National Disability Card
This appeared on my FB feed:
It this something of real use? I'd be glad to hear from anybody that has a card. How has it helped you?
Comments
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Pardon me Zipz, I'm immediately skeptical.
In 35 years as a wheelchair user I've regularly accessed hotels (etc), trains, ferries, airplanes, gigs, events, festivals, cinemas, theatre, even buses occasionally. At least all the things they list. Very often I've received concessions and spare seats, I'll always bring my seat with me!
It wasn't ever difficult, and didn't ever cost anything. "Proof" of my disability has never been an issue.
They imply a connection with RADAR keys, but I also have one of them and it wasn't difficult to get.
It seems to me just another excuse to charge money for something we don't need.
These are very similar but different:
As are these:
And these:
I could go on...
I'd prefer to spend that £20 on a night out.
😺
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The CEA card is v useful if you go to the cinema quite often. You can share the price between you and the free companion if you like.
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A lot of the attractions offer free entry for carers anyway. You just need to show your PIP award. I have a photo of my PIP award letter on my phone and always have my bank card to prove ID if I have to. If you go to the cinema a lot the CEA card is worth it.
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Hope I'm not being silly but I imagine it's aimed at people with invisible disabilities?
I'm not being funny but I imagine you're the exact person it's not aimed at. Like you say, if you turn up in a wheelchair you have nothing to explain… unless someone thinks you're using it for fun, in which case I think that'd be a conversation I'd just walk away from 😂
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wheel away from, even
Freudian slip 🤔
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Teeheehee Mustang 66.
Yes but I've got free seats and/or reduced prices in all the places above either because they haven't asked for proof when I've purchased tickets (without them seeing me or my wheelchair) and/or I've had alternative (free) means of proving it. I've also known people without disabilities who've occasionally blagged those freebies. They or I could easily print a card identical to those above, so businesses would have to have a fast means of checking card validity and staff available to do that. It'll all cost the venues money.
In order to offer concessions and insist on proof businesses must work out in advance how people can provide that, and the cards are relatively new.
I've worked for and with people with a very wide range of disabilities and they each had means of proving their disabilities available if necessary.
I'm also interested to learn if there are situations where this card might be more useful than, say, a blue badge or proof of benefits (etc). Where companies have established processes for this, they'll have to additionally include that badge (and the many others which exist) in their business plan. That's the part I'm most skeptical about.
🤷
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Thank you. I was skeptical, too. Hence my question.
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It is no more official than a home made card. Yes, some companies/businesses may accept it as proof, but the more people that buy and use these cards, the more places will expect them. What with this, the carers card and the Access Card, disabled people are being fleeced all over.
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it’s an interesting topic
id cards (mandatory for whole population) is something I’m against. However optional disability id cards could be useful and I’ll explain why.
The majority of disability cards require no proof of disability (such as the sunflower lanyard) so are open to abuse however there are a few that require evidence
(There are also a couple of cards that aren’t so much id but offer ‘perks’ for disabled - these are and )
yes the immediate issue are that disablity id cards (and conditions of their issue) aren’t widely known in uk society (so it would probably be a good idea to print out some info on id cards to also show those who aren’t well versed on disability id cards)One thing that many of you are forgetting is a huge amount of disabled ppl in the uk get their pip application rejected or don’t even bother applying for pip because of the stress attached - we also know that this Labour gov (and the likely future reform/tory gov) want to reduce pip claimants and eligibility, esp those with invisible disability meaning cards like these could become more useful
(I will say the eu wide official disability card (optional card) currently being introduced is significantly better and more useful then any of the uk alternatives)
there is one major issue with uk disability cards - and that’s that the main way to verify that you qualify is by using your pip award (which beats the objective and as I said currently and even more so in coming years much less disabled ppl will be successful with pip or want to go down that rabbit hole). The other method of verification is a recent doctors/medical specialist note on your health and how it affects you - but who can get a gp appointment these days. It’s not proof like an official diagnosis but for some reason these cards in faq’s suggest an official diagnosis isn’t sufficient proof (that may be the case for time sensitive conditions but not lifelong disabilities) when in reality it’s the most accurate evidence for many of us.lastly in current uk society climate in many circumstances to oust a less visible disability may actually open the disabled person up to further abuse overriding any help a disability id card could provide.
