Soldato
Pavement to traffic is very different to walking down a car park. Its only a foot or so between you and a car pootling along looking for a space and not observing pedestrians.
Disabled bays usually have walkways or near zebra crossings
Blue Badge scheme extended to cover "hidden disabilities"
- Thread starter dowie
- Start date
Pavement to traffic is very different to walking down a car park. Its only a foot or so between you and a car pootling along looking for a space and not observing pedestrians.
Disabled bays usually have walkways or near zebra crossings
Some forms of autism can be severe , but not all and from what I’ve read they are not considered a mental illness, more of a development disability
I guess those that are so mentally impaired they can’t function
Soldato
Not all autistic people will be entitled to a badge, in fact likely very few bar the extreme cases
We are into semantics now though.
Your correct its not defined as a mental illness. Developmental delay is the usual term, some are lucky that they do eventually learn to be independent, others remain as a 40 year old toddler living in care.
Caporegime
Severely autistic kids can be very difficult to manage, and some are not even fully mobile. Access to a wide parking space close to the shops makes a huge difference, and no parent with a severely autistic kid will be dragging it around the supermarket for 2 hours anyway.
ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) is exactly that - a spectrum. I have two kids (one diagnosed / one undergoing diagnosis) and I personally wouldnt apply for my older child, but the younger one can be exceptionally dangerous in the road. Not through intentional behaviour - she just doesnt grasp the risks that she puts herself into. I have have three other kids so going shopping with 5 can be a challenge. What really gets on my nerves is old people using the parent and child spaces when they have no kids. Ultimately I wont apply for either kids, nor do I claim any benefits for either of them. Fundamentally having a diagnosis was about them understanding why they acted in ways that made social interactions with their peers much harder. It was also useful for the school as they realised it wasnt bad behaviour, they just need to interact differently. With a child who has ASD you have to be very specific - they dont get indirect asks / understand you were using an analogy. As ASD is a spectrum, whats fine for one child with ASD can send another into a meltdown and vice versa.
Don
You guys complaining that these should not be give to mental health patients obviously have absolutely no idea how utterly debilitating these issues can be.
Many people on the autism spectrum have massive issues with change for example. If they drive to town and are unable to park in or close to their normal space then this can cause a lot of distress and may even result in the journey being abandoned. Myself, I use mine when I have to go to the hospital. Parking is always a nightmare and I have suffered panic attacks when unable to find a space quickly. This has resulted in me missing appointments or just not even setting off in the first place for fear of not being able to park. With the badge; I always have somewhere to park and never miss my appointments.
Many people on the autism spectrum have massive issues with change for example. If they drive to town and are unable to park in or close to their normal space then this can cause a lot of distress and may even result in the journey being abandoned. Myself, I use mine when I have to go to the hospital. Parking is always a nightmare and I have suffered panic attacks when unable to find a space quickly. This has resulted in me missing appointments or just not even setting off in the first place for fear of not being able to park. With the badge; I always have somewhere to park and never miss my appointments.
That's not self absorbed, that's protecting my child.
I'd like to see any grown man pick a kicking and screaming child
Home delivery? Much safer..
Caporegime
Wow, some of you are acting like total *****.
Caporegime
Ordinary parent and child spaces are wider to allow for the manoeuvring of pushchairs and prams. Why wouldn't one of these be suitable?
This. I'm high functioning ASD myself, but there are unfortunately several people with ASD ranging from high functioning to the most severe low functioning on my wife's side of the family. @LizardKing please stop trying to justify yourself, honestly. People with no direct experience of severe autism (or probably even 'normal' children of their own) simply can't comprehend the difficulties involved. It's easy to pick holes in a few lines of text when you've no actual experience of what you're discussing. It's quite another to deal with a (say) five year old who's squealing at a constant high pitch at the top of their voice, while body popping all over the place, trying to smash their own head in with no concept of the pain; thrashing, punching, kicking and biting and then going limp before repeating the pattern... All because you opened the 'wrong' door first, or the sun's the wrong way around, or the car that went past was blue, or there was a noise somewhere, or..... Good luck dealing with that when you're stuck in a 1960s parking space jammed between a Hilux and a Range Rover. And that's if you're only dealing with one autistic child rather than three. A three year old with severe autism is an incredible physical and mental challenge for an adult, short of just thumping them and throwing them over your shoulder - but a five year old? Ten year old? Good luck with that. Some posters' responses are lol-worthy. "Just" do this, or "just" do that... haha! Come and show us how it's done... Maybe we should "just" lock them up in a special home and not let them out, eh?
