Author Archives: wendy
‘PROVE you’re disabled’: What council told wheelchair-bound spina bifida sufferer
- Nicola Parnell said staff told her to go home and come back with evidence she really had spina bifida
A woman in a wheelchair who asked for a key to the disabled toilets was horrified when council staff told her to provide proof that she really had spina bifida.
Nicola Parnell, 32, visited East Staffordshire Borough Council’s customer services office to buy access to the facilities at her local shopping centre in Burton-on-Trent.
But she said jobsworth staff demanded she produce evidence of her chronic illness – despite the fact she was in a wheelchair and her body is the size of a 10-year-old’s.
Shocked: Nicola Parnell was left distraught when council staff told her to go home and get evidence she really had spina bifida
‘I asked the receptionist if I could buy a key and she said she couldn’t give me one unless I could prove that I was disabled,’ said a shocked Ms Parnell.
‘She said I’d need to go home and come back with some identification; either my blue badge or a letter showing my disability living allowance.
‘What more proof did she need than me being in front of her in a wheelchair? I clearly look disabled.
‘My body is about the same size as a 10-year-old’s – surely that is enough proof.’
Ms Parnell claims she asked a receptionist to look for her details on the council’s computer system as she had been to the office a month earlier to update her blue badge.
The autism diagnosis that took half a century
It took 50 years for doctors to diagnose son with autism
GREAT-GRANDMOTHER Sheila Baker said it took 50 years for doctors to diagnose her son with autism.
Sheila, aged 75, of Whitleigh, cares for her son Paul and daughter Catherine around the clock. Both are in their 50s and have learning disabilities.
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FAMILY: Sheila and Bryan Baker with children Paul (r) and Catherine. Below left: Paul aged about seven or eight. Below right: Paul getting his gold medal in the Isle of Wight Special Olympics in 1987 (men’s 400 metres)
An earlier diagnosis may have helped other people understand and manage Paul’s condition, said Sheila.
The mum of six told her family’s story to raise awareness of a new Plymouth support group launched to help carers of people with autism (see panel).
Understanding of the lifelong disability, which affects how people communicate and interact, has changed dramatically in the past century.
Paul was diagnosed as ‘mentally handicapped’, a term no longer used, when he was four years old.
Creative Carers Group by the BBC
Family Carers invited to make arts and crafts to take home
THU 7 JUN
FREE
Creative Carers Group
Nursteed Centre, Devizes
Run by: Carer Support Wiltshire
Come along and make some lovely arts and crafts with us to take home!
09:30–12:30
Suitable for 18+
Amenities available at this location:
The Creative Carers group is a time out opportunity open to all unpaid Carers living in Wiltshire.
An unpaid carer is someone giving help and support to a relative or friend who cannot manage without their help due to age, physical or mental illness, substance misuse, eating disorder or disability.
The creative group hosted by the charity Carer Support Wiltshire meets regularly to give carers someone time out from their caring role.
