not disabled enough =/= faking
I’ve been turned down for a blue badge. Again. It’s not a huge surprise, and I only applied to underline the point (for my supervisor at work, who is particularly thick about disability matters) that I would be turned down.
You see, I am disabled, but I’m not disabled enough. I’ve had forty years of practice at working around my disabilities, and because of this I can do a lot of stuff. But the flip side of that is my disabilities aren’t judged to be ‘severe’ enough to qualify for any assistance - not for a blue badge, not for disability living/working allowance or any of the other state benefits.
Which in my supervisor’s book means I’m not officially disabled. My telling him I’m disabled, that I have pain in my legs and that I can’t walk or stand for long periods, is not enough. He needs to hear it from someone else; needs to be told I’ve been examined and measured and passed some objective ‘standard’ of disability.
And if I haven’t, I can’t really be disabled, can I?
