What an arrogant a hole you are! Your audacity knows no bounds! You clearly have no idea as to anything about MS, yet you’re giving this woman medical advice and even suggesting she and her doctor aren’t properly treating her illness. Your gall is astonishing.

Please God, PLEASE BLESS Samuel here with an advanced case of Multiple Sclerosis. Secondary Progressive will do nicely. You’ll be doing him such a favor, increasing his understanding and maybe even empathy for another human’s suffering. Thank you, Lord.

Yeah, that’s because in the United States you’re INNOCENT until PROVEN guilty, doh! And there are rules of evidence; sadly, your own personal opinion isn’t admissible evidence. It therefore “proves” nothing.

That is correct. Unless you are a law enforcement officer, it is none of your business if – in your MISTAKEN OPINION – someone is “breaking the law.”

She was WORRIED ABOUT HER MOTHER who was SO ILL standing alone for 10 minutes while she wsited for Chris to park the car. Another jerk cherry-picking the posts to completely mischaracterize what the poster said.

Ben, how could you possibly have missed the rest of that paragraph? Or are you deliberately ignoring it, cherry-picking only the phrase you believe “proves” your incorrect statement?

The law states clearly “without the use of an assistive device OR THAT CAUSES THE PERSON TO BE UNABLE TO WALK MORE THAN 200 FEET, INCLUDING, BUT NOT NECESSARILY LIMITED TO: (list of SOME of the included diseases)

You, sir, are dead WRONG.

That’s sort of part of the point, with an invisible illness sometimes we look and seem perfectly fine and healthy but we aren’t. Having a problem you don’t see doesn’t mean it’s any more or less valid then your mother’s condition.

Now those idiots that don’t have a parking tag and take up a handicap parking spot, those are no good. Or people who just “borrow” one from someone who actually does need a handicap tag.

I would say some of the comments that I read are only further proof that this site needs to exist as a wonderful resource for us with invisible illnesses. Just because someone is in a wheelchair doesn’t mean they don’t see us take a few good steps and think that we can always do that. At least to me it really stings reading that because I wish I was that healthy. I would rather park in the very back of the parking lot and just walk up to the door, walk around the store for over an hour, and walk back to my car loaded down with purchases. It would certainly make my life a lot easier.

But as I said it’s only further proof that the site needs to exist. I look fine. I can sometimes walk like a normal person. That doesn’t mean I am abusing the system and shouldn’t have a handicap tag use on the bad days.

And part of me wishes I could better relate to their issue. Most of the time when I go shopping there are plenty of handicap spots, because I can’t go out when there’s too many people out and about. It’s way too draining and flare inducing. While they are out circling the parking lot wishing they had some orange traffic cones in the back of their van so they could just park and move on with having fun, I’m curled up in a heating blanket with a mug of tea watching Netflix.

OK I know you made this comment three years ago, and I really hope school is going well for you, but I can so relate to that since I was born with fibro. Young doesn’t always mean healthy and normal, even if we wish it did. Gentle hugs.

I knew the people might give me dirty looks when I got my handicap tag, since I’m under 30 and don’t look sick, so I have just been ignoring all looks since I got it. For example at the grocery store I pull into a handicap spot and walk right up to the door and sit my butt down in a power scooter cart and go about my business. Just because someone has eyes doesn’t mean that they are more qualified than my doctor to tell me what I can and cannot do without even talking to me.

bull, the law has not changed if you meet the requirements for your state then you have the right to get a placard. if your doctor is skimping on writing out the information for a placard either he doesnt believe you have enough need for one or he just doesnt want to fill out the paperwork. in either case he is skimping on your care because if he doesnt see you as having enough need then he is either not treating you properly for your current condition or your claiming more issues then are reality( i am not claiming you are but its the only two options there)or if he doesnt want to fill out the paperwork what other paperwork is he not filling out because he doesnt want to take the time. so consider your actual case is it laziness on the doctor’s part or over exaggeration on your part in some way. the reason i say this is not to be mean or question your actual needs. it is because i am still figting with the va doctors for an actual diagnosis for the ankle pain i get it was diagnosed as torn ligaments in both ankles originally but two surgeries have not fixed it in the right ankle and now 15 years later the new doctors are wanting to call it diabetic neurapathy since i was diagnosed diabetic in 2013 yet my complain dates to 1998. do not let your doctor skimp on doing the paperwork he is supposed to do unless eh can give a factual reason that you dont need it not that its just so common that the mva is not honoring it.

