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.
I suppose the answer to this must be to improve the policing of the issue
and use of permits so that those that need of them get the opportunity to
park and feel OK about doing so. However, that's easier said than done !
And Alison, don't let the thought of shopping with children put you off !!
On-line shopping deliveries are completely wonderful - almost as good a use
of the internet as professional jiscmail lists !
Nikki Adams [log in to unmask]
----- Original Message -----
From: <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, May 26, 2001 2:38 AM
Subject: Use of Disabled Parking
> Recently my paraplegic wife and I were sitting in the parking lot of a
large
> shopping mall and thought that we would carry out an informal survey in
> Denver of the use of parking bays reserved for the disabled. We were so
> shocked that we separately or jointly repeated our little study at a few
> other shopping malls and this is what we found over a period of three
months:
>
> Out of 91 people putting up legitimate disabled parking permits inside
their
> vehicles at three shopping malls, not one person using them used a
wheelchair
> for locomotion or showed any signs of pronounced mobility impairment. The
> remainder were:
>
> 1. Using walking sticks or other walking aids, amputees: 11
> 2. Obese: 24
> 3. Looked older than about 60 years: 31
> 4. Middle aged mothers with several children: 10
> 5. Teenagers with no obvious disability: 7
> 6. Miscellaneous others with no obvious disability: 8
>
> This does not include 14 middle aged or young women and one man who did
not
> display any form of disabled authorisation at all, all of whom without
> exception, when politely asked "what your disability is", replied that
they
> "were only going inside for a few minutes" or became openly even more
> hostile. In two cases, my wife had to call the local sheriff on her cell
> phone because of exceptionally threatening behaviour of women without
parking
> permits. We have been most disappointed to note that the illegal use of
> disabled parking is displayed predominantly by women drivers and have been
> wondering why this is so.
>
> Lest some criticism be levelled at us for judging disability by the mere
> appearance of someone walking with no obvious difficulty, we do appreciate
> that some organic disorders do not always manifest themselves in mobility
> impairment, such as cardiac disease or severe diabetes. However, as a
> cardiac patient who lost over 60 percent of my left ventricular function,
I
> discovered that I am also eligible for a disabled parking permit. To me,
> that is outrageous, since the less physical movement I do, the less likely
I
> am to improve my cardiac function. I would be disgusted with myself for
even
> considering the illegal or legal use of disabled parking for myself.
>
> Legally, divisions of motor vehicles in different States issue disabled
> parking permits only to "persons who are certified by an authorized health
> care specialist as having a permanent or temporary disability that limits
or
> impairs their ability to walk." So, it appears as if we have a situation
> which:
>
> 1. involves the illegal use of disabled parking permits
> 2. is being abused with the collaboration of many medical professionals
> 3. our informal survey has misinterpreted
>
> Whatever reason is correct, it is apparent that some official survey needs
to
> be regularly carried out by the authorities and security staff at shopping
> malls, restaurants and other public places. It is bad enough being
severely
> disabled without being deprived of parking by some very selfish and
> inconsiderate individuals.
>
> So, why on earth do the vast majority of people using legitimate disabled
> parking stickers not appear to be mobility impaired? What qualifies
someone
> for the issue of disability parking? Judging from what we have recorded,
it
> appears as if the majority who obtain these stickers are obese or old. If
> this is correct and these folk are not simply borrowing disabled
> authorisation, then something is very wrong with the standards of
> qualification. Non-pathological obesity and advanced years generally are
no
> reason whatsoever to qualify for disability parking. After all, some
regular
> daily exercise is well known medically to offer health and quality of life
> benefits to the old aged and obese.
>
> It would be most interesting to hear the comments of others about their
> observations regarding the use and misuse of disabled parking. Why is it
> that so few folk who qualify for disabled parking permits are wheelchair
> users? Maybe those who have to use wheelchairs should be issued with a
> special red disabled parking permit which allows them to use parking
closest
> to the shops. Maybe only the severely disabled should be granted
parking
> permits. What do you think?
>
> This situation often causes severe problems for many severely disabled
folk
> like my wife, so it really is unfair for those with relatively little
> mobility impairment to use disabled parking. As I stated earlier, I could
> easily obtain medical certification that would grant me a disabled parking
> permit as someone with profound cardiac damage - to me, it would be
> inconceivable to do that and deprive someone in real need of that parking.
>
> Dr Mel C Siff
> Denver, USA
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Supertraining/
>
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