Nikki Adams<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
<< Good point, and very brave of you, Mel, to actually ask people ! I would
like to add that many of the people I see in my community work who mainly
have neurological problems have the same perception - that most people who
have orange badges are somehow cheating the system. Young people with
Multiple Sclerosis often look absolutely fine, until they try to walk. Or the
less mobile ones tell me that they feel awkward trying to get out of their
wheelchair because other people expect them to stay there. They are also
embarrassed to use disabled parking facilities in case it is perceived that
they shouldn't be there. >>
*** We worded our questions very carefully. In my original letter, I
mentioned that my wife asked parkers a polite, non-confrontational question,
just as if she, as a person in a wheelchair, was conducting a consumer
survey. She enquired "excuse my curiosity, but may I ask what disability you
have? Do you have any comments you would like to make about how adequate
disabled parking is for you and if there are any improvements you would like
to see?" I followed her example and, in this manner, we were able to poll
the situation without relying on visual observation alone. There were a few
who were openly hostile and refused to talk to us, so that is why we had to
state that some people did not seem to show any significant disability. If
they did not reply, then we were forced to make some conclusions on the basis
of their usually brisk walk into the shops. That is how we came to the
conclusion that the majority of disabled permit users in our surveys did not
have any significant disabilities.
While we are on this topic, this raises a far worse situation than the
illicit or selfish use of disabled parking, namely the use of disabled
toilets by the able-bodied. This happens even more often than the misuse of
disabled parking and the occupants are almost invariably extremely hostile.
They seem totally ignorant of the fact that many disabled folk have little or
no bowel and bladder control and, if they are warned by hyperreflexia, that
they "have to go", then they simply cannot wait for even a few minutes like
any able-bodied person.
The result of that selfishness and callousness is that some disabled person
messes their wheelchair and, besides the dreadful inconvenience and
embarrassment of being covered in one's own waste, that person still has to
transfer back to her/his car, drive home and spend the rest of the day
undressing, transferring to a shower, washing, washing chair, washing clothes
and doing a variety of other unnecessary chores that take one whole day out
of that person's life - not to mention the frustration, pain, anger and
humiliation. That is why no able-bodied or lesser disabled person should
never use the disabled bathroom, even if one does not see any wheelchair
person in sight. Maybe disabled bathrooms need to have prominent signs
summarising what can happen to a disabled person if you steal their
facilities.
Dr Mel C Siff
Denver, USA
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