to think that an increasing number of people with disabilities

[Unwind]

is the elephant in the room

articles like this one:

www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/borisjohnson/8321899/The-blue-badge-of-the-disabled-fails-those-who-need-it-most.html

Seem to assume that more blue badges etc are being given out because benefits are being extended more widely, without considering whether there are simply increasing numbers of people who qualify.


One of the realities of medical advances is that people are surviving who otherwise might not have. That means more in need of support. So to keep the same level of benefits going, we need to keep allocating more resources to those most in need.

[LornMowa]

I can understand the frustration that severely disabled people such as Frank Gardener must feel but I am not sure the answer is to restrict the number of blue badges that are given out.

I think that for some time now, our planners have been in the thrall of the car which means that unless one has easy access to a car, and an ability to be able to park it near to a service, many of the essentials of life become out of reach.

Many of us live in Victorian or Edwardian streets where, if you look carefully, you can see the remains of corner shops. How much easier it must have been for the more frail in our society if they only had to shuffle down to the end of the street to get groceries.

With our aging society, I am really surprised that town planners do not spend more time thinking how the street scene will affect the more vunerable in society.

In fact, if I was planning a degree course for town planners, I would ensure that for at at least one term, the student would have to spend all their time in a wheelchair or pushing a pushchair!

[MintyMoo]

I think there is an increase due to better diagnosis, greater awareness of the varity of conditions people can have and also a wider range of conditions are recognised as disabling now.

It's not just people with obvious differences such as missing a limb, or being a wheelchair user who are classed as disabled. People with learning difficulties, neurological conditions such as autism and dyspraxia, illnesses such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, chronic pain and fatigue conditions like CFS and fibromyalgia are all reconised as disabling conditions amongst others. When my Dad (71) was a little boy children who had difficulties were just dismissed as 'stupid' or sent away :(

[AMumInScotland]

I'd guess also that more blue badges are being given out because more people have cars!

[AMumInScotland]

The arrticle does seem to mix up all sorts of issues as if it was all one thing - eg "There is talk of new independent medical tests, after auditors revealed a few years ago that about 16,000 blue-badge holders were shamelessly using the entitlements of dead relatives" - Eh? Why would you need an independent medical test to work out if the person was dead, and the badge being used by someone else?

And "The few disabled parking bays are almost invariably taken up by blue-badge drivers I?ve seen walking to and from their cars.? - well yes, many people with a disability can still walk. Unless you want to set up "Blue Badge Gold Card" for wheelchair users, what are you going to do about it? My DH has a blue badge, and can walk, But not very far, certainly not fast, and without an extra-large parking space he can't get in or out of the car.

[AMumInScotland]

I'd sooner all the people making pronouncements dealt with the most obvious problems first - 1. All the people who park in a disabled bay without a badge. 2. People who are using a badge which belongs to someone else.

Only once they've dealt with those problems should they start to think about whether they want to make the tests tougher. IME councils are not quick to hand them out to just anyone who asks, so I doubt there are many people who have got hold of them "legitimately" but don't really need them.

[Unwind]

It reads as though Boris is minded to "set up "Blue Badge Gold Card" for wheelchair users"

Maybe it is simply that years ago, people who could walk but were struggling with cancer, cfs or whatever were housebound. Not exactly a solution I'd favour.

[AMumInScotland]

If he wants to do something for London, to make up for the additional issues they have there, then maybe he has a point. I don't really know about London parking.

But, in general, people have a blue badge because they need it, and I don't think that wheelchair users particularly need it more than other blue badge holders.

[MsHighwater]

I listened to the JV item about this. I heard a contributor state that she feels frustrated, as a wheelchair user, when she has to wait for a parking space because it is occupied by someone who can walk and, therefore, doesn't need the extra wide space that she needs. I wondered if it ever occurred to her that that walking person, who might have chronic pain or a severe heart condition, might sometimes have to wait in vain for a parking space close to the shop because the spaces are all occupied by wheelchair users who, in some cases, do not need the space to be as close to their destination.

It's a shame that the debate turns into a walkers vs wheelchair users fight when, as AMIS rightly points out, there are other, more obvious, issues that should be dealt with first.

[Niceguy2]

The simple truth is that there are many people abusing the system.

I'm sure we've all seen perfectly able bodied people sauntering to/from their disabled spots. It's almost a novelty to see a disabled person actually using a spot.

[Unwind]

My late FIL used to saunter to/from disabled spots - he was terminally ill with cancer.

was he abusing the system niceguy2?

[togarama]

Disability isn't always visible in the short time it takes someone to "saunter" from their disabled spot.

I have a good friend who has had numerous joint operations since childhood, is in constant pain and likely to be in a wheelchair by the time she reaches middle-age. Under doctor's orders she is only supposed to do non-impact activities (i.e. swimming, physio stretching) and limit time on her feet. She refuses to use a crutch or stick and for a short walk between the parking space and shop you might easily think there is nothing wrong.

[MillyR]

It depends what you mean by benefits. I am assuming you mean the benefit of parking places. Some people may take it to mean that having a blue badge means that you receive money from the government in the form a financial benefit, which you don't.

In terms of the parking problem, perhaps it has been caused by able bodied people making lots of journeys that don't need to be made in a car, and thus using up parking spaces. Perhaps another option is to penalise the able bodied more for driving, and free up more resources that way. That would stop the Government attempting to encourage bickering between people with different levels of impairment.

[MillyR]

There is also surely an issue that many people are having to make a decision about whether or not their life will be made easier or more difficult by wheelchair use.

