To the people who think its OK to wave their accessible parking permit at me,

Veronika was issued with an accessible parking permit sometime between her 2nd and 3rd birthdays, I don’t know the exact date, as it was something that I didn’t particularly want, but Veronika’s physio suggested I should have one, so I wasn’t carrying Veronika as far. I do know that after I received it in the post, I had a moment, a moment when it hit me that my child had physical restrictions with her mobility, cardiac restrictions with her heart along with other health challenges.

I do know it took me about a year before I actually parked in an accessible parking spot. This was mainly due to Veronika’s physio organizing a car seat for Veronika, that pivots around so I a can lift Veronika in and out of the car without twisting my back, as I was continually in pain from carrying and lifting Veronika. I love the car seat we have, its perfect and suits Veronika and my needs, but to spin it around I need to be able to open the car door all the way, and this is often not practical in a ‘regular parking’ spot , so I started parking in the accessible spots….after all they are wider and I can open the car door all the way, and well Veronika has a permit that allows us to park in them. I don’t always park in the accessible spots, if its a day when we will be using Veronika’s wheelchair(she isn’t walking so we don’t need to be as close to the door as she cant walk far) and there is a park on the end where I am able to open the car door all the way I will often park in that spot and leave the accessible spot.

but the thing is on quite a few occasions over the past couple of years,  after I have pulled into an accessible parking spot sometimes before I have even hopped out of our car, I have had people stop their cars in front of mine, and wave their parking permit at me…..on other occasions after I have hopped out of the car and started walking around to the other side to get Veronika out….I can only assume that people see me hop out of the car and think why have I parked there, some times they may see myself and Veronika’s brothers hop out of the car, and wonder why I have parked in the accessible spot, as I head to the back of the car to get her wheelchair out….

I have been told ‘you shouldn’t park in that accessible spot, you should park in the mothers with prams park, because disabled spots are reserved for people like me’….my response was ‘no I am allowed to park in the accessible park, my daughter has multiple health challenges, and has been issued with an accessible parking permit, she uses a wheelchair not a pram so I will leave my car where it is parked. If you have an issue with that please go around the front of my car and write the permit number down and contact service Tasmania to check’….

sometimes I may just by chance enter a car park a few seconds before you, and pull into an accessible spot….you may see me, a ‘young-ish’ Mum get out of my car, and think its then OK to pull your car up in front of mine and wave you accessible parking permit at me…..but you know what ‘its not ok’ for you to do that….don’t assume that because you see a young-ish Mum, that there isn’t a wheelchair in the back of the car….don’t assume on days that I don’t get the wheelchair out. Because that day Veronika may be able to walk the few meters to the shop to get the couple of things we are after, but she wouldn’t be able to manage to walk from the far end of the carpark…..Veronika was never meant to walk, some days she is doing ok and I know she will be able to manage from the accessible park to the shop and back, and some days she wont so we use her wheelchair…

after you have stopped, and waved your permit at me, then once you see me get the wheelchair out of the boot, and then lift Veronika out of the car and into her chair, don’t drop your face as you realize that you made a bad decison to wave your permit at me….just don’t do that to start with. Yes I know that there are people park in accessible parks without permits, but I am not one of them….and when you wave your permit at me, I get upset as I again am reminded that my daughter has  life long physical challenges….but then I look  at Veronika and see her madly waving and smiling to everyone in the car park and I know that I am blessed, because she is a survivor….