Disability buggy vs wheelchair on bus

[2bytwo]

Im just wondering if using a disability pushchair on the bus . Are you still expected
To fold if a wheelchair user gets on. ?

yes, definitely it would be very cruel.

I can't read that it hurts my eyes . But my understanding is that a buggy/pushchair must be folded for a wheelchair. But im not sure about a disability buggy.

I don't think you meant anything bad. You were just saying your thoughts .

@2bytwo a 'disabilty buggy' counts as a wheelchair. It is a wheelchair.

No they are both protected under the same umbrella of disability aids

It's a wheelchair. They come from an OT/wheelchair service.

I didn't rtft and saw red apologies @Trymein. Even without medical equipment there is still a valid reason a child is in a buggy (I.e tone, requiring support).

I seriously rarely leave the house with my child. Mainly due to things like this and stares.

Ds used a disablity buggy before he got a wheelchair. His needs are the same with both. Thankfully we don’t need to use public transport too often

A disability buggy is a wheelchair. But you can get little signs to put on asking people to test it as a wheelchair.

Plus many children have huge amounts of equipment. The long term ventilated children in my hospital use bugaboo donkey pushchairs.

I used to hate taking my disabled DC out in her disabled specialist buggy when she was little. I couldn't just get her out of it and fold the SN pushchair because it wasn't safe/easy to do with her disabilities. I used to hate the confrontation as well if you were out somewhere and used a disability space and were asked to fold the "buggy". I hated having to explain ourselves and people giving us a looks like they didn't believe us or that they couldn't understand the difference in need between it and a normal buggy. It used to really stress me out. I couldn't wait to get her a regular looking wheelchair.

Anyway all that to say, between a wheelchair and a SN buggy the one that should take precedence is the one that's there first. A "treat as wheelchair" sign may help as others have said and don't be afraid to stand your ground for your DC.

This. A special needs buggy is a wheelchair provided by (usually) wheelchair services it is not a pushchair in typical sense at all. The fact they are often called buggy’s and have been designed to look more like a high street pushchair and less medicalised is a red herring.

I fight for the right to the wheelchair space, but would never trump a disability buggy.

Definitely treated the same as wheelchairs. My DD had a disability buggy when she was younger. It weighed an absolute ton, much heavier than the average wheelchair. Even if it could’ve folded , I’d have been able to fold it whilst holding DD with her attached to an oxygen cylinder and feeding pump !!

That was so wrong a disability buggy is equivalent to a wheelchair. There should be a disabled person's bus pass for children, so the driver will know the child is entitled to be sitting there.

Last sentence is meant to say I’d NEVER have been able to fold it ..

Recently I was on the bus with my dd who is autistic and In a regular buggy , she’s 2. I also have medical conditions making it hard to hold her etc I got on when there was already one buggy on but then a WC user had to get on and I was asked to fold as I was the last on I had to explain why I couldn’t and the driver went on and on at me as did the other mum with a buggy and I had to pretty much give dd full medical history and mine to a packed bus it was so humiliating

That is so wrong, but people can be so unpleasant. You shouldn't be interrogated by anyone. I hope that after this you were allowed to stay on the bus.

I carried proof with me when I used mine, the law didn't require buses to allow you to take on board then either. Mostly the letter worked

If using the buggy due to disability you can get a sign saying the buggy should be treated as a wheelchair.

I saw one of these badges for the first time today. We had a group outing in a special playground for people with disabilities, that has swings and roundabouts that accommodate wheelchairs. With a group founded by another Mum from our Early Years Complex Needs Service (Portage). We were discussing how we were getting back from the park, as was quite far away and I'm the only one who can't drive (my Dad had given us a lift there and told us to get a bus back). The buses run once an hour on a Sunday, so I told her we'd get the bus as long as there wasn't already another pushchair on it or wheelchair, and told her we've been asked to get off a couple of times part of the journey to let mobility scooters etc on.
That's when she showed me the 'Treat as a Wheelchair' label that one of the other Mums had hung on the side of her son's pushchair. And she explained to me that I should be telling the bus driver that daughter has hypotonia (low muscle tone) can't walk far / unsteady on feet (orthoptics), heart condition, etc. And suggested that I get a badge for our pushchair too. Though, my Mum says that her new "specialist glasses and Baha-band (hearing aid) make her look more disabled"
I don't think of her as disabled though. She learnt to walk at 2 and a half years old with the daily help of a Physiotherapist at a specialist nursery school and an O.T. chair to help with posture and a walking frame. But she is really chatty and bright.

Came across this post whilst Googling it actually. So everyone's comments and ideas have been an interesting read.

I’m a wheelchair user. Would not expect an sen buggy to move for me. Would also tell the bus driver they were wrong if they were harassing a parent to move