Not everyone falls directly into the camp of cannot walk at all and can walk but in pain. Giving wheelchair users a gold standard over people who walk is putting an incentive in place for people to choose to use a wheelchair. Really the decision to use a wheelchair (for those who have some level of mobility without one) should be made purely on the basis of health and the quality of life for the wheelchair user. It is instead being turned into some sort of sign to satisfy the general public.

[madwomanintheattic]

quite, milly. dd2 can walk quite well now, but it was always a bit of a gamble in the past whether to make her walk (as we were closer to the shop) or to get the wheelchair out, know she'd be comfortable, and could get out and walk a bit inside the shops if she wanted to. putting her in the wheelchair every time wouldn't have helped her build up her walking stamina, and probably over time would have rendered her more disabled, not less. but would undoubtedly have been easier on the general public who would have had a nice big visual prompt to help them make their minds up about her entitlement to a parking facility.

(of course, the irony is, if we were actually using the wheelchair, we only needed a big parking space, we didn't need to be right next to the shop lol. if she was walking, we needed to be right next to shop, as she tired fast, fell over a lot, and we often had to give up and carry her back to the car...)

hey ho.

[Samraves]

It is tricky.... I can appreciate that it is not always possible to tell whether someone is abusing the system or has an 'invisible disability'

I get very very annoyed when people park in spots without blue badges though! But i also get quite annoyed when people (not usually genuinely disabled people) use a disability as an excuse for things such as not working... May get flames here, but most of the people I know who are disabled want to work and usually find something which suits their ability rather than focus on what they can't do. I think it is too easy for people (and I am not talking about terminally ill, or people with severe mental, physical or learning disabilities) to get signed off. I think it wears away people's motivation and pride. Many people live with things which make their lives uncomfortable and difficult but just get on with their lives and focus on enjoying as much as they can.

I think I spent too long as a housing officer seeing the worst in people because of them trying to justify why they should get a house and garden over and above everyone else! The poor excuses some people make used to drive me mad. I had more problems than many as I am hard of hearing and have really back back problems which mean I can barely walk sometimes yet I would never try to suggest that I have a disability as it is demeaning to people who really are!

[cory]

dd sauntered round the shops yesterday

and is in bed with pain today- she may well be off school the whole week

but of course the people who saw her sauntering won't know that

if someone like her is ever going to hold down a job (and not live on taxpayers' money) then every detail of her day will need to be planned so as not to overstretch her

[Unwind]

"i also get quite annoyed when people (not usually genuinely disabled people) use a disability as an excuse for things such as not working..."

what makes you think that they are not genuinely disabled?

[Unwind]

a former colleague of mine has schizophrenia, he is desperate to work, but the nature of his disability, and his sometimes erratic behaviour, makes it very difficult to hold down a job - a friend with ME also struggles to get and keep a job

this is not because they are lazy, or using disability as an excuse

[ThisIsANiceCage]

Second madwoman about the fact that if you're using a wheelchair you might not need to be slap bang by the doors (depends on slope and propulsion). Whereas if you're upright the shorter distance is often critical.

I often have lovely, upright, elderly people give way to me - but I'm comfortably sat on my wheels and although I can't change my route, I can happily wait for others to pass.

[MintyMoo]

I lost my job due to disability, I was on probation and had to have so much time off that I couldn't possibly pass the probation. I worked so so hard what hours I could work but it wasn't enough. I have chronic pain and fatigue and dyspraxia. I am trying to find another job now I can work full time again but having needed so much time off sick last year is putting people off.

I am fit enough to do some work but it's hard now. Last year I was struggling due to lack of work experience to get a graduate job, I was able to do some part time shop work to stay afloat though. Now I have the graduate job experience it's easier to get the initial interviews but I can see the fact I was sick is putting people off. I can't do shop work again as wouldn't be able to cope on my feet all day. Plus most people won't employ graduates for non graduate jobs (would happily work as a receptionist or secretary) as they assume we'll leave as soon as something better comes along.

[Alouiseg]

It's a numbers game because we're better at medicine these days, we're keeping people alive who would have otherwise died.

My Dad has a Blue Badge because he had a severe stroke and walking is very difficult and exhausting for him. But 20 years ago he would have died without the intervention that he received.

The ageing population will inevitably mean more people with long term disabilities.

[Glitterknickaz]

My son wouldn't just saunter, he'd run like hell.

He'd probably run like hell under the wheels of a bus given half the chance. No concept of danger you see.

No concept of taking care of himself either.... for that run he'd be screaming in pain later but his autism means he doesn't make the link between excessive activity and agonising pain from his severe hypermobility.

What really scares me is that he WOULD pass a mobility test as he can cover some distance, but then he'd be unable to move and screaming a few hours later. He'd love to not use his wheelchair cos ooooh lets go play in the traffic or hurl ourselves in the lake (he's done both when escaping from his chair) or attempt to throw himself down the stairs....

The issues are way too complex for 'mobility testing'. When you have consultants recommending that a badge is issued why is that not good enough?

I really think all this 'disabled as scroungers', 'disabled benefits fraud', 'blue badge fraud' is out there because of the consultation to abolish DLA finishing this week. The only one in the media not running these stories is the Guardian.

DLA has a fraud rate of 0.5%. Not perfect but very low compared to out of work benefits (which DLA isn't). If you look at the benefits bill DLA and Carers Allowance are a tiny percentage of benefits given. Far more is spent on Housing Benefit, Income Support, JSA etc....

I really think the government has an agenda to demonise the disabled and therefore people will then applaud when they lose their money. Bloody scrounging disabled scum.