‘Not all disabilities are visible, some are not immediately obvious’

A PLEA from parents of young people with autism for hidden disability parking in Canon Row in Navan appears to have fallen on deaf ears.

The South Meath Autism Group, which has members attending the Praxis Care facility in Canon Row, is campaigning for hidden disability parking on the street.

However, at last week's meeting of Navan Municipal Council, Cllr Eddie Fennessy was told disability parking was only enforceable for blue badge or disabled drivers permit holders.

He had submitted a motion at the behest of the South Meath Autism group, calling for hidden disability parking.

"Many of their members attend day care services on Canon Row in Navan. Finding a parking space on Canon Row is difficult at the best of times, for service users and their transport providers it is next to impossible," he said.

At the council meeting he was told disabled parking permits were administered by Irish Wheelchair Association and Disabled Drivers Association. If there was a requirement to consider an increase in the number of disabled parking bays, it could be reviewed.

Seamus Connolly whose son, Barry, has autism and attends Praxis Care said blue badges are only available to people with mobility issues and their drivers.

"I believe the local bye-laws can be changed to allow a reserved area for picking up and dropping off people with hidden disabilities like autism," he said.

"People with hidden disabilities are forgotten about".

Seamus, who lives in Ballivor explained that his wife, Sharon drives Barry to the centre in Canon Row every day and collects him each evening.

"Barry can be in a world of his own. Sharon cannot just stop and let him our of the car when she gets to the centre. He has no road sense and could just walk out in front of a car. She has to walk to the centre with him, but it an be impossible to find a parking space and she might have to park a huge distance away from the facility.

"This is not just the case for Barry. There are other service users in the same situation and Prosper also have a premises in Canon Row.

"Navan Municipal Council could change bye-laws to allow some kind of reserved space - they introduced bye-laws to allow local residents park outside their homes," he said.

Seamus said that ultimately he would like to see the blue badge scheme extended to people like Barry, but acknowledged it could be years before that could happen.

Cllr Fennessy said; "There are two disability service providers on Canon Row. Barry attends the Praxis Centre daily along with twenty two other service users and I believe the Prosper Meath Centre also caters for up to thirty people every day. Whilst down there meeting Barry and his family on Canon Row one morning, I observed two mini buses and three cars search for parking next to both centres.

"There's a clear need for parking facilities to cater for disability service providers on Canon Row. I understand the council's position regarding the blue badge, but having witnessed first hand the difficulties faced by service users and their transport providers accessing services safely, I really feel that their needs to be some accommodation reached on this matter. I will continue to discuss the matter with Meath County Council in the hope that a solution can be found.

"Not all disabilities are visible, some are not immediately obvious. They include autism and learning difficulties as well as mental health conditions and sensory loss such as speech, sight loss, hearing loss and deafness.

"Although you may not be able to see these invisible impairments and conditions, they are still there and people living with those conditions face barriers in their daily lives including a lack of understanding and negative attitudes.

Cllr Fennessy said the roll out of hidden disability parking infrastructure is the responsibility of the government.

"I intend to take this matter up with my colleagues in the Dáil. Hidden Disabilities are prevalent in communities the length and breadth of this island. It is high time the government recognised that fact by legislating to prevent further discrimination."

In the Dail recently, Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Transport if he had considered granting disabled parking badges to severely autistic persons and persons with an intellectual disability.

He was told the badges were available to people whose mobility is severely restricted and a review in 2010 found some disability groups were unhappy at the fact that some people were being issued with Disabled Parking Permits because they had particular medical conditions rather than an actual mobility impairment. As a result, the scheme was revised so that permits are now given on the basis of mobility impairment rather than the diagnosis of a particular condition or illness.