Does anyone know if MS sufferers without a visible disability can now apply for a blue badge. I have to park carefully because I sometimes find it difficult walking too far. Just read on the news that people with invisible disabilties can apply.
Thanks
Hi,
I heard about that on the news it will be from the 30th of August. I only hope they put a lot more disabled bays out there.
At the moment when ever you go to hospital you find yourself waiting for one to become available. Even the super markets donât have enough. I do hope they crackdown people who abuse the badge by people lending it to neighbours or friends to use. I had my badge stolen from my car last year, window smash and grab. I now have a blue badge protector where it slides into a steel casing with a see through hard plastic front and a lockable chain that you put around the steering wheel.
Best Wishes
Kielyn
Well itâs in the Guardian, so must be true. With Chris Grayling in charge what could possibly go wrong?
Blue Badges should only be for people with limited mobility. People with hidden issues should not qualify.
As Kielyn pointed out, the limited parking should be addressed first even as it is now.
I think thereâs a rule/law which states the ratio of how many disabled/non-disabled parking spaces there should be in a carpark.
Looking at the new rules effective from 30th August, itâs supposed to cover people with âhidden disabilitiesâ like anxiety and dementia.
It doesnât mean that a blanket rule covering for eg, people diagnosed with MS will automatically qualify.
Plus, local authorities have their own rules and will set their own criteria, apart from the overriding rule that people who receive PIP for mobility or the higher rate of DLA for mobility do always qualify.
So essentially, it seems that for most of us, nothing changes. Although as Whammel pointed out, Chris Grayling is responsible, so who knows what the heck will happen!
I went to Bognor Wheelchair Services the other day. Youâd expect that there would be plenty of disabled bays. There were two. In a crowded car park full of non disabled bays (pretty much all taken).
Sue
Maybe there is a ratio for how many disabled places to ordinary and the normal parking would create blue murder if there was more disabled places. My mum comes with me to the hospital sometimes and if we go in the car I can usually fine one place near to the appointment, which is fine as my mum has a blue badge. I mostly go by tram if it is the qmc bit if it is the city getting a bus is hard and a taxi is costly, so unless I am having treatment or tests I go car.
Kay
Hi Iâve just been given a blue badge for me when I applied I filled in the form and I then had a telephone interview in which I explained how my ms affected me. In this conversation I explained that it wasnât the distance that I could walk more how it left me feeling afterwards. Iâm not saying that everyone with ms should automatically get a blue badge but itâs certainly worth applying for. Neil
Yes it was on the news yesterday anyone with an invisible illness can now apply for blue badge which is ace.
Mind you there are so many suffering so it covers a huge area of sufferers sadly.
However, it is down to the local council to make the final decision.
I am assuming it means ALL people with invisible illness, so go for it hun.
I strongly disagree. Disabled parking should only be for those with limited mobility. Who struggle to walk very short distances or are wheelchair bound.
Not those who have an âinvisible disabilityâ but are able to walk long distances unaffected.
Even now there are`nt enough disabled parking bays without giving the opportunity for the lazy b****** brigade jumping on the bandwagon.
As for you Chris Grayling, you look what you are.
Oh dear oh dear, some violent reactions coming out here. You can apply online. A simple form to see whether you are elegible. I have seen many conversations about this issues. i do not drive, but relaised I could apply for when my family and friends and carers take me out and we need to un load a wheelchair. But other disabled ppl have raised the issues; suppose someone is blind? obviously not the driver! someone who has crippling anxiety and canât cope with walking far? I have a carer - who has a young son with behaviour issues. He simply is not SAFE to walk across a car park. Has no sense of danger. Will run in front of cars, have a meltdown and become violent if restrained. Should that person be penalised?? having said all that, it is a postcode lottery, and up to the local council. OK there will be ppl abusing the system. But you canât assume if you cannot SEE the disability, then it does not exist!!
I think it should be a case by case assessment, which is what they may do already, there are a lot of people who should have a blue badge but donât think that they are eligible so donât go for it. My mum was one of them she would argue my dad over it thinking that she wasnât bad enough for it, she applied for it had an assessment and got it, she wished that she did it sooner, ???. Kay
I have MS which is not always visible but i applied and was turned down but my gp sent a supporting letter and i got my blue badge 2nd time of asking - i find it very handy when I need a space when my legs arenât great
Yes totally agree with redman it is an invisible disease,but itâs the bad days when you canât get out of the house let alone go to the shops and start looking for a disable parking spot.
If more people are going to be eligible for âBlue Badgesâ then hopefully more parking bays for Blue Badge holders should be made available.
ah full of empathy I see. My husband had COPD. He could walk fine nothing wrong with his legs no he had good legs to be honest. If you had the honour of meeting him you would never think he was sick until you started to talk to him. He finally retired from work at 71 and had worked all his life and was rarely off sick. His doctor actually encouraged him to apply for a blue badge. Why? because he could barely walk a few metres without gasping for air and having to stop.
so by your reckoning he should never have been given a blue badge. He didnt have a mobility issue per see, he had a lung issue.
No matter what good comes in this country we all have to turn it into something bad. Its a huge step forward for people with terrible anxiety issues, (I know a few), and people with other invisible illnesses like my husband who passed away sadly six months after getting his, so he left a space for someone else who were obviously far more deserving then he was.
Oh also what about all the toddlers and children spaces? there are more of them then there are of disabled bays. any thoughts on that?
Your opening paragraph is full of contradiction. Based on what you said, he had mobility issues so I agree he was entitled to a Blue Badge. By my reckoning he should`ve qualified for a Blue Badge so stop stirring.
Once again my point is that people with poor mobility should get a Blue Badge not able bodied people with other hidden issues.
Parents with small children hold their hands and guide them.
Finding all the disabled spaces taken may well mean that people with physical problems canât go to the venue - they simply canât walk the necessary distance from the general carpark to the entrance. Someone with severe anxiety issues in the same situation could almost certainly manage to walk the extra distance. If there are loads of disabled spaces then there isnât a problem but until then, those with walking difficulties should be given priority and protection.
I doubt very much that local councils will be dishing out hundreds more Blue Badges. They can already award a badge to someone whose GP considers that they are unable to walk far, irrespective of cause. Under the new criteria, individual local authorities have the right to define their own criteria. So the problem remains exactly the same as it is now. By which I mean misuse of badges, theft of badges, fraudulent claims for and/or use of blue badges.
Plus of course the lack of disabled spaces. Which in many areas is utterly shocking. (Not to mention the proliferation of parent and child spaces!)
But it is right and proper that people with invisible disabilities, such as dementia, mental illness, anxiety and many other disorders should be able to get a badge. After all, if itâs difficult to walk, who cares what the cause is of that difficulty?
Sue
he didnt have mobility issues though he could walk fine, just not far. i am not stirring i find that offensive this is a forum where people should be able to discuss things without being attacked. Your post was not empathetic and i have a right to say so. this forum is becoming hard work. Maybe you should read what you said again yourself. like i said he had no mobility issues just breathing. He had to go for a very hard assessment which wiped him out for days. He rarely used his badge actually as he died not long after receiving it.