Royal Mail worker accused of insulting disabled child

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.hounslowchronicle.co.uk/west ... -31958927/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

THE mother of a disabled 10-year-old girl claimes her daughter was called "a disabled thing" by a Royal Mail driver at Feltham depot.

Lisa Jones, 38 of Sydney Road in Feltham, has been told Katy who is diagnosed with autism will not get an apology from the postal worker who is alleged to have said the insult.

The family were at the sorting office in Plane Tree Cres, to pick up a parcel but were heckled for parking in a disabled bay by two foul-mouthed employees, despite them having a blue badge.

Mother-of-two Mrs Jones had a run-in with a female employee and complained about the altercation when she picked up the parcel.

She said: "She said to me 'can you not read' so I said I'm not dyslexic. I was told I would be banned from the premises for being rude, but she had not asked if I was a blue badge holder."

On returning to the car with her daughter Phoebe, aged three, and Katy, 10, an Asian man pulled up waving his arms and shaking his head.

Mrs Jones said: "He was very abrupt telling me I was disgraceful and shouldn't park here," said Ms Jones. A heated exchange of words followed and a fed-up Ms Jones went back in the office and asked for a manager who was called in from another site.

Back outside the heartless male postal worker said "where is this disabled thing then" and walked to the passenger door, put his head on the window and went to touch the handle.

Ms Jones was forced to call her partner Dean, and then her sister who picked up a distressed Katy. A manager came and took their report and said an internal investigation would proceed and their request for an apology from the employee to Katy was understandable. For a full investigation the incident was also reported to head office.

Since September 18 the family waited for a response and were called on Monday (October 1) to be told sorry, the depot has learnt a lesson but regrettably Katy would not get a personal apology.

A Royal Mail Spokesperson said: “We are disappointed to hear of Ms Jones’ recent experience at one of our sites. We provide disabled parking facilities where possible at our operational sites for customers’ use. We need to ensure that these facilities are not misused so that they are available to those customers who qualify to use them On this occasion, it was not immediately apparent that Ms Jones did qualify to use this parking bay, and so was challenged. For this, we have offered Ms Jones our sincerest apologies. The matter is now being dealt with internally.”

Ms Jones said the badge was placed on the windscreen when she was parked up but not one person looked or asked if she was a blue badge holder but instead rude and abusive towards her family.

[blackadder]

if its true then its shocking behaviour of the postie

[TeeferTiger]

Unfortunately, unless you've got visible disabilities i.e. in a wheelchair and/or with limbs missing, people give and get abuse for using the blue badge system. Winds me up.

[fishtank]

It's not likely to be the full picture,having said that if only half of it is true it's pretty disgusting.

It's not clear whether we're talking about managers or callers staff or posties but i will say something...nowhere in my contract does it say car park attendant so if these were OPG's...why were they getting involved?

[pinstripe]

As the parent of an autistic child there are 2 things that really annoy me.

1. The reaction of certain people to this 'invisible' disability.

2. Some parents of autistic children, who seem to think that they are unique and special, they're not, they're children are, but they're not.

This whole situation could have been avoided at the beginning, simply by saying that her child had autism and that she was perfectly entitled to use the disabled parking space and leaving it at that.

I have seen some people deliberately stir up a confrontation just so they can play their 'my child is disabled card'.

On the other side, I have also seen some people behave sickeningly towards autistic and down syndrome children, even after they were aware of their disabilities.

Both types make my blood boil.

[NWpostie]

I don't think Autism qualifies for a Blue badge therefore she shouldn't have one in the first place.

[Throgg]

I don't think Autism qualifies for a Blue badge therefore she shouldn't have one in the first place.

Wrong.

My eldest boy has Aspergers and ADHD, we have a blue badge.

[chuckychucks]

'Deleted'

[TrueBlueTerrier]

chuckychucks is correct in a way - I certainly wouldn't make an assertion without first finding a source that backs my position, and I certainly would hope most posters are of the same outlook. However, NWPostie is partly correct. Families with Autistic children are not guaranteed to get a Blue Badge, however the following website does offer advice and links.

http://www.autism.org.uk/living-with-au ... cheme.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Different local authorities may vary in the way they interpret the eligibility criteria and because of these variations, it is possible that in some areas blue badges are more likely to be granted to children with autism than others.

