DAKOTA Richards was shocked when two elderly women confronted her for parking in a disabled car park earlier in November.
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The 20-year-old Ballarat woman, who has cerebral palsy, parked her car in Ballarat’s Lydiard Street with her disability parking permit displayed on the dashboard.
Ms Richards and her friend were looking forward to seeing a movie but after getting out of the car, they were confronted by the two older women.
“They said in an aggressive tone, ‘do you realise that’s a wheelchair only park?’,” Ms Richards told The Courier.
“I was taken back. I didn’t expect it. I think from that age group they would be more sympathetic.
“My friend did not know what to say. I can’t believe people question you.”
Ms Richards said she would have happily given up the car park if she was asked to.
Three hours later when Ms Richards and her friend returned to the car, the two women were still standing nearby watching them.
This follows a similar incident at Mitcham Shopping Centre in Melbourne when an anonymous note was left on a vehicle belonging to 41-year-old Justine Van Den Borne, who has multiple sclerosis.
The note asked, ‘did you forget your wheelchair???’. This has received world-wide attention and support for Ms Van Den Borne.
Ms Richards said she wanted to raise awareness about the issue of ‘invisible’ disabilities. She walks with a limp, suffers muscle fatigue, chronic pain and can’t walk long distances.
She said people assumed she was not entitled to park in a disabled spot because she was young and could walk.
Quite often, Ms Richards receives glances from the public that make her feel like she is doing the wrong thing.
Disability badges depict a picture of a wheelchair, which Ms Richards said this needed to change because it could send out the wrong message to the public.
“People think because I don’t have a wheelchair I can’t park there,” Ms Richards said.
“Because they see me walking around with a permit (on my car) they assume council just gave the permit out.”
But to get a disability parking permit, Ms Richards had to provide a letter from her doctor to the council.
She also carries a doctor’s letter with her at all times to prove her disability after she was refused entry into a Bendigo nightclub because she was considered too drunk.
She said she wanted to speak out about the issue because people with cerebral palsy may not be able to speak about it.
“There is a lot of support out there. It’s good most of the time. You just get the odd one when you go out.”
