Disability understanding – it’s hard work
Park in a disabled carpark and you can expect some black looks if you appear able-bodied.
But Richard Warwick was unprepared for the reaction to his occasional use of the carparks.
Warwick works as a sales rep for a produce company. ‘‘I’m in and out of supermarkets daily and seeing customers.’’
The Wellingtonian is also a card-carrying mobility park user – he was almost completely paralysed down his left side at the age of 16. He regained his mobility but has a weak left hand and leg and walks with a limp.
Despite this, Warwick has worked virtually all his adult life, even completing the New York Marathon and taking part in the Coast to Coast.
‘‘I’ve always been in paid employment, I’ve lived independently, married and raised a family, and done what everybody else wants to do, effectively, and really tried not to allow the disability to define me.’’
However, it’s not been without pain, and eagle-eyed passers-by have often been quick to eyeball him if he’s driving his work van and has no alternative but to use a disabled carpark.
On two occasions, people had rung his employer to complain. Warwick says he always has his card in the window, but people often don’t look.
He says his employer responds brilliantly, but it’s as if people don’t expect a disabled person to be capable of work.
‘‘Am I what, to be at home, with a caregiver, staring out the window on a benefit?’’
He is glad people care enough to check if disabled parking is being used wrongly but urges people to check the window – and their own preconceptions.
With his sports challenges, Warwick says he is not out to prove anything on behalf of disabled people – it’s a personal choice.
‘‘For me, I walked the New York Marathon and that kind of pushed me to taking on the Coast to Coast. I didn’t do it easily. It was painful and difficult, but I did it for me.’’
BJ Clark, national access and infrastructure manager for CCS Disability Action, says it’s great that people cared about mobility parks, but no one wants a vigilante situation.
The medical criteria for a mobility park is strict, and disabilities are not always visible, he says.
‘‘People don’t understand disability. They expect to see someone get out in a wheelchair, or using sticks or some other mobility device.’’
Someone with emphysema, or heart issues or severe arthritis ‘‘may look like they’re getting out of a vehicle quite fine but the reality is, they very quickly tire.’’
Clark says it is also true that disabled people face stereotypes in areas such as employment.
‘‘People don’t understand disability. They expect to see someone get out in a wheelchair, or using sticks or some other mobility device.’’ BJ Clark of CCS Disability Action
One in four people identify as having some form of impairment, so disability is widespread. Nevertheless, people with disabilities often have difficulty getting employment, he says.
CCS Disability Action has begun releasing an app, Access Aware, for reporting suspected abuse of mobility parking spaces. The app is already working in Christchurch, Wellington and Upper Hutt.