To be annoyed at being told to be considerate of disabled people

[DefendingPan]

This sign was in the disabled toilet in a restaurant (which is also the only baby change in the restaurant).

What’s the point of this sign? What might parents be doing that they will stop after reading this?

Agree. That post was directed at me. They didn’t use the word bitter, but I got the idea. And the comment was made despite my having said several times that although I’m disabled myself, the information in my posts is not all as a result of my own experience, but that of providing professional support to disabled people in my role as a disability outreach worker. I’m not bitter at all, and neither were the clients I dealt with. I said in reply that I don’t think disabled people in general are either welcomed or valued. Years of being ostracised and institutionalised, subsequent battles to secure what for others are basic rights, and the constant battle some disabled people and their families have to wage in order to get what they are entitled to doesn’t exactly scream ‘welcome’. And neither does this thread !!

I think if a parent is going to use the disabled loo for the baby changing facilities - harassed or not, they absolutely should be thinking about the state they leave it in, considering the person who uses it next may have a significant disability. Perhaps the ‘contempt’ shown in the sign was because nothing else has made any difference.

If you have a blue badge you shouldn’t need to get clearance to use the disabled car park. And similarly as a public building with a car park, the school has a legal requirement to provide disabled spaces, which are legally enforceable, so they absolutely should be policing them. One solution may be to give the local police a heads up that they’re being abused and they will send a PCSO to patrol on school run times - I live opposite a school and it’s amazing how much better parents’ behaviour gets when the two regular PCSOs take a leisurely stroll past !!

Despite my full support for disabled spaces being available (need one myself), that's actually wrong - a school is not a public building with a car park, they're private property.

As such, they are not required to provide disabled parking spaces, blue badges carry no weight and schools are not obliged to police them or make them available for use to anybody other than as a courtesy measure - a PCSO would have no authority and therefore wouldn't be patrolling them.

I spend more time at that school complaining about one thing or another.

I'd draw a diagram but this isn't my thread and it's not really about parking but they've got bloody parking barriers and you have to get buzzed in. I have complained about it and I will continue to complain about it but I think they are hoping DS gets into specialist soon so are kicking the can down the road. Very frustrating.

I live opposite a school and I have honestly never seen such selfish behaviour anywhere as I’ve seen on drop off and pick up times. I’m a wheelchair user and I’ve lost count of the times I’ve arrived home to find a car parked across my driveway (dropped kerb) and have had to wait until the mum has come back to the car. There are school run cars jamming each side of the road and literally nowhere else to park even if I could easily get the chair out on the road. And when you point out that they’re parked across your drive they’re incredibly rude and defensive - the fact that they can’t find a space anywhere else doesn’t entitle them to inconvenience people.

I rang our local police station and they’ve been sending regular PCSOs to patrol at school run times and it has made a difference. I think the cheekiest behaviour was when our neighbour applied to the council to have a disabled parking bay outside his house. The day after they marked out the bay he couldn’t get near it because a school run 4x4 was parked in it, and when he pointed out it was only for use by those with a disabled badge he was told to f* off !!

School grounds are classed as private property.
Technically whilst it is recommended it isn’t a requirement to provide disabled parking for parents
Staff car parking is for staff and disabled bays provided based on staff need.
@Jimmyneutronsforehead

@fitzwilliamdarcy
We used to live on a dead end road with the school at the entrance to it.
Parents literally parked in the middle of the road blocking four households from getting out.
Theyd even do it for parents evenings, Christmas concerts, to just have an hour long chat at the gates.etc
Not a care in the world and no such thing as rushing if you find the people who’ve blocked the street. God forbid should they have to cut their conversation short.

The problem is they know they can get away with it because the police aren’t available, the same with parking on drop kerbs. There’s Very little we can do about it

However we found taking photos for repeat offenders seem to stop it.

It’s required for them to provide 5% disabled parking even if it’s private property, as standard.

Suggested, not required.

They don't have to let anybody on site and don't have to provide a bay for them.

It could be agreed as a reasonable adjustment for a student or staff member, but there is zero compulsion to it.

I will be fair to the school and say that they have got more than 5% disabled bays.

They're a primary and secondary so they've got staggered start and end times and people come competitively early to secure a spot close to the school, which just so happens to be their disabled bays.

Lots of parents turn up over an hour before end of school just to get that spot so they're not queuing in traffic to get out due to the one way in and out set up the car park has.

I do think my main gripe is with the school and how they manage this but I suspect in the end I'll get nowhere with it.

Just desperately fighting to get DS into a specialist provision as the one we've been to that has space is just a perfect all rounder for accessibility for both parents and children.

It’s required for them to provide 5% disabled parking even if it’s private property, as standard.

Do you mean within the school site? We don't have parking inside the school grounds/ high fence
I assume the street is council?

As @NeverDropYourMooncup stated it’s not a requirement
Its a suggestion
Plus any % is also a recommendation
Nothing more

Yes within the school grounds

I used to challenge parents parking in disabled spaces without a blue badge - and it nearly always was parents. Lots used to say me they or their child did have a disability and tried to talk to me as if I was being ableist by going on about invisible disabilities. I do not care a toss if your disability is visible or invisible. If you have not got a blue badge, you can not park in disabled spaces.

Here’s an extract from Know your parking rights
The Blue Badge Scheme
if you tap the image you can see the info re private land. For some reason the main image has been cropped

Yes within the school grounds

We don't have any parking on school grounds, no cars enter to park

Us neither.

My nieces specialist primary provision had an abundance of disabled parking and parking for parents. Her secondary provision has none, which means parking in an adjacent residential area and crossing quite a busy road with a wheelchair - obviously can’t scoot her into the car which much hurry either so it’s quite dicey getting her in and out.

None of those. I found the request too vague to be actionable and I found the tone a bit passive aggressive.

If it was about putting the tray up it should have been specific, if it was about cleanliness it didnt need to single anyone out. Lots of facilities have signs saying to leave it how you’d want to find it.

It just sort of implied parents were inconsiderate but didn’t say why.

I guess its just asking parents to remember disabled people use the bathrooms as well. Obviously someone has reported that parents werent being considerate.

I do see this flash of discomfort a lot when people are asked to accommodate disabled people. Its an interesting phenomenon. I do also find people need to me to prove myself whenever i make requests ( ie are you able to move your bag from the priority seat please?) which I never got when I had a baby in tow. Just something to consider.

Appreciated that
I was answering the question regarding recommended parking on private land.
So if a school provided parking of any sort the recommendations on private land are set down as a % .
They don’t have to provide any for parents though. There is no requirement

But why would your bag be on a priority seat ?

I’ve had this a few times recently. I always ask if they have an invisible badge to go with the invisible disability !!

It's shitty of them but I don't think it's worth the risk of challenging them. You could piss someone off and they could react violently.

I was saying there will be an able-bodied sat in one priority seat with their bag in the seat beside them. They often react very huffily when someone with a stick (me) asks them if they can move their bag. Not my bag, theirs.