The criteria for the award of blue badges are laid down in national law. The scheme was introduced in 1971 and the latest regulations for England were drawn up in The Disabled Persons (Badges for Motor Vehicles) (England) Regulations 2000 though there have been some amendments since this date. You can look at the law in more detail on the Department for Transport's website: http://www.dft.gov.uk/topics/access/blu ... egislation" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You can apply for a blue badge by completing an application form, which you get from your local authority. You can also apply online on the DirectGovwebsite

[NWpostie]

Chuckychucks from memory, the blue badge scheme was originally introduced for those with mobility difficulties, Amputees, cerebral palsy, wheelchair users etc, so that they can park near doctors, shops without penalty for a maximum of 3 hours.

It has however been abused in the past, how it expanded to include those with non mobility issues, Deaf people don't have it, I cannot see the justification for those with mental issues but have mobility qualifying for it, all this means there will be less disabled parking spaces for those with mobility issues, it also makes my blood boil when I see people in top of the range 4x4s, BMWs , Mercs park in such spots frequently with a pass, it does look sus, also there similar such people in posh cars parking without a pass hogging the space needed by disabled people.

[TeeferTiger]

Chuckychucks from memory, the blue badge scheme was originally introduced for those with mobility difficulties, Amputees, cerebral palsy, wheelchair users etc, so that they can park near doctors, shops without penalty for a maximum of 3 hours.

It has however been abused in the past, how it expanded to include those with non mobility issues, Deaf people don't have it, I cannot see the justification for those with mental issues but have mobility qualifying for it, all this means there will be less disabled parking spaces for those with mobility issues, it also makes my blood boil when I see people in top of the range 4x4s, BMWs , Mercs park in such spots frequently with a pass, it does look sus, also there similar such people in posh cars parking without a pass hogging the space needed by disabled people.

Just because they have a posh car, doesn't mean they're not entitled to a blue badge... yes, there has been system abuse, but disabled people receive enough abuse from others who don't believe they should be parking in a disabled parking bay without even knowing what their disability is (not that it's any of their business).

[fishtank]

It has however been abused in the past, how it expanded to include those with non mobility issues, Deaf people don't have it, I cannot see the justification for those with mental issues but have mobility qualifying for it.

That's because you have no idea how "mental issues" can affect mobility.
You should try a little research,knowledge is not something to fear.
Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders tend to spend a great deal of their lives in a state of almost constant panic trying to understand the world they live in,think of the butterflies you feel in your stomach about a new situation like a job interview and then multiply that by 100 and then think about feeling that way 24/7.
Think about added complications like ADHD and OCD.
Now think about making that child walk through a busy and dangerous car park just because you don't understand "mental issues".

[TeeferTiger]

Interesting debate on this forum http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/sho ... ?t=3921505" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[dvbuk55]

Asking for a redelivery could have been a solution that would not have required parking either with or without a blue pass. There is massive abuse of the blue pass as anyone who regularly shops in town centres will see. The pass should only be used when the disabled badge holder is within the vehicle - now how many times have you seen a single occupant of the vehicle pull up in a disabled bay display the badge and hare across the car park like a 100 metre sprinter.

[TeeferTiger]

Asking for a redelivery could have been a solution that would not have required parking either with or without a blue pass. There is massive abuse of the blue pass as anyone who regularly shops in town centres will see. The pass should only be used when the disabled badge holder is within the vehicle - now how many times have you seen a single occupant of the vehicle pull up in a disabled bay display the badge and hare across the car park like a 100 metre sprinter.

The new badges have photos on them to reduce abuse of the system.

However, in areas such as where I live (coffin dodger central ) 8% of the car parks have to have designated disabled bays. You also don't have to have a blue badge to use them, it's just public etiquette to not do so if you don't have one. And because of the high proportion of elderly people, we have more than 8% of the local population with a blue badge because as soon as they hit pension age, they apply for a badge. A car park attendant told us that as I was taking my disabled neighbour out shopping and we couldn't find a free disabled bay. Now, I'm not quite disabled enough yet to require a blue badge, so I dropped my neighbour off, went to park and then met up with her.

And the blue badge scheme doesn't technically apply on private property either....