Mother with blind child denied parking permit, receives abusive windscreen notes from angry parents
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>Depsite her daughter’s severe condition, Taylor was denied a permit to use disabled parking spots in Queensland.</p>
<p>Taylor told<span> </span><em><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7578639/Townsville-mother-receives-abusive-notes-car-parking-disabled-spot-blind-daughter.html" target="_blank">Daily Mail Australia</a></em><span> </span>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.</p>
<p>“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.</p>
<p>“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.</p>
<p>“I've had people say I'm lazy and I'm taking spots away from families that actually need them.”</p>
<p>Taylor said that as she often picks up Mackenna from school, she is subjected to at least one letter a week from angry parents.</p>
<p>“It was quite hurtful considering no one left names or numbers for me to explain myself or the situation,” she said.</p>
<p>“There's not much I can do about it as all I've been handed is a piece of paper.”</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>“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.</p>
<p>“I'm trying to get awareness out there that vision impaired people need the parking even for the safety side of things.”</p>
<p>Due to the backlash of being denied a disability permit, a Transport and Main Roads Minister told the<span> </span><em><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7578639/Townsville-mother-receives-abusive-notes-car-parking-disabled-spot-blind-daughter.html" target="_blank">Daily Mail</a></em><span> </span>that they’re looking into it.</p>
<p>“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.</p>
<p>“We commissioned an independent consultant to undertake the review, which has involved consultation with community, government and disability sector stakeholders.”</p>
<p><em>Photo credit:<span> </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10157195952372489&set=a.10150744009212489&type=3&theater" target="_blank">Taylor Blennerhassett Facebook</a></em></p>
