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.

There is a lot of abuse of them.

DS (young adult) has SN/hidden disabilities. He has never had a lanyard because he's pretty forward about asking for help anyway (even when not needed) and also I don't like the way they advertise the wearer as potentially vulnerable to people who might take advantage.

And although he needn't wear a mask he does.

TheLovelinessOfDemons yes thank you. Other posters have explained the only person I know diagnosed as an adult was an outlier with only about a year to wait. I am sorry to hear of everyone's struggles.

Yup.

Can be problematic for lots of reasons when we choose to start allowing people to ‘identify’ as things they aren’t, be that disabled or anything else.

Can someone please answer how a GP is supposed to verify trauma, if someone lives their life relatively unaffected by the sexual violence they were exposed to, until a bloody pandemic comes along?

As I said, I have other diagnoses, it doesn't apply to me. But if there is one woman out there wearing a lanyard for that reason alone, that's good enough for me.

Honestly never seen a lanyard, definitely seen plenty of people without a mask though and I don’t think they’re all exempt.

@Sharkology

I agree with you about employers but two points

1. if someone is an employee the employer has to deal with it and thats probably what Avanti does (I'm thinking of my own lovely employer....)

1. there are a lot of CFs/drama queens and other self entitled twonks out there in varying degrees and they're the ones who have hijacked the train (and on that note I'll stop typing) ....

YANBU

DS2 had one before covid, he used it when out shopping with me, or when he went out with his carer. He is exempt from wearing a mask, but does try to wear one when we are out and about, sometimes he can tolerate one, other times not.

One of my friends has gone right down in my estimation, she wore a mask until pubs opened, and now wears a lanyard, but just to the pub, wears a mask to work. She also got one for her DC, who had managed to wear a mask up until the schools went back in January. I'm queried this with her, and it's because they wear glasses

It is sad that they've become synonymous with not wearing a mask, as before covid they were a good idea for those with hidden disabilities in settings they might have found difficult.

Never even heard of the sunflower lanyard till Covid, I don’t know many people who had (including those I know with hidden disabilities). Did you genuinely find them useful? They may continue as they were before when masks are no longer enforced and those who don’t truly need one outside of mask wearing no longer wear one?

@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).

Precisely.

YANBU. My son uses one at airports because his ASD means he really struggles. When we first went to get one, at Birmingham Airport, the person on the desk made a “joke” that my son didn’t understand by pretending to pass him a lanyard and said “here is the hidden disability lanyard, you can’t see it”.
What was a very helpful tool for us, has been hijacked. My exMIL who is vile, got one to wear so she doesn’t need to wear a mask. She can wear one, she just refuses so thinks of this as her passport to do what she wants.

@Sharkology

Ok - so what are the ideas for moving forwards to ensure people who have disabilities get the support they need?

Perhaps we can start a campaign over this - it's so essential families / individuals aren't left behind due to a further lack of support due to the dilution of the sunflower lanyard.

Perhaps they could wear a sunflower lanyard if they wanted and people could generally just be more aware that not all disabilities are visible and not act like dicks to someone who doesn't act as many people see as 'typical'. Perhaps a campaign to stop people faking disability as it seems this may actually be a thing. Focus on the people ruining it. I have a hidden disability so don't have the energy to challenge anyone on my worst days and why should I? The government should make an ad campaign and stigmatise faking disability if it isn't already.

@osbertthesyrianhamster @Ponoka7 is correct in England patients with LDs can have annual reviews www.nhs.uk/conditions/learning-disabilities/annual-health-checks/

Take up isn't great for a range of reasons but these can be important to help mitigate the often horrific under-provision of care for many patients who have LDs. We're trying a range of communications with a friendly face and working with some LD-focused charities to improve uptake which can be vital to help prevent and manage chronic conditions and help build a relationship between that friendly-face and the patients and family/carers for when treatment which might be more difficult for the patients with LDs is required. And before anyone asks, we have not closed to face to face appointments and our 'phone answering and appointment provision meets our non-LD patients needs.

@LittleNibbler

Never even heard of the sunflower lanyard till Covid, I don’t know many people who had (including those I know with hidden disabilities). Did you genuinely find them useful? They may continue as they were before when masks are no longer enforced and those who don’t truly need one outside of mask wearing no longer wear one?

We found them really useful

DC's had a card attached with my number and what to do if she was distressed

Airports recognised it, we weren't pressured, we got to
Go through a different t security lane. Got on the plane first and seated, etc

I think that we've probably got a lot of people with hidden disabilities who before the pandemic didn't need any public accommodations, so they were able to go about in public under the radar. Now that something else is being asked of them they are unable to comply so have now needed to 'out' themselves and so many more are visible.

When masks are no longer required their lanyards won't need to be used anymore, and a much smaller set of people will be wearing them.

It would be beyond ridiculous to have to ask these people to prove their disability (you want disabled people to have to pay for a GP letter?), and to have to make the sunflower lanyard charity responsible for verifying people's disabilities (think of how much extra infrastructure and the expense of hiring and training people with the ability to make medical decisions).

You are always going to have twats trying to game the system but that doesn't mean that we should put extra burdens on the most vulnerable people. Just believe people with a lanyard.

