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AIBU?

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Original poster

To get SO SO SO angry about P&T spaces....

254 replies

Wilkie · 19/08/2007 17:53

I know, I know it has been done to death but honestly, some peopl are just fucking pig-ignorant.

Pulled up at Asda at the same time as a roughish middle aged couple, two P&T spaces available, I pulled into one, they pulled into another. Another car drove past with a young couple in and a tiny baby, looking for a space but obv couldn't park there as we had just taken last spaces.

Middle aged couple got out, stared at me as though to say 'so?' so I said 'I take it you have invisible children then??'

He said 'yeah actually' and sauntered off.

TWAT.

OP posts:
gess · 19/08/2007 22:33

thanks 2 shoes, have been looking at electronic thingies, have an ultimate aim for typing (although that's obviously long way away) am trying to work out how the VOCA things work (and portability etc).

2shoes · 19/08/2007 22:35

dd's friend has one and it is great. he doesn't have cp but a brain injury(cover those ponds) so if you want me to ask her I can.

TotalChaos · 19/08/2007 22:38

if it winds you up, take public transport next time

eidsvold · 19/08/2007 22:39

was going to type a message but got distracted PHSL at gess being called a silly cow

hell her we have very very very few p and t - relatively new phenomenon and I manage with child with sn who cannot be let go for a second or she is through the car park, a 2yo and a 4 month old - getting them out of car seats with non sliding doors etc. DO have a disabled badge for dd1 but often those spaces are taken and tend to try and leave them for others as I got sick of non disabled people and even people with special needs giving me a hard time.

Begins to wonder when people got so precious about a car space.

eidsvold · 19/08/2007 22:42

and yes have struggled with a babe in a car seat who could not get wet due to apnoea monitor attached to her and other things. I have had to climb through the hatch part of the car, split the seats and put her in that way after someone parked me in. So I just parked a bit further away and covered the monitor as best I could if I could not get p and t.

gess · 19/08/2007 22:42

oh god, ponds, how awful. yes please, no hurry, I'm only pondering, perhaps for xmas.... (although lots of them are about 4 grand so no chance!). Some are more suited to wheelchairs, jus exploring options. (It;s funny lots of the literature I've read by ASD adults like ds1- ie non verbal but can type- describe very cp type problems- they can't get their bodies to behave).

onlyjoking9329 · 19/08/2007 22:45

i am happy to park at the far end of the car park if i have all three kids with me, but why oh why is it that when i come back to the car everybody has parked next to me

TotalChaos · 19/08/2007 22:46

sorry missed the post about ponds .

WanderingTrolley · 19/08/2007 22:48

OJ do you drive a luridly coloured vehicle with OJ'S Bus Of Fun And Free Beer painted on the side?

That would explain the cosy parking.

JodieG1 · 19/08/2007 22:49

eidsvold - but surely you can see that not everyone could cope as well as you do?

Why is everyone so defensive about it? My ds1 is being assessed for adhd and I find him harder thn dd or ds2 who is 7 months. He runs off into roads and doesn't come back so I have to choose too leave the other two or run after him, it's not easy and I usually shop online due to this. I just wish more people would be understanding as we're all parents, it's not a competition about who has the hardest time and copes in a small car parking space. P&T spaces are there to make our lives easier not cause friction between other parents. If we directed our anger at people that didn't have children and parked there it might make us all feel better.

JodieG1 · 19/08/2007 22:51

ignore grammar and spelling mistakes as I didn't check them

StarlightMcKenzie · 19/08/2007 22:52

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

onlyjoking9329 · 19/08/2007 22:54

i try to park in the disabled spaces if possible, if not then an end space it ok. my lot just open the doors full blast they have no concept of space or safety, i get filty looks if i park in the disabled parking spaces as all my kids can walk, if they choose to

eidsvold · 19/08/2007 22:56

Jodie it is not about coping any better or less - it is about not blowing a blood vessel over a parking space - tbh there are far more serious issues in the world and life to get worked up about than a parking space.

At least in most areas in the UK - you have online shopping - don't have that luxury here.

gess · 19/08/2007 22:59

Jodie- check out Crelling harnesses0 hang on here. I have had too many close shaves to enter into public near traffic without ds1 on one of these. It may help.

Pixel · 19/08/2007 23:53

Gess, ds has a VOCA on loan from school. I don't know exactly how much it is worth but he wasn't allowed to bring it home for a couple of weeks when the insurance lapsed so I think it is quite a lot. If you look at this page it's the grey one at the top but has a padded bag with a carry handle so is about the size of ds's lunchbag. A velco flap lifts up so he can use the screen. He learnt to navigate around it very quickly (much quicker than me LOL) but is lazy so it is frustrating. I know he can do it because he surprised me by using a sentence out of the blue "I want apple drink please" but typically of him he hasn't done it since . It is a clever little machine though and very portable. Ds insists on carrying it everywhere when he is at school. My only bugbear is it doesn't take batteries so we have to revert to PECS when we go camping as it needs charging overnight.

Pixel · 19/08/2007 23:55

VelcRo

gess · 20/08/2007 00:02

thanks pixel. I thin they are thousands (can check, was looking at them earlier). Does it use your recoreded voice or a computer one? I have a feeling ds1 would get totally stimmy over my voice saying "I want toilet"

gess · 20/08/2007 00:03

oh and does it have different levels to navigate and is that easy to do if it does?

thank you!

Pixel · 20/08/2007 00:18

It has different menus for different subjects like 'food and drink', 'senses','weather' 'about me' etc. Some parts are for asking for what he wants and other parts are things they are concentrating on at school. It uses a recorded voice, ds's teacher did his for us. She must have done some of it outside because we can hear birds singing in the background . I suppose as you have 2 other sons you could get a boy's voice on yours! I haven't actually tried recording myself because his teacher had to put a password on it as ds kept altering the programming (!) and she went on maternity leave without telling me what it is. I'll have to find out next term! Mind you, the simpler version (just 12 buttons) that we had before was very simple to record so I don't suppose this one is too hard.

Pixel · 20/08/2007 00:40

It is quite easy to navigate once you get the hang of it. There is a master page with all the menus on it that you can go back to at any time so you can go from one menu to another quite easily. As I say ds picked it up straight away but then he is a bit of a whizz with anything computerised. It's not the machine he has trouble with, it's the will to do it but then he is like that with everything. I do have hopes that he will use it properly eventually because he's really got no reason not to. I know he understands but he is stubborn! (don't know where he gets that from ).

IcingOnTheCake · 20/08/2007 09:31

I think there should be a form to fill out when your dc is born to claim for a P&T badge that is valid for one year and then you have to apply again and can for up to three years until the child reaches it's third birthday. They could change the colour of it each year and if your parked in a M&T bay without a valid badge you get fined. It's a good idea in my eyes and it would stop the people who don't feel parents are worthy of spaces parking in them out of spite (or just plain laziness).

LadyVictoriaOfCake · 20/08/2007 11:00

oh paper work loads of paperwork.

they arent compulsory, so why do we need to fill in forms?

IcingOnTheCake · 20/08/2007 11:03

Well it will give office workers something to do rather than flick through Heat magazine all afternoon!

gess · 20/08/2007 11:27

erm where on earth would the funding come from to pay people to issue P&T badges involving proof and paperwork, and I have to ask, why? Bizarre.

Have enough paperwork thanks.