The Strathdale mother is just as sick and tired of ignorant people judging her for parking in disabled spaces with her permit as she is of other selfish people parking in them without one.

Ms Kelly said finding an empty disabled parking bay was nearly impossible, whether it was at her daughter’s school or at the local shopping centre.

“It’s a massive issue that’s driving me mad,” she said.

Ms Kelly was one of many people to share her own story on the Bendigo Advertiser’s Facebook page after Ballarat woman Dakota Richards revealed she often faced judgement for parking in disabled bays despite having cerebral palsy – and a permit.

She said her daughter’s condition was not always obvious to outsiders and the family was often judged in a similar way.

“She can walk and sometimes she can skip but they don’t see the day to day struggles that we have with her,” she said.

“It think people sort of think they have a right to tell us off or a right to just stare and glare because she may be having a good day and just pops out of the car.

“Sometimes I have to tell her ‘don’t do that’ but I shouldn’t have to – she should be allowed to have a good day.”

Ms Kelly said she had a simple message for those who felt they had the right to park in disabled spaces without a permit or judge those who hold them legitimately.

“Open your mind and start thinking of others and start realising that you’re taking away from people who have the right to park there,” she said.

“Look at the bigger picture, that not everyone is what they seem, so if you see my daughter skipping down the road don’t think she’s fine because you don’t see her when she’s at home when she can hardly walk, you don’t see her on the days when I’ve got to keep an eye on her and hold her hand.

“Just don’t be so ignorant and open your eyes a little bit more.”

Support flooded in from the Bendigo community on Facebook this week in response to Ms Richards story.

“Hi Dakota, and all those people who are judged unnecessarily,” Bec Church wrote.

“I would like to convey my apologies to you from all of the thinking and feeling people of Bendigo.”