UK permit to park freely extended to those with autism etc

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Blue badge scheme to provide ‘lifeline’ for mentally ill people Permit to park freely extended to those with ‘hidden conditions’, including autism

I'm used to awful parking situations, what I need is express lane clearance.

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I oppose this, it will cause nothing but problems, unless you have co-morbid dyspraxia(likely already qualifies) I think it will cause overcrowding of already valuable resources. If mobility is a problem, yes, if not, I say no. The stress is seldom on the outside of a building anyway, once you get into a crowded space with lights and noise, that is when the problems tend to start. Greedy people will take advantage of the system with an extension, and don't tell me that greedy autistic people are nonexistant.

That doesn't make sense.

In the US we have handicapped parking spaces, and you can get a handicapped sticker for your car if you qualify.

This sounds like the UK equivalent.

But those are for folks who have trouble walking. Not for folks with social deficits. The Rain Man, and Sheldon Leonard and Temple Grandin (just to take the three biggest stereotype images of ASD folks) can all walk the same distance from a parking lot as can anyone else.

Maybe theyre worried that we autistics might get meltdowns while in the car while looking for parking.

Yeah, I don't understand it either.

It seems to be for those children who would meltdown or would dart in front of vehicle during a long walk. Autistic adults capable of driving to a destination would presumably be capable of walking the rest of the way.

There was a period in my life where I extensively used a parking permit. It enabled us to go to places like Washington DC and visit the tourist attractions. It was a huge stress relief not having to hunt for a parking spot.
Don't use one if you don't need it. But it certainly makes a difference for some.

I too disagree with this, especially since people with autism can already get blue badges.

I wonder if I'd be able to wangle one . Be interesting to find out .

Out of interest, do people with blue badges ever have difficulty finding a disabled parking space? I don't pay much attention to car parks, as I don't park myself, but I notice at one of the local doctors surgeries, the disabled spaces are almost always in use.

I have a handicap parking pass. It's up to me when I want handicap parking. I rarely do.

A funny thing to me was people using handicap parking for the big hotel malls in Vegas, and then they go walking for miles inside the things. Or using special parking when I'm going to be in a wheel chair. Um I'm sitting down in a chair with wheels, what difference does it make?

It makes a lot of difference getting into a wheelchair out of a car. Even if you are highly skilled at transferring into a wheelchair, you need enough room to get the wheelchair between the parked cars.

One of my biggest issues is my sound sensitivity. I can have multiple metldowns walking across a parking lot because of people's car stereos in the street or in the parking lot. If I can park closer, it is much safer for me. I can literally get hit by a car if I become disoriented by being overloaded from people's stereos. If they are not going to enforce sound ordinances, allowing people like me who are so sensitive, to park closer would be a huge help and would be a great safety improvement. I often cannot shop during the day because of this. I have to shop at stores that are open 24 hours and go in the wee hours of the night. Not many stores are open 27/7 I should not have to be forced to do this. A placard that enables me to get in and out of parking more quickly could be massive for me.

When I am driving I often have to stop and let someone pass if he is playing aloud stereo or slow down to let the person get way ahead of me. Or I have to turn and take a different route. I don't have that option in a parking lot. There are times when I have had massive bloodcurdling screaming headbanging meltdowns because I had to walk across parking lots where people were blasting stereos.

I don't understand this at all. Unless you have a physical disability, I don't think its necessary.

Walking across a parking lot can be absolute torture and physically very painful and quite dangerous if you are extremely sensitive to certain sounds. If you can be permitted to cut that time you spend in the parking lot that would be tremendously helpful.

I spent two entire years of my life on crutches. I did not have any accommodations at all when I was on them. My high school and university did not even have elevators. Some of my classes were on the top floors of the buildings and I had no accommodations or help from anyone whatsoever. I was expected to get there on time with all my books and notebooks just like everybody else. But looking back over that time and experiencing the kind of sensory trauma that I can experience now walking across a parking lot being able bodied but sound disabled, I find that the invisible disability I experience now is much more disabling and dangerous than the two years I spent on crutches. I would not have even thought of asking for a placard when I was on crutches. That thought never even crossed my mind. But now with the sound sensitivity that I deal with, there are times when I can't even make it across a large parking lot. I get all the way to the store which could be miles away and I have to turn around and leave because I can't walk across the parking lot because someone is blasting a stereo and I could go into shock and collapse. There have been times when I have been in the middle of the parking lot and had to stop walking, put my fingers in my ears and stim and scream for as long as it took for the person blasting music to decide to drive away. And some people will sit in their cars blasting while they are waiting for someone who is in the store. So it could be hours before they leave.

When I was younger, subwoofers and blasting stereos was not a thing. Nobody did that. It is only in the past 20 years or so that people have been doing that. So now I am constantly being traumatized by this. So for someone like me, it makes perfect sense that I should be allowed to park closer. My dad has a parking placard because he is unable to walk long distances. But no one has any problem pushing him in a wheelchair and he can sit in that wheel chair all day. So technically, he does not need to park close to an entrance to a store. My mom just puts his chair in the trunk of the car and he sits in it and he gets pushed. He can get pushed in his chair for hours all day long anywhere he wants to go. I also have friends who are in electric wheel chairs and have no problem going around in their chairs all day where ever they want to go so they technically don't need to be close to an entrance either. So to say that it makes no sense that someone like me should not be allowed to park close when someone who is in a wheel chair is allowed to park close, is a little offensive to me.

My youngest granddaughter seems to have issues with loud sounds. I bought her a noise canceling headset that she can wear. It allows sounds such as talking but blocks or minimizes loud sounds. Have you tried those?