or they could have any number of other issues as shown below which can be verified by looking up the pa dmv form i copied from
(1) is blind.
(2) does not have full use of an arm or both arms.
(3) cannot walk 200 feet without stopping to rest.
(4) cannot walk without the use of, or assistance
from, a brace, cane, crutch, another person,
prosthetic device, wheelchair or other assistive
device.
(5) is restricted by lung disease to such an extent
that the person’s forced (respiratory) expiratory
volume for one second, when measured by
spirometry, is less than one liter or the arterial
oxygen tension is less than 60 MM/HG on room
air at rest.
(6) uses portable oxygen.
(7) has a cardiac condition to the extent that the
person’s functional limitations are classified in
severity as Class III or Class IV according to the
standards set by the American Heart
Association.
(8) is severely limited in his or her ability to walk due
to an arthritic, neurological or orthopedic
condition.
(9) is a person in loco parentis of a person specified
in paragraph (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7) or (8)
above.

if his mother wouldn’t allow them to have a placard what makes you think she would have allowed them to put her in a wheel chair or would have wanted to be seen in a walker? his statement was he dropped her off in front of the store because she would not get a placard so to save her some energy strength they dropped her off in front of the store and went to use a regular parking spot. he isn’t complaining that he could not use a handicap parking spot as a way to make his life easier he is saying her pride would not let him make her life easier by being able to be by her side from the time they arrived at the store and parked because he had to drop her off close enough that she could make it into the store then park. i know what he means because my grandmother was the same way it took two years a broken wrist and a broken hip from falls before she would be convinced to use a cane outside of the house and getting a placard or a plate ” not putting on of those thing on my car”

acces to a disability placcard and the right to park in a handicap desinated space is not limited to only not able to walk 200 feet. that is the least restrictive of the choices but that doesnt make it the minimum.
(1) is blind.
(2) does not have full use of an arm or both arms.
(3) cannot walk 200 feet without stopping to rest.
(4) cannot walk without the use of, or assistance
from, a brace, cane, crutch, another person,
prosthetic device, wheelchair or other assistive
device.
(5) is restricted by lung disease to such an extent
that the person’s forced (respiratory) expiratory
volume for one second, when measured by
spirometry, is less than one liter or the arterial
oxygen tension is less than 60 MM/HG on room
air at rest.
(6) uses portable oxygen.
(7) has a cardiac condition to the extent that the
person’s functional limitations are classified in
severity as Class III or Class IV according to the
standards set by the American Heart
Association.
(8) is severely limited in his or her ability to walk due
to an arthritic, neurological or orthopedic
condition.
(9) is a person in loco parentis of a person specified
in paragraph (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7) or (8)
above.

ok ill give you one, i have perefeal neurapathy in both feet. it is not constant, so when i get out of the car it may be possible for me to walk into the store, however the longer i stand or walk the worse i get. it starts with a tingling in my toes then proceeds to a burning feeling like a molten metal band around my ankle joint, if i continue to stand or walk my feet will eventually go completely numb to the point that i have stepped on a nail and driven it through my shoe and into my foot till it was pushing the skin on top of my foot up. i didnt realise it i thought i had a piece of something stuck on my shoe and kept scraping my foot to try to dislodge it. so going into the store i may appear perfectly fine and by the end of the trip if i have been on my feet long enough i may appear fine then as well as it is so much easier to walk when every step is not in constant pain only issue is i cant actualy feel my feet hitting the groundi feel it in my knees. on some days i have to have my cane just to get into the store but since on those days i know i am going to need a mobility cart im not bringing the cane as it doesnt fold down enough to fir in the cart so i have to try to grip it between my knees or bend over and pick it up when i dont or set it aside when i have to stand to get somethign off a higher shelf. on my worst days when i know its going to be a long trip i bring my own wheel chair that is why there is a wheel chair ramp on the back of the car. so ask yourself again would you be able to tell that when i entered the store i would need not only the mobility chair in the store or that i needed anything to get into the store on my good days. and to clarify what im saying some days it only takes from the car to the store for my feet to start tingling but other days i can get all the way to the back of the store before they do, and some days i cant get out of the store with out the mobility cart to take me to the car to the point that my mother who drives me has actually gone and gotten my wheel chair from the car because i didnt use a cart and got stuck somewhere in the store with no mobility carts available

