[Gill H]

Agree there is a tension between righteous anger at people who are genuinely abusing the system, and bearing in mind that not all disabilities are visible.

We have a similar problem at work - people were using the disabled toilet who did not need to, and disabled colleagues flagged it up as a problem. (We are a large office with a very small number of toilets per floor.) So a notice went up saying 'this facility is for disabled staff only'. Then a woman with IBS (who uses the general toilets but if there is a big queue, uses the disabled one) said she was working from home as she couldn't bear to come into the office. Every time she used the disabled toilet, people were telling her off because they didn't know why she did it. Obviously we would not want everyone to know. So what do you do? We now have a sign saying 'Not all disabilities are visible'.

Similarly, people often criticise park guests who use a scooter, assuming because they are overweight, they are lazy rather than disabled. Having gone round a crowded MK with a friend in an ECV, they are hard work! I cannot imagine why anyone would use one who did not actually need it. It took us half an hour to get up Main Street, with a hot, heavy ECV that limits where you can stop, with people running across our path, pushing and shoving us and shouting at him. I will always give people the benefit of the doubt.