Finally, one of these


This week, I finally went and got one of these.
Which means I can park in a 'disabled' specific car park when I have Ryley in the car with me.
I can't tell you how many people shook their heads in disbelief when I told them I got one.
Not because they thought I didn't deserve one.
But for the fact it has taken me so long to get it.

For some stupid reason, having this is like telling the whole world that someone in our household has a disability.
Which is true, obviously.
But I don't see Ryley as being 'disabled'.
He is just Ryley.

I know that the parking permit is only another aid designed to offer more support.
And I should be grateful that it is there.
I think the reason I have taken so long to get one is because I just feel like now we are advertising the fact that disability is so significant in our lives that we need special parking spots.
Stupid, I know.

Funny isn't it. No matter how far along the journey we are, there are still things that pop up that are challenging.






Comments

  1. AlisonJune 23, 2012 at 10:13 AM

    I don't know how you managed for so long without one!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnnaJune 23, 2012 at 10:19 AM

      LOL Alison. Yeah I don't really know either. It will make life a lot easier that's for sure!

      Delete
  2. ElizabethJune 23, 2012 at 11:24 AM

    Yeah, I get that. Now what you'll have to endure, too, is people saying how "fortunate" you are to have one. Yikes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnnaJune 26, 2012 at 7:09 PM

      You are right. I know the people who will be the first ones to say that to us too. Frustrating!

      Delete
  3. JacobJune 24, 2012 at 6:09 AM

    I know what you mean Anna - about Ryley just being Ryley.

    This 'disability permit', as with many things in the world, focuses on the negative instead of on the positive. It could easily be an 'extra help permit' and it would be a positive thing. The city is offering you some extra help. Eg., prime parking - because you deserve it. Nice. But instead the focus is on the fact that someone in the family can't do something. Not nice. Even the term 'disabled' itself isn't nice. I mean, we're all disabled in one way or another.

    But that's just my perhaps skewed perspective..

    But it IS a perspective, and that's the perspective which I think is shared in the general population. Labelling people by what they can't do.. It's absurd when you think about it.

    And do we need that?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnnaJune 26, 2012 at 7:11 PM

      I totally agree Jacob. This is something I work hard to change. Changing the way society sees people who are different is hard. But we have to keep trying.
      I haven't used it yet, but look forward to using it, and then seeing how I feel about it.

      Delete
  4. Phil DzialoJune 30, 2012 at 6:28 AM

    And then will come the anger....you know that there is need for the permit and you know that they are not easy to get. You will also note that there are never enough places to park where you can use the permit. AND, then you will notice all the non-disabled people who will blatantly takes reserved spaces and use relatives, dead peoples, etc. permits because they are too lazy to walk. Makes you want to key their cars.....

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnnaJune 30, 2012 at 10:43 AM

    Oh the anger has already arrived. I have used the permit to park once, and already I parked next to someone who had no permit. She was happily sitting in her car with her kids. I glared. I made a point of obviously looking for her permit. She made a point of looking the other way. AND THEN...there was another car from some company that was parked in one of the other spots. No permit. ARGH! The rage I felt!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Agree? Disagree? Love to hear your thoughts! Thanks for stopping by!

Popular posts from this blog

Some things just never get easier

I have logged back in to write today as we come to the end of lockdown 3.0. I just saw in my unpublished posts my thoughts about lockdown 1.0. Hmmm. I might publish that one day!  Today's topic feels like something I have written about before. Over the past few weeks, Ryley has been undergoing assessments. These assessments are necessary in order for us to receive adequate funding under the NDIS.  Long story short, Ryley's last NDIS plan has failed to provide the funding he needs in order to participate fully in the things we had planned for his transition out of school.  The whole process has felt a bit messy.  It started with me not being listened to. This is despite my strong, knowledgeable-of-systems-and guidelines voice. No blaming or shaming here. It just is as it is.  However, for those that know me well, know that when you try and 'quieten' my voice, I will only speak louder. Especially when it comes to advocating and speaking for those that can't.  As expec
Keep reading

Blogging 101-how do I do this again?

Image
Sometimes I wander back into this blog and check out a few of my past posts. I read some of the wonderful blogs I used to follow regularly and contemplate writing here again.  So many things have changed in my life over the past few years.  The teenage years are...difficult.  I feel very alone in this raising a teenage boy with WHS thing. There is no one really to answer my questions, and I spend most of my days feeling as though my son hates me. I know he doesn't, but this is tough. Way tougher than I thought it would be.  So here I am.  Tracking my journey again. It may help others.  It may help me. But I feel as though there is so little support out there for parents who have teenagers with WHS...or any other disability for that matter.  I feel compelled to write. So, I will eventually update this blog so it looks a bit fancier and with the times again (ha!). But this is me. Raw. Unedited. Changed.
Keep reading

Defeated...for now

Image
At the moment, I am just surviving. I should have known it was only a matter of time before I fell over again and needed some help to get back up. Stress. Anxiety. Exhaustion. They seem to come hand in hand don't they? And I should have really just taken a moment when I felt the stress building up. I should have just said 'hey, I need a day or two to myself'. But I didn't. And here I am. I am ok by the way. Just in between sick kids, a sick me, work, a zillion extra appointments to somehow squeeze into my already full days...well...it all just became a bit much. Cue: Me in tears sitting in my Managers office. Thank goodness I have a supportive and wonderful workplace. She saw I needed time out and told me to take it. The worst bit of it all is the stupid anxiety that came back. For those that suffer from anxiety (whether it be a sometimes thing like me, or an ongoing disorder), it truly sucks the life out of you. My body just completely went into adre
Keep reading