I agree
I have a student whose disability is exacerbated by stress so I have
arranged that he should be able to use a designated disabled parking bay. He
would not get a blue badge but here in London there is little alternative to
parking on campus even though we have so little ourselves. Normally we do
not let student’s park. I would argue that if there is not enough disabled
parking to be flexible we should make the case for having more.
Mary
>From: Martin Ladbury <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: "Discussion list for disabled students and their support staff."
> <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Parking query
>Date: Fri, 22 Oct 2004 10:26:00 +0100
>
>I am afraid I do not understand your reasoning on this matter, David, and I
>think that it leads to the wrong conclusions. To use an example, if a
>student with Asperger's syndrome experiences disproportionately high levels
>of stress and anxiety because he or she cannot find parking places prior to
>attending lectures or visiting the library, and his or her difficulties are
>not recognized by the relevant government department as "mobility"
>difficulties, does that mean that he or she should not be given parking
>privileges by the Institution? Your response would seem to be that the DSA
>should take care of this by paying for taxi fares, a move that would not
>only reduce the student's autonomy, but would also (I would imagine) incur
>far greater costs than the alternative of making a parking space available.
>An apparent inconsistency involved in the response should also be noted,
>viz. the DSA would pay for taxi transport only if the need was disability
>related, and if this is recognized by the Institution then the possession
>by
>the student of a blue badge would seem to be irrelevant to the case. Put
>another way, either we say that only people qualifying for blue badges can
>have disability-related parking difficulties (which is, of course, false)
>or
>we accept that the blue badge scheme does not extend to some who need
>disabled parking spaces on campus.
>
>Yours,
>Martin.
>
>Dr Martin Ladbury
>CELT Assessor
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "David Filmer" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Friday, October 22, 2004 9:24 AM
>Subject: Re: Parking query
>
>
> > I'd argue that if the State (through the blue badge scheme) don't
>recognise him as being
> > disabled enough to qualify for parking concessions, then why should you.
>Virtually every
> > business and service only recognise blue badge holders. It's the
>recognised assessment
> > of level of disability. If he doesn't qualify, then theoretically he's
>able to cope with
> > distance, and general mobility to a sufficient level to be able to park
>elsewhere - he's just
> > struggling like everyone else, to find a space close enough. Taxis
>through
>the DSA and
> > access to suitable drop-off points is a reasonable adjustment.
> >
> > David
> >
> > === David Filmer, Disability Co-ordinator
> > AdditionalSupport and Disability Advice Centre
> > Student Advice Services, University of Portsmouth,
> > Nuffield Centre, St Michael's Road, Portsmouth, PO1 2ED
> > Tel: (023) 9284 3462 ~ Fax: (023) 9284 3460
> >
> >
> > On 21 Oct 2004 at 12:18, Elaine wrote:
> >
> > Date sent: Thu, 21 Oct 2004 12:18:25 +0100
> > From: Elaine <[log in to unmask]>
> > Subject:Re: Parking query
> >
> > > David - we do this for students - we will even allow temporary
>parking
> > > on just seeing an application form for a blue badge for a student.
> > > The issue here is with a regular visitor (who incidentally was
>turned
> > > down for a blue badge) who says that it shouldn't make any
>difference
> > > legally speaking. We say it does. Who is right? We have offered
>to
> > > allow a car through to drop him off and to pick him up, but this
>isn't
> > > what he wants.
> > > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Discussion list for disabled students and their support staff.
> > > [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of David Filmer Sent: 21
> > > October 2004 09:51 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Parking
> > > query
> > > > > As a disabled driver myself, I am not in favour of expanding
>parking
> > > schemes to those who do not qualify for blue badges. This bypasses
>the
> > > assessments that are already in place for identifying those
> > > individuals who have real difficulties, and therefore need to park
>in
> > > wide space or nearer to buildings.
> > > > Here at Portsmouth we have significant parking limitations and
>the
> > > university has a blanket policy not to provide parking for students.
> > > We recommend that disabled students firstly apply for a blue badge.
>If
> > > successful, then a University parking permit is granted and they can
> > > park in the 'disabled' bays. If they are not successful, we use the
> > > DSA to cover the costs of using taxis to get the student around
>(thus
> > > avoiding the parking issues).
> > > > Some students with mobility issues also obtain scooters through
>the
> > > DSA in order that they can get around the campus without relying on
>a
> > > car at all!
> > > > David
> > > > === David Filmer, Disability Co-ordinator
> > > AdditionalSupport and Disability Advice Centre
> > > Student Advice Services, University of Portsmouth,
> > > Nuffield Centre, St Michael's Road, Portsmouth, PO1 2ED
> > > Tel: (023) 9284 3462 ~ Fax: (023) 9284 3460
> > > > > > On 20 Oct 2004 at 10:44, Caroline Davies wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > When I managed the service for disabled students at the University
> > > > of
> > > > North London we did exactly what Phil Satchell suggests. Parking
> > > > was considered as part of the internal needs assessment process.
> > > > Access to certain adjustments required evidence and this was one
> > > > of them. If a student provided evidence and was considered to
>need
> > > > a place but did not have a Blue Badge we gave them an
> > > > institutional badge. This was reviewed on an annual basis. We
>were
> > > > not flooded because we looked very carefully at all
>requests.This
> > > > approachmeant that we could give a space to a member of staff
>with
> > > > Crohn's Disease who could not risk using public transport and to
>a
> > > > student with phobic mental health problems. Looking back, the
> > > > system could probably have done with tightening up but it worked
> > > > well enough and there were no complaints.
> > > > > I should also say that our parking was almost non-existent.
>It
> > > > > was
> > > > strictly controlled and only available for university vehicles
>and
> > > > disabled students, staff and visitors. Even the Vice Chancellor
> > > > did not drive in!
> > > > > At the time UNL also had a stated 'orange badge only' policy
> > > > > and we
> > > > just worked around it. I think such a policy would now be
> > > > potentially discriminatory and it could not be regarded as
> > > > providing a 'reasonable' response to individual needs. Clearly
>the
> > > > overall amount of spaces would have to be taken into account
>when
> > > > deciding what was reasonable.
> > > > > The issue of whether a student from another HEI should
>expect
> > > > > a
> > > > parking place is another issue (irrespective of whether your uni
> > > > validates the course). If the university has a policy of
>allowing
> > > > such students to use their library then I suppose technically
>they
> > > > are visitors. Just thinking aloud: if this facility is
>available,
> > > > would not this then make the university liable to provide
> > > > reasonable adjustments under Part 3 of the DDA, access to
> > > > services?
> > > > > Caroline
> > > > > *************************************************
> > > > Dr Caroline Davies
> > > > consultant in disability provision in HE
> > > > [log in to unmask]
> > > > 07905 79 91 40 0207 731 4058
> > > > David
> > > > David Filmer, Disability Co-ordinator
> > > Additional Support and Disability Advice Centre
> > > Student Advice Services, University of Portsmouth,
> > > Nuffield Centre, St Michael's Road, Portsmouth, PO1 2ED
> > > Tel: (023) 9284 3462 ~ Fax: (023) 9284 3460
> > >
> >
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