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So I don't look disabled


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I just want to start of by saying that I had an amazing time at LFCC this year. I saw everyone I wanted to see but only just and that was with an extra help queue jump so I really do feel for those who missed out.

 

But here's my thing, 24 hours of the day I am in agony because of my feet but after 5 years you can bare a certain amount of pain, so on Saturday when I walked up to the doors to try and get in to get the pass at least 3 of the crew gave me a proper look up and down before rolling their eyes and told me to join a long ass queue. After 4 tubes and the walk from the station all the way round the building to the YALC entrance and they rolled their eyes at me.

 

Eventually I did get in there were a few crew member when I showed them my pass they looked at me like I was crazy. One looked me up and down and said "oh sure" sarcastically. I was in agony but I was putting in a brave face and people like this are like a kick in the feet.

 

I must say that whoever was on Photoshoot A + C were both amazing, getting me as close to the front as possible and getting me a seat, I just wish they were all like that. Disability shouldn't = wheelchair.

 

Maybe if this could be mentioned during prep/training

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I bet the guy that climbed over the chap in the wheelchair at the mjf shoot regrets it. Not only did I make him apologise I made him wait until the gentleman had safely moved into the photoshoot. In a instant piece of karma Christopher Lloyd put his arm around me and asked if I could escort him through the crowd. He then thanked me, gave my son a hi 5 and said I hope to see you soon.......For that 10 seconds I was Kevin Cossner in the Bodyguard.

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I was waiting get to write something although I'm sure I will be shot but ill say it in the nicest possible way.

Some, not all by the way, disabled people are rude as fu@k. I'm sorry if you are disabled or what ever but using your wheelchair as a battering ram is bang out of order. Using itt to move people out of the way or using it to get in front of everyone. You have no right and we all struggled to get around with the amount of people. Or the least you can do is say sorry which not one person which not one person I came across did. Same with pram actually, and on that note as well there were some kids looking like they'd been left in the car for half an hour. Nearly naked kids because it was too hot for them. How about next time you leave th at home. No place for babies and toddlers.

Edited by lesleynile
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I completely understand where you are coming from. I have a heart condition. I'm currently in bed as I type resting off the weekend (totally worth it!) because I get tired to the point of being very ill. I get dirty looks when I put my blue badges up in my car because when I get out I am not in a wheelchair or have a walking stick.

 

Unfortunately I personally believe that it is the stereotypical society we live in. I'm sorry you had to go through that...but I am glad you had an amazing time regardless!!

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It was the able bodied people that were the problem - pushing and shoving. The amount of times I was knocked over by a poster tube or caught in the face by some random cosplayers bow and arrow! I lost count.

That too but a wheelchair running over your foot could break it. There was a lot of people and everybody should respect each other space.

I had one wheelchair user tell me to get out of the way. When I said a please and thank you would be nice I got a you shouldn't be stood in 'my' way!

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I can understand what you mean with not having an obvious disability like a wheelchair for example. Having epilepsy for example I get the same response from general public, sometimes making you feel that you have to show your medical certificate to prove it each time. (this is a general comment not just cons in general)

 

(I also agree with Lesley where it is wrong to use items like wheelchairs inappropriately).

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Mmmm i agree with Lesleynile. We should assist and aid those who need it but it gets on my nerves when a Blue Badge is used as a VIP pass.

But surely those who have a blue badge, who have a disability regardless of whether it is visble or not, have a right to use it to assist them?! Whether thats in the form of parking in a disabled space or being whisked to the front of a queue.

 

It is wrong if anyone to not respect the space they are in. I bumped into lots of people and vice versa and I heard sorry either from me or them every time.

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Mmmm i agree with Lesleynile. We should assist and aid those who need it but it gets on my nerves when a Blue Badge is used as a VIP pass.

But surely those who have a blue badge, who have a disability regardless of whether it is visble or not, have a right to use it to assist them?! Whether thats in the form of parking in a disabled space or being whisked to the front of a queue.