[quote Zilla1]**@osbertthesyrianhamster* @Ponoka7* is correct in England patients with LDs can have annual reviews www.nhs.uk/conditions/learning-disabilities/annual-health-checks/

Take up isn't great for a range of reasons but these can be important to help mitigate the often horrific under-provision of care for many patients who have LDs. We're trying a range of communications with a friendly face and working with some LD-focused charities to improve uptake which can be vital to help prevent and manage chronic conditions and help build a relationship between that friendly-face and the patients and family/carers for when treatment which might be more difficult for the patients with LDs is required. And before anyone asks, we have not closed to face to face appointments and our 'phone answering and appointment provision meets our non-LD patients needs.[/quote]
I'm not in England. My son does not have 'LD's. He has no learning disabilities at all and an IQ in the genius range. He has autism, ADHD and OCD. 'We' - the UK includes Wales, Scotland and NI.

@Bloodypunkrockers thanks, that’s really useful to know. Hopefully this won’t be an issue going forward then, because can definitely understand the OPs point. It’s odd as I used to work in a place where I would see hundreds of people a day and had never heard of them. I suppose that’s my own ignorance though really.

The government should make an ad campaign and stigmatise faking disability if it isn't already.

Oh, they've done great with that already, by assuming everyone is faking it and reforming the welfare system to start with that viewpoint - hence, changing DLA to PIP for everyone over 16 and doing away with indefinite awards (this is apparently changing), getting UC through (no severe disability element anymore or free prescriptions for those in England and Wales), slashing funding for social care, etc etc

An ad campaign? So people who are disabled can become even more of a target! Might be 'faking it'. Fuck that.

Perhaps they could wear a sunflower lanyard if they wanted and people could generally just be more aware that not all disabilities are visible and not act like dicks to someone who doesn't act as many people see as 'typical'. Perhaps a campaign to stop people faking disability as it seems this may actually be a thing. Focus on the people ruining it. I have a hidden disability so don't have the energy to challenge anyone on my worst days and why should I? The government should make an ad campaign and stigmatise faking disability if it isn't already

Yes. This!!!

Why should the onus be on people with disabilities to jump through even more hoops?

Throughout all this, I’ve been told “well, people are taking the piss” as if it is somehow the person with disabilities fault or problem to solve. Take it up with the piss takers.

We have one for my DS pre covid.. I love them in the airport. The staff understood what they meant but not most of the general public...

That was the origonal wearing was useful to let people know they may need extra help or to respond differently.

So yes I completely agree with you.

We aren't going abroad this year but hopefully the use will return to pre use.

Hi @osbertthesyrianhamster bit puzzled by your reply. You posted previously to @Ponoka7 to say Yearly checkup? Never heard of this entitlement.

Now I know healthcare in the UK is devolved and I didn't know where you live nor anything about your circumstances which is why whenever I post about health, I tend to state 'In England' as that is the system in which I work. So my post was to provide some information about these reviews for any PPs who hadn't heard of them.

So I know ' 'We' - the UK includes Wales, Scotland and NI' which is why I stated England rather than assume the system is the same everywhere or to assume every poster is based in England.

Still, crack on.

@SinkGirl

I have twins who are autistic, non verbal etc. I was considering sunflower lanyards for them when all this started but now I know people roll their eyes at them. I just hate the staring at the park, or anywhere we have to queue.

I wish there was something (eg a card on a lanyard with a photo) that you could only get if you are in receipt of disability benefits or have a blue badge - obviously this wouldn’t be useful for mask exemption as many exempt people don’t qualify for these things. I’m just talking generally as it would be really useful on public transport, at theme parks, to prove eligibility for various things etc.

Try your local council, ours have this one: www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/residents/children-and-families/local-offer/local-offer-care-and-family-support/information-and-advice-scip

You have to apply/ provide proof etc.

@Zilla1

Hi *@osbertthesyrianhamster bit puzzled by your reply. You posted previously to @Ponoka7* to say Yearly checkup? Never heard of this entitlement.

Now I know healthcare in the UK is devolved and I didn't know where you live nor anything about your circumstances which is why whenever I post about health, I tend to state 'In England' as that is the system in which I work. So my post was to provide some information about these reviews for any PPs who hadn't heard of them.

So I know ' 'We' - the UK includes Wales, Scotland and NI' which is why I stated England rather than assume the system is the same everywhere or to assume every poster is based in England.

Still, crack on.

I'm puzzled you assumed everyone with a hidden disability has 'LD's and refer to patients who are neurodivergent as having 'LD's' or and NT people are 'non-LD'. But still, crack on assuming that, too, we're used to it.

@Yondergoat

WeatherSystems I think you have completely missed the point of this thread. It's not about who can and who can't wear masks.

The Sunflower lanyard was introduced for people with hidden disabilities, to indicate they may need help or more time. It has been hijacked by people who don't want to wear a mask.

I think they need to change the design of the lanyard once mask wearing is no longer compulsory, so that genuinely disabled people can be recognised again.

This. It needs changing. So many people have bought them now it’s a joke. They used to be just in the airport and the odd supermarket and now everyone uses them. No need at all.

Since running our PCN vaccination programme IN ENGLAND, I've had more than 10 adults with self-diagnosed Autism ask to be put on the LD register.

@LittleNibbler

Never even heard of the sunflower lanyard till Covid, I don’t know many people who had (including those I know with hidden disabilities). Did you genuinely find them useful? They may continue as they were before when masks are no longer enforced and those who don’t truly need one outside of mask wearing no longer wear one?

Yes, they are great on public transport and at airports. Staff tend to keep an eye on you, check everything is okay. Sometimes you don't have to queue or can wait in a quiet room etc. It's really helpful when travelling with a child with a disability can be very difficult.