AIBU Proof of disability is fine ?

[Itsamission25]

My previous post was about an incident regarding daughter ( 9 in wheelchair ) being refused the wheelchair space on a bus in favour of a toddler in a stroller and a sleeping baby in a stroller.
anyway, I have tried to gain some online support regarding the company and also put in a complaint with the bus company but this has caused a debate about invisible illnesses.
apparently companies should not be allowed to ask for evidence of disability ? I find this a bit odd. There is certain things that annoy me now about this for example how anyone can buy a disabled toilet radar key, how sunflower lanyards ( I think ) are readily available for anyone so lose there authenticity I find.
now my daughter has a wheelchair - yes and has a physical medical device that is visible, however we still need to show evidence for things like blue badge / parking. Carers tickets / ride access at theme parks etc.
surely this is correct, I have never had an issue with needing to. If you took away the rights of companies or organisations being able to do this surely everything would just be abused ?

No you take a photo and keep it on your phone. I have never once shown anything other than a photo.

This is what I did when I only had bowel issues. I also got a ‘Can’t Wait’ card from a website that supported IBS sufferers.

https://www.bladderandbowel.org/help-information/just-cant-wait-card/

This might help. As well as buying a radar key.

As I said to pp you take a photo on your phone.

@FloatingBean i didn’t know this could I ask where you get them from / what to Google to find something? My baby will not be able to walk as soon as others he’s 11 months atm maybe soon I’ll need one I don’t know. Sorry to derail the post.

Absolutely, this is right and what decent people do, but there are so many horrible people out there that wouldn’t think twice about jumping in front of someone disabled and taking up the last space. I think the Op is right in saying that proof stops them doing that and ultimately helps the people who actually are in need.

People keep saying 2 things people wont take advantage - they do
there is countless times where parent and children want to park in disabled spaces, people then say well you don’t know if that person has a disability- well they need a blue badge end of argument.

Wheelchair spaces Vs strollers
stroller will not move for wheelchair - wheelchair user gets thrown well that child might an invisible disability whether they say it or not- so we should just accept that and move on.

those of you that use blue badges and rely on those spaces how would you feel if they took away the need for proof and all of a sudden you struggled to ever get parking and being able to get around because anyone and their uncle could say oh well he is disabled without needing blue badge / proof.

@NewNovember why should I? There's personal info on it - special category data.

Well exactly my son does have a blue badge sand we have a mobility car because he has severe mental impairment ( which btw some people can't understand why he's entitled) ,but not that long ago.there was a thread on here where some people thought they should be allowed to.use the blue badge space.despite not having a badge ,because they decided they had a need for it.

I mean I have a blue badge for my autism. And a disbaled rail card. Both of which I have shown when asked for proof (for example, requesting specific seats on a plane without having to pay for reservations). A lot of places will also accept a doctor's letter.

Though this is about wheelchair spaces. There are priority seats, which I will sit in of there are no other options - and no, if Joe Public asks why (never actually happened though!) I don't feel obliged to tell them. But the wheelchair space is clearly designed for wheelchair/ mobility aid users. Surely they should get priority there. It seems like people are conflating two different issues with one.

There is no need to put disabled people against each other. The wheelchair spot was marked as priority for wheelchairs, not for buggies.

@Itsamission25

I can see that from this thread and the last thread you are just discovering how disheartening it is to live as a disabled person/have a disabled child in this country

It's something I have seen people time and again be shocked to discover as they spend time with me in public.

Just do your best, it's all you can do, keep on keeping on and don't let the bastards grind you down

The access card is a valid point some thing I’ve noticed about them is it’s not a simple this person gets DLA/ PIP and is disabled it takes medical conditions in to account and evidence and actually has symbols and not everyone gets the symbols, this has upset a few people because where more paces are saying the access card is the proof ( like Lego land etc ) not everyone gets all the symbols for example
my friends son gets DLA but their access card does have the carers sign because there is criteria so he no longer can get a carers pass if using it as proof.
it also has to have the queuing sign on it for ride access at merlin and this is the only thing they now accept but not every disabled person gets it on the access card.

I mean - you can see if someone needs the wheelchair space. By the fact they are in a wheelchair.

If someone has an invisible disability, then they can use the non-whwelchair priority seats.

Surely that is common sense? I think there are a lot of people who like to use whataboutisms to gloss over those who abuse the system.

@ValleyClouds yeh it’s an interesting world , I think as your young child gets older things just become more apparent.

@EsmeSusanOgg that’s not the issue as it’s kids in the strollers they say you don’t know if they are disabled.

Sometimes you can get them from wheelchair services, but you can also buy them online. There are several different types, for example, this one, this one or this one.

@FloatingBean thanks so much

Disney has a stroller as a wheelchair sticker you attach to stroller so it’s easy for staff to see if stroller can come in the queue.
My dc has a visible physical disability but no proof (no benefits/not blue badge eligible)

100%

Proof is also needed for disabled bus passes (quite a high bar, currently being reviewed in England).

Proof is also needed for a disabled rail card.

Proof is needed for a CEA card (cinema card that allows you to take a carer with you for free).

Proof is needed to access disabled student funding (by LEAs and Universities).

Disabled people are often asked for proof of disability in order to access specific services.

People are conflating the general public randomly asking people/ challenging. And someone providing a service requesting your proof to access the service.

There are always grey areas, where things are courtesy based/ focused on what can be seen/ done in the moment. And that's where guidance from the Equality Act 2010 comes in.

So, you do not need proof to sit in a priority seat on a bus (though it does not hurt to have it). Mostly because it is a broad term. But surely there is common sense that the wheelchair priority area is for people actually using a wheel chair. I'm sure OP would have said if the buggy was an adapted buggy. And I'm sure either of the 2 women in the original post would have absolutely said if that were the case.

I'm sorry but I'm feeling really anxious about being expected to show my pip letter. It has my name and address and details of the points awarded in each section.

Am I really expected to do this? It seems like a gross invasion of privacy compared to the blue badge which doesn't have any details on display and even on the back doesn't have details of the points I'm awarded in each section.

If they were disabled, I'm sure the mums (it was 2 strollers in your original post?) would have said so!

But then you ask them? If the bus driver won't then ask them yourself - loud voice - 'excuse me my daughter needs to get on the bus with her wheelchair- there's not another bus for 2 hours and she physically can't sit anywhere else. Is there any chance you can just this once move your sleeping child and collapse your buggy even if I help you so we can be on our way?' BIG SMILE.

If there's people who'll still refuse or then claim their baby is disabled 😒 at this point they must have some serious brass neck. And MUST be few and far between (I hope).

@EsmeSusanOgg i already know I was not wrong about the pushchair vs wheelchair scenario
this conversation expanded on a post elsewhere and moved on to proof
people keep saying no to general public but that is not what I said at all. I said organisations and businesses because they debate escalated and there was general conversations about no company or organisation should be allowed to ask for prof and disabled people shouldn’t have to proof their disabled to get the things they do like parking / access / carers concessions etc

Blue badge is probably the way to go, where you can.

Or if you are attending a specific event that requires proof of PIP, you can email securely your proof ahead of time. Some places like a number of UK themeparks (for example) are part of schemes that will give you a card showing you are disbaled with just your name in it.

@Oldbutnotout yeh I didn’t try asking them to move and explain, I will try that next time ( sarcasm ) but anyway this isn’t about that !