the compromised vessles, feels like i've been wacked on the back of the head with a pan sometimes and I get blurred vision, it's horrible..I really feel for you..

I don't like those that compete to be the sickest it's irritating and a waste, I really don't want to be ill, but unfortunatly there are some that do it seems..

eskimo26

harveybobbles wrote: »

If you were registered disabled, on full DLA both rates, had a Motability car and blue badge and parked in a Disabled parking space, what would your reply be to a person who asks "Are you now going to limp" when you get out of the car?

The person who said this was an employee of the place we visited, which is a well known company.

The blue badge holder looks "normal". By this I mean they have no obvious physical impairment such as a limb missing.
.

Are you serious?! I would march them to their Manager post haste and ask them whether they thought it was acceptable for a member of their staff to abuse a customer in such a disgusting way. What kind of training they are giving their staff and what is going to be done about it NOW.

Then i would follow up with letters to head office as necessary. :mad::mad::mad:

Soapn

asking a person a question can hardly be deemed as abuse.

Marching an employee to a manage however would be rightly seen as assault.

eskimo26 wrote: »

Are you serious?! I would march them to their Manager post haste and ask them whether they thought it was acceptable for a member of their staff to abuse a customer in such a disgusting way. What kind of training they are giving their staff and what is going to be done about it NOW.

Then i would follow up with letters to head office as necessary. :mad::mad::mad:

ab.da54

Lum wrote: »

The government's own research, as quoted by Boris Johnson and reported in the Daily Mail of all places shows that the level of fraud for DLA claims is around 0.5%.

That is a much much lower fraud rate than for most other benefits out there. Anyone who has ever seen a DLA form will understand why.

Irrespective of figures quoted, it is impossible to know the true percentage of fraud because those committing said fraud, who currently remain undetected, would not be shouting it from the rooftops.

Lum

Soapn wrote: »

asking a person a question can hardly be deemed as abuse.

Depends on how they ask it. If it's a really sarcastic "oh aye? what's your disability then mate?" then that does become abusive.

Parva

Lum wrote: »

Depends on how they ask it. If it's a really sarcastic "oh aye? what's your disability then mate?" then that does become abusive.

Soapn regularly makes inflammatory posts which appear to be at best misguided. I merely asked because I'm intrigued as to why he holds the views that he does and why does he only appear when it's time to stir the pot. I was in no way bullying him nor being abusive in asking, I would just like to know what his situation is as it may enable me to better understand why he seems intent on dragging anyone down that receives benefits. If he doesn't want to answer then that's his choice and I will draw my own conclusions from that. My request had no abusive element in it whatsoever so please don't try to tar me with that brush!

Lum

Parva wrote: »

Soapn regularly makes inflammatory posts which appear to be at best misguided. I merely asked because I'm intrigued as to why he holds the views that he does and why does he only appear when it's time to stir the pot. I was in no way bullying him nor being abusive in asking, I would just like to know what his situation is as it may enable me to better understand why he seems intent on dragging anyone down that receives benefits. If he doesn't want to answer then that's his choice and I will draw my own conclusions from that. My request had no abusive element in it whatsoever so please don't try to tar me with that brush!

My post was not aimed at you.

It was aimed at the people who say those kind of words to anyone who parks in an accessible spot and isn't driving a Renault Kangoo with a powerchair strapped into the back, or similar obvious/stereotypical signs of being disabled.

The point I was making is that while Soapn does have a point that it may not be abusive to ask about someone's disability, if your job is to ensure fair use of the accessible bays, it is definitely abusive if the person chooses to be a **** about it.

Apologies for the misunderstanding.

In any case it's a tricky one, because even if you ask nicely, the person is likely soon going to grow sick of having to explain and justify themselves to every car park attendant in every private car park, and then deal with blank stares and responses like "What's CRPS?" or "What's Fibromyalgia" or "Oh, yeah I saw that on House, you mean Lupus actually exists I thought that was just a running joke?"