Completely agree. If I am in my chair I am often rushed to the front of a queue - but I brought a seat with me, so I can wait! Whereas on crutches when I can't stand for long, I get dirty looks if I go straight to the "disabled" counter...
Also, someone who has less use of their limbs than me might have less pain than me. But we might both be coping with life, unlike someone who has acute mental distress.
I'm glad there is no heirarchy within disability - from the *inside*.
However, it does come up sometimes. Mums recently wondered how we knew who got priority in the wheelchair bay on transport - the answer being "whoever was there first", obviously - they have an unspoken heirarchy that sleeping toddler in buggy trumps sleeping baby in buggy, trumps a child who is awake, and so on. I had no idea! So it stands to reason that maybe they expect someone in a wheelchair to defer to someone on crutches, or vice versa. But I'm glad we don't.
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Date: 2011-01-29 05:26 pm (UTC)Also, someone who has less use of their limbs than me might have less pain than me. But we might both be coping with life, unlike someone who has acute mental distress.
I'm glad there is no heirarchy within disability - from the *inside*.
However, it does come up sometimes. Mums recently wondered how we knew who got priority in the wheelchair bay on transport - the answer being "whoever was there first", obviously - they have an unspoken heirarchy that sleeping toddler in buggy trumps sleeping baby in buggy, trumps a child who is awake, and so on. I had no idea! So it stands to reason that maybe they expect someone in a wheelchair to defer to someone on crutches, or vice versa. But I'm glad we don't.