 

It is wrong if anyone to not respect the space they are in. I bumped into lots of people and vice versa and I heard sorry either from me or them every time.

 

That's fine then an individual deserves some help and assistance, but no i don't think that having a disability deserves to be whisked to the front of the queue. We are all in this together, none of us like the queueing aspect of a Con, that's why i purchased a Gold Pass.

Edited by Aearin
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I understand that. And that is why I personally haven't asked SM to use the disabled entrance or anything.

 

But I wouldn't begrudge anyone who did and I don't feel it is fair for anyone who may have a pass because of their disability to feel judged in any way for having it. Regardless of how visible the disability may or may not be.

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I do have a disability (actually 2), one is visible or more better audible. Of which is a speech disability that affects my speech and I have had it all of my life. My other one of which is a hidden one, is that I have tinnitus 24X7. Due to the noise level at LFFC, it actually cuts the sound of the ringing out. But it does have a knock on effect, when I leave the noisy area like LFFC the ringing is back a lot more loudly then it was before and it can take hours or days for it to get back to a reasonable level. I do attend these events because I enjoy them, getting pictures with stars etc. Could I use something like my tinnitus to get to the front of the queue and get out of it faster. I could try, but I never do due to my own decision to attend these. Even though I know what the outcome will be.

 

I have crewed these events in the past, along with attending them as a attendee and I have seen a lot of people in wheelchairs or people with limited movement etc. Prefer to go in near the front of the stuff like photos, because they want to have a picture with the guest without them being in the wheelchair. There walking speed might be slow, so it makes sense for them to go in first get out of the wheel chair, get into position with the guest and have there picture taken before going back to there wheelchair. If we had them in the queue, the amount of starting and stopping within the photos would course it to go on a lot longer then it does now. It would also mean that a less people can go through it

 

I do think that respect so go both ways, due to the noise levels and how busy the events are now. We cannot see what is going on around you or even see if there is a wheelchair behind you trying to get pass. There is limited amount of space, and once people notice that you are there. They do usually move to the best of there abilities and even let others know in front of them. That a wheelchair person is coming through.

 

cap

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Returning back to the original posters' point (although there are some other very valid points made here) about not all disabled people being in a wheelchair or on crutches. This is something that people in society get wrong, so I am not surprised it happens in a con such as this. I would never have considered myself disabled hence did not request assistance................I had a complete mental breakdown almost two years to the day. I am still not right and might never be. I knew I might have some issues ref: panic and trapped etc. so I blew the budget and bought a gold pass to try and avoid most of this. I was doing ok up to one photo shoot (which I am taking up separately with showmasters so will not detail here) when I started to get seriously panicky and desperate to get out. Unfortunately that appeared to be one of the many weird occasions when the venue staff randomly closed a side staircase causing the most dangerous area full of people..........when I flipped and was very obviously in some distress, I was laughed at by other con-goers and ignored.

So, apologies, I am rambling, but we just need to be a lot nicer to each other really as who knows what problems/conditions etc. people have. If I saw someone in obvious distress I would I have helped

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I am on crutches to stop me from falling forwards if I get bumped into etc, someone did accidentally step on the back of my shoe on Friday but grabbed me to stop a fall and said sorry etc, I didn't mind. Just as you'd expect really. Some people didn't like disabled people using the lifts, I could understand it with some of the more fragile costumes though. I didn't jump to the front of any queue, just asked the crew when a good time to visit is, though sometimes it's never! My gf got a gold pass for the photos and I only went Friday, we just breezed from guest to guest.

 

But in normal life, I was denied a blue badge initially because I'm too young apparently. I cannot sit in the seats on the bus that say for the less mobile, because it upsets the elderly. I rarely get a seat on a train because bags are more important than someone falling over. Some disabled people will have these experiences that luckily able bodied won't need.