I have a blue badge for physical disability. I have severe kidney disease, lung issues, heart disease, severe arthritis, spinal canal stenosis, ME, fibromyalgia and bowel and bladder issues. I'm typing this in bed after 20mg of morphine at the moment, and can't even stand up yet because of the pain and I'm out of breath. Tell you what though, I'd happily struggle (and struggle is the right word) an extra 50 feet to the supermarket later this afternoon if it meant a young couple with a child/children of the sort I'm used to dealing with needed to get some shopping done without setting off a meltdown followed by an entire day of issues. But what do I know? I've only got real world experience of both sides of the coin.
I'm very slightly affected by it but I've also got a reasonable amount of self-awareness and an innate drive not to let things like that control or define me - I don't even want to think what my life would be like without that - there was a guy in my year at school who was acutely affected by it and it isn't a pretty contrast (amongst other things he used to write endless letters to Davina McCall to the point there was some legal action just because she'd one day present with a slightly different hair style, etc. and he couldn't deal with it).
My thoughts exactly (as I said at the start of my post, I'm HF ASD myself). The challenges some of my wife's family members present, and some of the kids I've encountered to date, are monumental in comparison. You just can't understand until you've dealt with it yourself, and it's certainly not something you see on TV or whatever! As an aside - though highly relevant to the thread - we have a special school nearby for those with more severe autism. It's called Abbots Lea school. The other week I saw their minibus parked in the blue badge bay nearest to a local shop door, and several staff members were lined up from the bus to the shop entrance herding the kids along. The children got to visit a real supermarket during a quiet time, learn how they work and how to do some shopping 'properly', and they got out of their usual environment for a while. The minibus had an organisational blue badge, of course; but can you imagine having to shepherd 10-15 severely autistic kids across a car park and into a shop without one? It'd be funny if it wasn't so dangerous.
Caporegime
They'd be OK in a pinch, but they're usually all taken up by able-bodied people with children who aren't disabled. Disabled spaces exist because they're needed.
^^ This.
Severely autistic kids are slaves to routine. They need consistency in their lives. If a parent can pull into the same parking space every time they visit the supermarket, that's a huge relief for everyone concerned. Park even three spaces over, and you have a nightmare on your hands.
I speak as someone who has friends with kids on the autistic spectrum, from mild to severe.
There also needs to be a std questionnaire for blue badge applications and they should be reviewed regularly. I'm in Hants, the scheme is administered by Hampshire County Council. The form is geared towards physical disability, can you walk 20m etc, but the form is a nightmare with some of the questions and is likely to put people off who do need a badge.
One chap I know had a blue badge/motability car, he used to referee Sunday football, but got the badge automatically because he was in the forces.
One chap I know had a blue badge/motability car, he used to referee Sunday football, but got the badge automatically because he was in the forces.
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Soldato
Its not just shopping, should he just stay indoors all day every day? not be given the opportunity of some sort of a normal life?
As above....
Caporegime
How does having a blue badge mean you're going to get the same space?
If it's that much of an issue then you do what I've suggested, you wait it out in the car. You don't take the obviously distressed child out.
What would make more sense is parking far away from the place where the spaces tend to be empty (cos people are lazy) and you're far more likely to get the same space every time. Would that not be logical?
Caporegime
. The minibus had an organisational blue badge, of course; but can you imagine having to shepherd 10-15 severely autistic kids across a car park and into a shop without one? It'd be funny if it wasn't so dangerous.
Which is why you wouldn't. You'd risk assess it and decide it was too much of a risk or you'd implement controls such as taking them over one at a time. You know...use intelligence.
There's also a massive difference between a limited number of staff looking after 10-15 children and 1 or 2 parents looking after a single child.
Caporegime
I mean a handicapped space, as opposed to a regular one.
Waiting in the car doesn't help. It just means you have a child going frantic in the car.
No, because then you have a long walk to the supermarket, during which you must somehow ferry a severely autistic child (literally kicking, screaming, hitting himself, trying to run away, throwing himself on the ground, or chucking a fit in his wheelchair, etc.) through a minefield of traffic and people, which not only incredibly stressful on you, but an absolute nightmare for the child. So your 'solution' involves a massive amount of extra work and stress. Great!
You clearly don't have the first clue about any aspect of this entire issue.
Soldato
It always surprises me that people get excited over disabled bays or extra wide bays for kids etc.
If you're going to be walking around the supermarket for 2 hours what's a little further walk when there's nothing wrong with you?
Last time I parked in a child space I came back to find a trolley resting against my car. The trolley is the first thing to go when kids need shoe horning into cars.
I'd rather not risk it and just park at the other end.
If you're going to be walking around the supermarket for 2 hours what's a little further walk when there's nothing wrong with you?
Last time I parked in a child space I came back to find a trolley resting against my car. The trolley is the first thing to go when kids need shoe horning into cars.
I'd rather not risk it and just park at the other end.
Caporegime
Fwoosh. If the child is in that state why are you taking them in to a supermarket?! Irs only going to make things even worse for them, you and everyone else. The whole point if parking at the back is for the routine that is needed so you can guarantee that same spot so they don't get in that state in the first place.