I was looking to see if anyone could point me in the direction of where I may be able to get an official confirmation wallet size type card that proves I have MS?
Its all very well me having a blue badge but when I need to use this for where I park, other than a PIP letter I don’t have any other form of confirmation that proves I have a disability.
For instance, my wife and I took our daughter to the zoo a few days ago and parked in one of their disabled bays while displaying my blue badge. As with most places like this there is a disability entrance price where my wife (carer) can get in free of charge, which is great!
However when I explained and asked a the disability entrance price to be factored in I was asked to confirm that I am registered disabled. The only confirmation that I had near(ish) me was my by blue badge – which was in the car! I explained and the lady behind the desk asked one of us to go and get it to confirm and then one of us could go and put it back in the car, which wasn’t ideal!
It isn’t the first time that we have faced this sort of “problem” but most of the time it has been trusted what I am saying when they see the likes of a walking stick etc. But does anyone know if there is a card that is the same size of say a bank card that I can keep in my wallet which confirms that I have MS? A much smaller official blue badge will do the trick.
I don’t know of a wallet sized blue badge, or equivalent evidence of disability. You could photocopy both sides of your blue badge, or photocopy your PIP award letter. I know that neither of those options is ideal, but they’re all I can think of right now.
l don’t think there is a ‘register’ for disabled. This has been brought up before. A smaller version of our ‘Blue Badge’ sounds an excellent idea. Something we could keep on our key ring.
The only problem with one of these cards is that anyone can get one. So essentially they look useful, but they prove nothing. Then again, if they work, so what?
I went to a gig recently where they’d agreed to a free ticket for my carer - I ended up putting the 1st page of my PIP letter in my bag as I was worried about getting in etc. needless to say, me on crutches was enough but yes, it was the only ‘proof’ I could find.
The blue badge differs from council to council, so if I was wanting proof, the blue badge is actually less official in some cases than the PIP/DLA letter. That shouldn’t be the case and I appreciate not all MS sufferers will be awarded PIP/DLA but might still be given a blue badge - where I used to live, I had to complete a lengthy online form but I don’t what info, if any, I had to provide to get the badge.