and actually the doctor’s do know this it is on the form they have to fill out and certify as to what conditions the patient meets to qualify for the placard or tag. they have to sign their name saying that the patient meets those guidelines if the patient doesnt actually meet those guidelines and some one proves it then they can get in trouble with the medical board and be banned from signing any further such forms. i know this because my primary care provider at the va would not sign the form based on my request she had to have a signed report from my otho doctor and my podiatrist that the fact that i wear braces on both knees as well as on my left ankle and on good day use a cane and bad days need a wheel chair qualified me for the placard, now maybe that is just the va being its normal asinine self but the info is on the form front and back. and the doctor has to read the form to decide which category the patient falls under.

I actually have turned people in who I KNEW were abusing the system or parked in handicap parking w/o a permit. I suppose if it hit closer to home I would be more proactive, but as it is I’m pretty passionate about a few other things at the moment. 🙂

The ADA doesn’t have anything to do with who qualifies for disabled parking. The ADA regulations address the physical attributes of disabled parking. Things like how many their need to be, the signage, the width of the spaces and access aisles, the slop/grade of the spaces, the surface material, etc.

The federal government only has recommendations of who should qualify for disabled parking spaces. It’s the states that actually define the qualifications.

I’m not attacking anyone, I’m simply pointing out what the rules and qualifications are. The only people that should feel attacked or bullied by that are ones that don’t meet the criteria.

What you are finding in this thread are people who truly need disabled parking are speaking out on their own behalf. That they are fed up with the lack of understanding of their needs. That too many people use disabled parking for convenience which blocks someone in a wheelchair or using a walker.

If you believe misinformation about laws is being spread then link your state disabled parking permit application and correct the misinformation.

No, I don’t believe everyone is using a hidden prosthetic or brace and I’m sure there are some people who are using the permit illegally and I don’t condone that. However, I’m not going to police everyone’s use of handicapped spaces just like I’m not going to police everyone who smokes (which is more dangerous to public health, btw) to make sure they are the designated number of feet away from public buildings.
If there are a lot of fraudulent handicap parking permits being issued, it needs to be stopped for sure. If you think someone is using a hpp illegally, call the police and turn them in.
Take care.

If they are fraudulently using disabled parking than it is our business.

Yes, someone could be wearing a hidden prosthetic or brace. Are you claiming everyone you see walking farther than 200 feet has a prosthetic? Also, keep in mind that some states, like Florida, don’t allow people with prosthesis to qualify for handicap parking if the prosthesis significantly restores their ability to walk i.e. (there no longer severely limited – they can easily walk more than 200 feet with a prosthesis).

Lastly, It’s not obvious at all that their doctor signed the form. It’s not even obvious if the placard is theirs or someone else’s. Not to mention, just like prescription drugs, even if a doctor has signed the form, that doesn’t necessarily mean they actually need or qualify for a handicap parking permit.

I don’t watch every single person walk from the handicap parking and those I do, I don’t stare at them to see if they are wearing leg braces or something else -unless it’s blatantly apparent. If you think someone is breaking the law, call the cops. Otherwise, all you’re doing is spinning your wheels and wasting time complaining. Get out and lobby for harsher restrictions, if you think that’s the problem. If you think government corruption is the problem, do something about that – or, at least try.

Correct, which means they on their own power without aid cannot walk 200 feet. So I’ll ask you the same question Ben asked you in an above post. What percent of people do you see parking in handicap parking that get out of their car and walk UNASSISTED over 200 feet?

If you have such an issue with those using handicapped parking who don’t appear disabled, then perhaps you should consider addressing those concerns to the federal government and the American’s With Disabilities Act. Attacking or bullying those that YOU feel don’t qualify is wrong.

Some people do have a high pain tolerance, perhaps you are one. If the pain does not limit you, why would you need to park closer? If it does limit you, in what way does it?