Blue badge police again

Yes they are. I literally know someone who has one for that reason alone.

I loathe the toilet police.

My adult niece had UC and after an ileostomy now has a stoma. It is hard enough for a young woman to have to deal with having a bag and the other very personal changes to her body without being regularly challenged, by the general public, but most frequently by staff in the venue, for using accessible toilets.

The toilet police don't just ask, when she replies she is eligible to use them, they continue to challenge with the usual stupid comments such as you don't look disabled etc until she gets upset to the point she flashes her stoma at them before they will back down.

She is feisty so when she comes out she will ask to speak to the staff member and their manager and make sure they know the impact it has on her, and she gets an apology, later she will write to their HQ to complain. But it affects her day and knocks her confidence going out just a little bit more every time it happens.

Once she used a normal toilet because the accessible was in use/there was a queue and her bag was leaking - not ideal as she needs access to a sink too. She ended up with banging on the door and being shouted at to open the door now because a staff member had been in another cubicle/heard rustling as she sorted herself out, went and got a 2nd staff member and accused her of shop lifting. Again she had to share her private medical information to satisfy them.

Blue badge / toilet police really need to check themselves. Is it really worth the impact it has on genuinely disabled people?

Blue badges are not given for hearing impairment alone. They are specifically for parking conditions and if the person you referred to has qualified for one they must have a reason beyond what you are stating
it’s not easy to get one.

It’s strange. If I am with young adult DS people feel the need to check for a badge and comment. With my dad in his 70s it never happens. It’s a prime example of agism when it comes to disability

I sympathise with the blue badge holders on this thread. However, and I fully agree I am being unreasonable here:

I will shortly need an organ transplant. If/when I get one, I will be on huge quantities of medication and need to travel to the hospital three times a week minimum, possibly daily. There is no non disabled parking at the hospital, it is 17 miles from my home and I’m not allowed to use public transport (immunocompromised). I don’t qualify for a blue badge because I’m not permanently disabled. This is very frustrating and at the moment means I cannot be listed for an organ because I can’t promise to meet the post surgery requirements. I don’t have family who can take time out of work to drive me every few days. Apparently, there’s only volunteer drivers for old people or, again, permanently disabled ones.

I know you're being encouraging (and I try to avoid explaining my disability to strangers) but well... most of us are physically weak and would rather not risk getting beaten up

I'm confused by this.
People can have two legs but be more disabled than an amputee. If no /unreliable nerve signal can get to their muscles (for instance) then someone's legs can look perfectly fine but not walk at all

I have a friend with MS. She would love to run around like Johnnie Peacock or swim huge distances. But just getting from the car to a cafe is an unreliable fear. Having two legs is irrelevant when she her nerves aren't communicating properly with her muscles

This isn’t the flex you seem to think it is.

’beat that’ - WTF, why do you think other people are your competitors for disability.

this is one of the most vile attitudes on the thread.

Blue Badges should be there for people who need to park closer to the facility. There are lots of reasons for this, some are not visible.

There are also people who have a Blue Badge who do not need to park closer to the facility, but do park there, because they have a Blue Badge.

There are also people who fraudulently use badges - either the disabled person is not with them, or they have bought a dodgy one.

The only people who lose out in any of this are disabled people who need to be parked close to the facility, often for mobility issues.

i knew someone who had a Blue Badge because they were deaf .. no mobility issues.. couid have left a space free for a wheelchair users, but didn’t.

There We Are Then is my favourite reply. My daughter (ASD) has a blue badge, I only use it when she is with me. Oldies love to stare at us when we park.
once I was with my dm (blue badge holder) and there was no spots in disabled so I parked in mother and baby (which is allowed) and some lady next to me said ‘you don’t have a child you shouldn’t park there’ my reply was ‘mind your own business Karen’ and off I trotted with my clearly disabled DM

I can never understand blue badge holders moaning about this. Can they not see that the person doing the asking is trying to protect the blue badge holders right to that space?

In the current society there are not many people who will actually put themselves out for whats right and wrong. See someone getting beaten up, turn away. See someone stealing, turn away. See someone parking in a disabled space to protect their Range Rover, turn away.

So once in a while they get it wrong and ask someone with a not obvious disability if they are genuine. Is that such a hardship for someone actually having some social concerns?

Or maybe they just start to wonder if its worth it, ignore it all and let blue badge holders cry about lack of parking in future because no one gives a stuff.

Also BB spaces are not just for wheelchair users.
Actually having a space close to the entrance is even more necessary if you’re not a wheelchair user.

This. I can cover great distances in my power chair however traversing car parks with reversing cars and blind corners is truly terrifying.

Also in my power chair, the controls aren't weather proof so if it's raining I need to get it inside ASAP. I've tried various covers over the controller but it usually affects my steering and I crash or fall off kerbs. So if it's raining I try not to go out to anything I can delay but if it's doctors/hospital/school stuff then it's tough.

I know you're being encouraging (and I try to avoid explaining my disability to strangers) but well... most of us are physically weak and would rather not risk getting beaten up

I'm an amputee, a woman said to me 'my husband has trouble walking' i replied 'so do I and I've only got one leg, beat that love.' She shut up.

I saw a tiktok not too long ago where an older person started challenging a young bloke as soon as he pulled up because he was in a work van and apparently him being both disabled and having a job was incomprehensible for this person. He simply said I don’t have to explain myself to you and she kept harping on right up until he got out of his van and it became obvious he had a prosthetic metal leg where she quickly apologised. Why people would want to embarrass themselves like this in public is beyond me.

I'd say it's an equal need because whilst a wheelchair may make the actual movement from car park to destination physically easier than walking for some people who have adapted to the physical requirements to self propel, it does mean the wheelchair user is significantly shorter and therefore less visible to drivers, particularly when having to transfer from vehicle to chair and move between cars (assuming there's enough space to actually do so). That and it's perfectly possible to have both a physical disability and a sensory disability.

I think most people with full eyesight have seen drivers come into Tesco's car park faster than they should and then swing into a parking space or round the corners without really looking. They're an equal danger to everybody, really.

Why do you think you have the right to know what someone's disability is?
Mind your own FUCKING BUSINESS!

I'm an amputee, a woman said to me 'my husband has trouble walking' i replied 'so do I and I've only got one leg, beat that love.' She shut up.