My conclusion is that perhaps some ppl could ultilize a uk disability id card to aid them but we need a scheme like that of the eu, fairer forms of medical proof to get the card in the first place and our current tag that the current gov/media is smearing us with (as public enemy number 2) to ease off as in many uk areas disabled ppl are being harassed and verbally abused so if you can hide you disability for safety reasons it may be best not to disclose in public
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I'm invisibly disabled, and I've been asked for my PIP statement as proof of disability in entering certain unnamed attractions or places in the UK. Which I refuse to do, because I won't carry something that sensitive with me out and about, and no random stranger in a ticket office should feel entitled to see it just to determine how disabled I am.
In my job I see a lot of disability paperwork and I always ask before I start pawing through it, because even though I need to read it, I still respect that person's right to privacy.
I have a disabled bus pass and disabled railcard and that is my proof of disability. And amazingly, when I argue that point, they usually give way. It's not for them to know what my disability is or any of the criteria surrounding it. Also, revealing you claim any kind of benefit in this climate is high risk, since we're all being scapegoated thanks to press misinformation. Especially those of us who are invisibly disabled.
The stupidity of it is that my employer is not allowed to ask for my disability's name or any of the details these random ticket office people are demanding. My employers and colleagues are aware of my diagnosis because I disclosed it voluntarily, but none of them have ever seen my PIP paperwork. And they all have been DBS checked. And I know, trust and like them. I can't say that about some random person I've never seen before and know nothing about.I don't have a sunflower lanyard because I don't want to draw attention to myself as disabled. That's my choice, it doesn't make the lanyard a bad thing - I just feel like, if an organisation makes you ask for help or argue your case, they need better training in equality. Buildings and sites should be accessible not because someone flashes a pass or a lanyard at you, but because it's been designed to include as many people as possible from the get-go.
There are also plenty of places that offer discounts for older people but not disabled people. So half the time having that kind of proof would be meaningless anyway.
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the uk seems really behind on uk rights to be honest
An optional official disability card could help (and it sucks that we aren’t part of the eu anymore because an official disability card recognised in several European countries could be useful and more ppl would know about it - part of the problem with uk disability cards available right now is not many businesses and employers are familiar with them)
I think the most recognised uk disability card is the sunflower lanyard however you don’t have to provide medical evidence/diagnosis to get it (and it was pretty vile during the pandemic that many non disabled were buying them on ebay to avoid wearing face masks and social disability - my local Asda was suddenly full of people with those lanyards over that time)
we were all pretty angry with Kendall’s ‘taking the mickey’ quote because she was unfairly implying many of us on welfare were lazy scroungers
However at a time when media smears are encourages more of the public to question who is disabled - a national recognised optional disability id card with a verification process separate from pip (which many of the public wrongly think it’s easy to play the system & get pip) has its advantages
for Example even though by uk law anyone who identifies as disabled can have a self trained assistance dog/animal, it is only dogs trained under ADUK umbrella (such as guide dogs) that have a nationally recognised service dog id. I believe that both the uk disabled (not all but some) and the uk economy/job market would hugely benefit from an official route to self train (and assess) an assistance dog to help navigate daily life. Right now unofficial assistance dogs by law can be heavily abused but an official disability id card could help provide evidence for others of why that particular person may require assistance from a self trained service animal (my parents have been volunteering for the past decade with a service dog charity - demand strips supply tenfold and an official route to training your own pet to aid you in daily routine is desperately required but I doubt it will be discussed in the commons anytime soon)
(Sorry for going of on a tangent)0 -
hi everyone thank you for sharing this disabled access card I am going to have a look with my PA tomorrow. Can you use it as a form off ID.
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I've used my DID card for 6 years now and have just renewed it for the next 2 years.
I've just paid £17-50p for it.
It comes in handy in proving I'm disabled when out and about.
No one's ever refused it.
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DID cards also sell a blue lanyard and card holder, I've got one from a few years a go.
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Hi dj, I would think twice getting this card tbh.
If I was being cynical, I would say it was a good method to relieve you of £20 every 2 years!
I question how useful it might be.
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Some or all counties also do voluntary disabled cards.
I got one when I registered myself on my county disabled register a few years a go.
I think they're called yellow cards.
No photo needed for those.
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just applied for one thank you so much it was a very easy process and I only needed my disabled badge for evidence
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That looks almost the same as my DID card, just slightly different.
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The more people buy and use these cards, the more companies/businesses will insist on them. We will all end up having to pay out a fair bit each year just to hold all the cards.
The only person benefitting, is the one who created them.
These are not government issued and have no more clout than a home made card.0
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