Madmouse's open letter to MNHQ about the treatment of those with disabilities on MN

[madmouse]

Dear MNHQ

I joined MN when I was pregnant with my lovely ds. That heady autumn with bump before such words as NICU, neonatal seizures, brain damage, cerebral palsy, speech delay, special school entered my vocabulary.

That was 5 whole years ago - and all that time MN has been a part of my life. Got a lot of support from my ante- and postnatal buddies and from experienced SN mums. Gave back where I could. Became ill with PTSD, found the MH threads, recovered, started to give support on the MH threads.

Now I've come to the point that the only thing stopping me from leaving MN is that I would let down people on the MH threads. Other than that your (MNHQ) behaviour today has been an eye opener and a bit of a final straw.

MN has become, like RL, a place where disabled people and people with disabled children are not safe, not treated equally and not extended the same courtesy and respect as those without disabilities.

What happened today is just a tip of the ice berg. Day in day out threads appear with the same old theme. AIBU to use this disabled space because my baby's maxi cosy is too big and the P&T spaces are full, AIBU to use the wheelchair space on the bus (those two appear weekly by and large), AIBU to think it's nice to be disabled because you get lots of benefits, AIBU to think disabled people have it easy, AIBU to think I should have a free car too seeing as that I pay taxes.

It goes on and on and on. And none of it is ever challenged other than by a small group of us who do all this fighting in RL too - because it affects us and our children.

There is such thing as discrimination. And you do have a duty to stamp it out. Hand off moderation is no excuse certainly seeing how quick you were to delete 2shoes thread when some of us started fighting back against the endless threads of threads which in turn are copies of last week's threads.

I am very disappointed. And I think you have some thinking to do.

Best wishes

Seriously Maryz? Seriously?

Although why I'm surprised I don't know. I posted on the first wheelchair thread photographs of the stickered instructions actually displayed on London buses. Despite spelling it out for the hard-of-thinking people still argued and claimed superiority of need. Or worse, said that the stickers were different where they lived despite it being a thread about a London bus and the stickers being those issued by TFL (transport for London).

Which bit don't you get?

Please, tell me, which bit are you having trouble with? Please

Was stuff on the channel 4 news debating this tonight

Make way for the crutches that are coming on the bus.
Make way for the Zimmer frame
Make way for the walking stick
Make way for the guide dog

Each one of these aids has a human attached to it, they are the priority not the aid. Referring to someone as their aid and not as a person dehumanises them.
As for buggies most people refer to the parent pushing a buggy and not just the buggy

Itsallgoingtobefine - don't think overthink this - the level of discrimination experienced means this isn't a level playing field when it comes to semantics. People are going to be hurt one way, never the other.

Everyone else - try not to bite itsallgoingtobefine's head off.

Yes, and the THIRD FUCKING THREAD can stand apparently because it's about something else entirely!

That's nice isn't it?

I'm having a hot vimto and a roll up does anyone want one?

I don't know how to be any clearer. I'll have one more try.

A buggy is transport, like a car or a bike - a convenience but not a necessity for getting around. A wheelchair is a substitute for a physical characteristic that allows the user to replace walking and is the best way to bring equality with other people who are fortunate enough to be able to walk. If a baby is taken out of a wheelchair it suffers no ill effect. The parent may suffer a small inconvenience but the baby does not because they are designed to be carried. A wheelchair user does not use a chair for convenience, it is necessity and it cannot be parked up or folded but it can bring independence where others have independence. A baby is dependent regardless of method of carriage.

No, no, no, no, noooooo

Vimto is minging

Hot vimto must be even mingier (invents new word)

Can I have Valium if I'm pregnant? I want one.

ooh Valium can I have one pweeease?

ATM I am making sure I don't stand near any walls, hitting my head against them seems like too easy of an option!

I think that post is deliberately inflammatory. At this point I think it would be a good idea for Someone from HQ to admonish the perpetrator of that post (let's call her/him Sofa) on this thread - how about you do a little educating yourselves? - and possibly ban Sofa, at least temporarily, 3 months, say.

celine alas, valium should not be taken when pregnant.

Looks like hot vimto for you (boak)

This pregnancy business is shit. But I don't hate myself enough to have hot Vimto. I do have Maltesers though

I need valium and maltesers and codeine.

Am also pg so will stick with lemon squash

I have popped back in the hope that mn hq had sorted this, they havn't they have allowed the other thread to stand. so now mine was the only one deleted.
I have had no mail from mn hq even though i have contacted them
I am disgusted with how mn hq have dealt with this, and am of to rl and fb now.

2shoes I have just posted on the other thread and also reported it. I cannot believe that the other thread is allowed to stand certainly seeing what is being posted on it right now. I just don't understand what MN is up to now with this behaviour and I'm looking into taking things further.

Ive also both discussed and hit the big red R button. We shall see...

MN also keep their staff numbers low to keep costs down.
So they are often hours behind where they should be.

Yes that seems to be the latest trend: Declaring that wheelchair users are all strong and healthy and just love to wait for the next bus so buggies don't have to be folded.

I am getting irate pissed off and furious about the way wheelchair users are more and more set apart as a category of people rather than as ordinary people who happen to be in a wheelchair.

If you were not disabled, how keen would you be to stand in the rain waiting for the next bus because some selfish mare would not fold her buggy?