AIBU to question sunflower lanyards for adults at airports?

That's not what I said.

Disabled people, like all people, have choices.

Plenty of non disabled people don't do things they don't like, don't want to, make them feel uncomfortable, which might be achievable with a bit of adjustment. But there's no way of getting any sort of adjustment so that opportunity is gone.

What evidence do you have that they are overly abused?

You didn't just ask a question. You put in this loaded and very judgmental statement

"Surely adults can manage their own behaviour/actions and if they can't they shouldn't be travelling".

If you want to post nasty things don't try and act innocent and like you're morally superior when people meet you at your level. What you said is no worse than name calling, in my opinion you went lower than retaliating with name calling. You went right to the bottom of the barrel by putting on a post stating that disabled people shouldn't travel.

Yeah I find travelling not worth the suffering at all as I'm autistic. I'd much rather just stay at home all the time. Occasionally, though, I agree to a short holiday because I feel sorry for my partner who would like to go away together sometimes.

I don't even think a person with disabilities needs a special reason to do the same as able-bodied people, although do appreciate your point.

I disagree. There may be no hierarchy in the worth of disabled people, but that doesn’t mean there is no hierarchy in the severity or impact of disability.

Disabilities can differ enormously in functional impairment, dependence, vulnerability, risk, communication, cognition and the amount of lifelong support required. Two people can both be disabled while having completely different levels of restriction and dependency.

So saying “there is no hierarchy of disability” is only defensible if you mean that nobody is more valuable or deserving than anyone else. It becomes inaccurate if it means that all disabilities have equivalent consequences.

I mean ffs every man and his dog now has autism. I believe Tom Hardy is the latest celebrity to label himself. It is, quite frankly, absurd what is currently going on in society.

🌻 🌻 🤦‍♀️.

You don't need a diagnosis to get a lanyard, just like you don't need a diagnosis to get PIP. People do not become disabled because of a label. They will have been disabled long before then.
Making people wait until they have a diagnosis will mean many people struggling for a long time.
Even the autism services in my town are open to people on the waiting list for assessment because it is years long

She shouldn’t be wearing one unless she has a disability, staff will help her through the queues faster so she doesn’t need to stand around etc.

I have a hearing disability and could use these, and the disabled access, but I dont NEED to so I don’t. I am a big believer that those who NEED to use it should but if they don’t then they shouldn’t, because having a disability doesn’t automatically mean you shouldn’t have to queue etc.

The lanyards should be used to make things easier for those who can’t queue at immigration or need who support with navigating an airport, not as a tool for people to make their own lives easier at the expense of others. It reminds me of when people used to hire wheelchair users to go to Walt Disney World with them so they didn’t have to queue, spoilt things for those who would need it and meant the whole thing was ineffective

You are therefore saying that being disabled is the same as not living in something or it feeling uncomfortable. Which is totally misunderstanding what it is like.

My dd doesnt find airports uncomfortable. The noise actually causes her pain, the sensory overload causes her to verbally shut down. She isn’t choosing to not communicate, she actually can’t.

What you are saying is actual prejudice and discrimination.

It’s like saying no one needs a wheelchair as they could drag themselves. Or let’s not install ramps in. On essential buildings- like museums. wheelchair users aren’t choosing not to walk because it’s uncomfortable.

Because you want/need assistance from everyone you interact with at the airport. I don't need the permanent attention of a member of staff or a wheelchair but I might require more time to walk somewhere, be unable to stand for long, get stressed in crowds, struggle to read or hear flight information. The lanyard means staff offer assistance and I can say whether I need any help in that situation.

This ^ it takes nothing away from you OP.
I’d rather get on last if anything, you aren’t getting there any quicker- you’re just breathing more regurgitated air!

I rarely see a sunflower lanyard these days, DM wouldn’t even recognise one now, I bet many people don’t.

And how are staff who encounter you at the airport supposed to know you have done this? They're not all at the check-in desk, looking at your status on the computer.

Is that your point? I thought your point was that why did anyone need to really travel and, consequently, why were reasonable adjustments necessary?

Where is your evidence that it is misused? Do you have data on the percentage of people who abuse it? Or just your feeling as there are more people wearing them.

1 in 4 people is disabled.

The sunflower lanyard is very useful to signal that the person wearing it might need special assistance without having to explain it throughout the various steps involved in travelling.

I have an autistic friend who is a fully independent, tax paying, law abiding adult, but struggles with crowds. The lanyard allows them to travel with less anxiety and therefore be more regulated. It avoids all kinds of mental and physical effects of anxiety in their body.

However, it seems that, according to you, my friend shouldn't be travelling.

Some people might take advantage of the sunflower lanyard, like others take advantage of many other things. To suggest that those adults with disabilities that need acommodations to be able to travel more comfortably should just stay home is ableist and beyond inconsiderate.

You’re alerting them to the fact that you have a hidden disability that may mean you need assistance. My DD copes with most airport stuff - she generally doesn’t need assistance as such but she finds the security check very difficult if she is picked for a random pat down. If she is picked the lanyard means they know she might struggle - it’s not the first time she’s point blank refused to be touched to the point of extreme distress. It means they know to find another way to do their security check and she’s not just being difficult. If she isn’t selected she doesn’t need special assistance.

It also means she doesn’t need to explain to all and sundry that she has a disability or what that disability is - they just know she might need help.

In theory they are a good idea but unfortunately you can just buy them and I know people who use them to skip lines at the airport ditto they book assistance they do not need. They are convinced it doesn’t matter because they paid for their tickets but in reality that cost is on all of our tickets plus longer wait lines for those who aren’t abusing the system (the same at theme parks etc)

I didn’t know that as I assumed sunflower lanyards were regulated in some way. I now think it is so open to abuse if someone wearing an lanyard is very entitled I will be even less sympathetic

My son is 26. He cant manage alone. He cant leave the house alone. He wears the lanyard and he has minimum 1 person with him at all times. Are you saying someone like him should not go anywhere or do anything?

When someone struggles to do something because of their disabilities, the answer should not be well just dont do it then, it should be ok, how can this be made more manageable for you so that you can have the same range of experiences as others your age.

Having no diagnosis doesn't mean they don't have difficulties. I've been told I may never get a proper diagnosis. If I did my needs aren't suddenly going to be more valid

I mean maybe we should stop non/disabled people using ramps and lifts? Unless they have a diagnosis.

Interesting. I am deaf and although I don't wear a lanyard, I do say that I am deaf and tick the 'assistance needed' box - although I don't actually need assistance - when booking a ticket because it ensures that the computer won't put me near an emergency exit. You have to be able to hear well enough to follow instructions from cabin crew in an emergency, if have a seat by the emergency doors. I once got moved at the last minute because of this.

Even to my daughter who is a blind teenager, having lost her sight as a teen?