Mother with blind child denied parking permit, receives abusive windscreen notes from angry parents
The mother of a blind girl in Townsville, Queensland says that she will continue to park in disabled spots despite being denied a permit and being yelled at by other parents.
Taylor Blennerhassett’s six-year-old daughter Mackenna Murray is blind due to septo-optic dysplasia, which means that she has to use a cane to get around.
Depsite her daughter’s severe condition, Taylor was denied a permit to use disabled parking spots in Queensland.
Taylor told Daily Mail Australia that when picking her daughter up from school, she has been subjected to abuse in the form of notes from other parents left on her windscreen.
“Mackenna is completely blind but we are unable to get a parking permit, so I arranged with the school to get permission to park in the disabled spots,” she explained.
“I get messages that I'm not supposed to park there, it's rude of me to park there and I don't deserve to park there.
“I've had people say I'm lazy and I'm taking spots away from families that actually need them.”
Taylor said that as she often picks up Mackenna from school, she is subjected to at least one letter a week from angry parents.
“It was quite hurtful considering no one left names or numbers for me to explain myself or the situation,” she said.
“There's not much I can do about it as all I've been handed is a piece of paper.”
As Taylor has worked out a solution with Mackenna’s school, the school ended up giving Taylor a laminated sign saying that she had formal permission to park in the disabled spots.
Taylor said it was a “kick in the guts” when they were denied an official disability pass from the state, as she often fears that Mackenna could walk into traffic if parked in a spot far away.
“It is absolute bull***, I have to tell her when there's a step, I have to tell her when there's a ditch or any obstacle in her way, if I don't do that she'll trip and hurt herself,” she said.
“I'm trying to get awareness out there that vision impaired people need the parking even for the safety side of things.”
Due to the backlash of being denied a disability permit, a Transport and Main Roads Minister told the Daily Mail that they’re looking into it.
“Following community feedback, Transport and Main Roads is currently assessing the feasibility of expanding the Australian Disability Parking Permit Scheme criteria to include people with vision impairment.
“We commissioned an independent consultant to undertake the review, which has involved consultation with community, government and disability sector stakeholders.”
Photo credit: Taylor Blennerhassett Facebook