To think Sunflower Lanyards have been hijacked

[Sharkology]

By those who just don't want to wear a mask in some cases rather than those who actually cannot wear a mask?

Fourth Avanti train trip this week, had three train journeys with them a couple of weeks back - either they have a bloody awesome EDI hiring policy, in which case it should be published as national pride, or some of their staff are taking the piss.

I've seen two members of staff out of around 50 actually wearing a face covering.

It absolutely devalues the sunflower lanyards for those who really need to use them. It's such a shame for all with hidden disabilities.

if it is the case that they have hidden disabilities then Avanti should be absolutely praised at the highest level - because it is simply amazing that they have that number of staff hired by them with disabilities and medical conditions

Why is it amazing that people with hidden disabilities have crept into the workplace undetected?

We are everywhere, it's just that we never had to explain our medical conditions to strangers to this degree prior to Covid!

I do agree if I’m out and see someone with one I’m more likely think it’s “just” can’t wear a mask rather than that person maybe is autistic or deaf or something else. Before it was unusually to see now if you have extra needs where you need support staff likely to ignore you. Though I have an obvious disability and it’s still really hard get any help say in supermarkets you end up going round in circles trying find a member of staff.

I’m not sure practically how much use they are unless you grab a staff member and ask for particular help but even then they have no Idea what xtra support you may need.

One of my friends has bought a lanyard that claims she has a "hidden disability".

She has no such thing. She has even told me all her mates do it because they don't like to smudge their makeup on a night out.

YANBU My ds has autism and severe learning disabilities, we have used the sunflower lanyard in airports for years and it has been very helpful.............it has now been totally devalued. DS can tolerate a mask for short trips to the shops or a restaurant and we encourage him to wear one.
I went to town recently and I was amazed at the number of people wearing the lanyards, all without masks on!! Most shops had more staff and customers with hidden disabilaties than without...............

OP I agree with you. I've seen people on FB who are anti-mask Covid-deniers talk proudly about how they've got hold of a lanyard so they don't have to 'wear a muzzle'. They're hijacking something which was genuinely quite helpful for a marginalised group and manipulated it for their own purposes. Dickheads.

Until covid not many knew about the lanyards anyway

Our workplace has a box full we give to anyone who requests one .

A colleague of mine has a medical condition that would make wearing a mask difficult. She said she was quite relieved so many people have sunflower lanyards because it reduces the stigma of wearing one.
On the same day two other staff members were gleefully discussing the fact that they had bought a sunflower lanyard each from eBay so they don’t need to bother with masks anymore.
Unfortunately, there are always dickheads.

@Aroundtheworldin80moves

I think they are lost to their original purpose now (I'm talking the Pre Covid purpose of alerting people to hidden disabilities in settings like airports and supermarkets).

Absolutely- if people have forgotten they signify a hidden disability and think it means the person is claiming exemption from mask wearing, they are now of no use to people with disabilities.

@Sharkology You’re surely not saying that out of 50 staff, 2 were wearing face coverings and the other 48 had sunflower lanyards, implying they’re exempt?

[quote Sharkology]@Aroundtheworldin80moves absolutely agree, which is going to make it really hard for those people / families who need to reply on them in post-covid times, sadly.[/quote]
When masks aren't compulsory anymore, people won't need to wear a lanyard to exempt themselves. So people won't use lanyards incorrectly anymore. Job done.

I have commuted in to London, in to a major station through this entire pandemic. About three quarters of the station staff don't wear a mask and have a sunflower lanyard. ( More sometimes.) Either it's an employer who employes a huge number of disabled staff, or they are taking the piss? It's annoyed me every journey I take!

YANBU OP. I think a lot of people who didnt really know about the sunflower scheme before believe it's just about mask wearing.

I've seen people looking quite confused at DS when he's wearing his lanyard and his mask at the same time.

@SorrySoldOut

Until covid not many knew about the lanyards anyway

Our workplace has a box full we give to anyone who requests one .

Where do you work that they just hand them out willy-nilly?

I have hidden physical disabilities and have a BB. I didn’t know about the lanyards until covid. And now that I do, I agree, they have been totally devalued by selfish people. Rather like non BB holders, who park in those spaces.

This isn’t a masks thread. People really cannot read, can they.

Work in retail…. Well known high street store

We’ve had them since the beginning of covid. You don’t need a doc certificate or anything to get one. They are readily available everywhere

I think it is absolutely the right decision to allow disabled people who can't wear a mask not to have to jump through hoops and endure the humiliation of having to prove their private medical status to every stranger guarding a shop entrance.

Of course, it means some people are going to lie, just like people do with disabled parking badges and benefits, etc - but I'd rather that than for disabled people to be humiliated and singled out as different and to encounter additional barriers just for trying to live their lives.

What surprises me is the number of disabled people/carers of disabled people who can't get their head around the idea that other people may have different hidden disabilities from the one they know about.

I find it so bizarre that so many people are saying "well, they don't look like they have a hidden disability" - erm, the clue's in the name...

And if a staff member declares themselves exempt there is nothing we can do ( I’m a retail manager) we just make a note of who is exempt. Nobody has to prove anything. They are offered a lanyard to wear or a visor in place of a mask.

Just like we cannot enforce customers wearing a mask. If they want a mask or a lanyard we provide it, free of charge

@LonginesPrime but the lanyard isn’t for people with disabilities

[quote SorrySoldOut]@LonginesPrime but the lanyard isn’t for people with disabilities[/quote]
Isn't that exactly what it's for?

@Sharkology

Like I said in the OP - if it is the case that they have hidden disabilities then Avanti should be absolutely praised at the highest level - because it is simply amazing that they have that number of staff hired by them with disabilities and medical conditions (and, I want a job with them because employer treatment of people with disabilities in my experience has mostly been consistently shite).

Then praise them! It's great that hidden disabilities are becoming more visible and greater awareness being raised.

but the lanyard isn’t for people with disabilities

Yes it is! That's the whole point of the scheme, and the OPs point that it's been hijacked.

You don’t need a doc certificate or anything to get one. They are readily available everywhere

That's so that disabled people could go about their business without inundating GP surgeries with requests for millions of letters on top of all their normal work PLUS Covid stuff during the beginnings of the pandemic.

If disabled people were required to get medical evidence of their inability to wear a mask, the only people adversely affected by this would be disabled people (who would have to wait to go out until their GP could issue a letter and would then have to show it to everyone and would be hassled to produce this evidence everywhere they went, thus discriminating against them further while everyone else can just walk on by) and the NHS, who would have to either (1) decide to issue exemption letters to everyone with a disability regardless of whether they can wear a mask or not, thus negating the whole point of having a verifiable medical exemption or (2) conduct individual assessments on every disabled person to evaluate whether or not they can actually wear a mask, thus creating a huge amount of additional urgent work for GPs at a time when they were already under a ridiculous amount of extra pressure from Covid.

@Aroundtheworldin80moves

I think they are lost to their original purpose now (I'm talking the Pre Covid purpose of alerting people to hidden disabilities in settings like airports and supermarkets).

Absolutely this. The sunflower lanyard never had anything to do with wearing a mask / face covering. It was to indicate someone with a hidden disability or someone who may need more time / help to communicate.

@SorrySoldOut - that's EXACTLY who they're for you numpty! People with hidden disabilities! Dear lord you've just priced exactly what the thread is about...

The conspiracy nuts were telling others to get the lanyards from the moment masks came on. Fucking disgrace.

It would help massively if there was something official you cannot buy for a fiver online.