 

All I'd ask is please be considerate to everyone around, it's cramped at times and certain people need more space, others less so but we all need space. And I mean in all times of life, not just cons.

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Some people didn't like disabled people using the lifts, I could understand it with some of the more fragile costumes though.

I have to say you are very considerate as I don't understand that at all. They have a choice over what they wear and they should have been getting out the lift to allow a less physically able person on. If you are in a wheelchair or on crutches it's not like you have chosen to be and can us the stairs - they can if they take care.

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Some people didn't like disabled people using the lifts, I could understand it with some of the more fragile costumes though.

 

I have to say you are very considerate as I don't understand that at all. They have a choice over what they wear and they should have been getting out the lift to allow a less physically able person on. If you are in a wheelchair or on crutches it's not like you have chosen to be and can us the stairs - they can if they take care.

If an attendee has spent a lot of time on a costume then it would be horrible to ruin it. Their friends could easily meet them upstairs mind. I had to use the stairs on a few occasions, mainly when Friday just opened there were no lifts to go up (or no signs of any) and then the ones near the main signing area broke, the Olympia staff were debating whether to call an engineer or not based on cost right in front of me. I can do stairs, just slowly although of course a wheelchair user would have no chance.

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Just to point over ive nothing against anyone, though nobody here has bashed me :) and i for one dont mind people going ahead in queues if neseccery and i dont look up and down people as to say 'whats supposed to be up with you then'. As for the lifts, id gladley give my space to someone less able if needed although throughout the whole weekend for me personally the staris were easier, when i figured out the ups and downs of them since they kept changing throughout the days haha!

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Unfortunately this a nationwide issue! People will generally assume you're putting it on unless you're on crutches or using a wheelchair. Morons.

 

I can assure you it is worldwide, maybe with the exception of the US because they're afraid of getting sued.

 

I have a hidden disability too - tried to get assistance at Disney Paris last time and the manager there could not have been more nasty.

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Right, allow me to throw in my tuppence worth here. I suffer from SPMS (Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis) and I walk with a cane, at the weekend barely able to to put one foot in front of another, and hunched over double. I also suffer from barely controlled epilepsy, both of which conditions worsen in heat and stressful conditions. You don't get much more hot and stressful that this weekends LFCC. Yet I was barged out of the way, knocked to the floor and disregarded by those who'd put me there. Throughout all of this we remained polite and postive. My partner, who suffers from ME and diabetes, yet still looks after me, was similarly treated (probably because her disabilities are not immediately evident). We were knocked around, despite asking people if we could pass, and generally ignored. At one point I couldn't walk at all. We were denied access to lifts by able bodied persons, denied access to empty lifts by staff saying they wouldn't go up just one level (along with two people in wheelchairs). I was misdirected by crew, booted out of lifts, and consequently missed photo shoots.

 

To those of you who feel it's unfair that disabled persons get a bit of consideration (even those who get a bit frustrated to the point some lose their cool in the heat and overcrowding), I would gladly trade my conditions with you. We'll see how you would like to struggle round an event in a body that is breaking down, will never get better, will worsen all your life until you die early.

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I know how this feels and at 1 point i was upset at LFCC this year.I went gold this year to try to make things easier not harder. I have epilepsy and autisme. 2 hidden disabilities. heat exhaustion can bring on seizures and my autism means i cant easily follow directions. so when i was asked to leave the super hall when i was mere meters from the seats when they were loading for the BTTF talk on Sunday it really stressed me out to the point i was almost in tears. I didnt understand the instructions the staff were telling me and i told them my conditions and that i didnt understand and still they just say go outside go round the building and join the queue. THIS IS NOT INSTRUCTIONS AN AUTISTIC UNDERSTANDS. sorry if this looks like shouting but some on the staff need to realise this is not how to give instructions. Especially when it is difficult to get outside the building as it is.I was only meters from the seats when i was told to go outside. thankfully another gold wrist banded person was kind enough to show me the way.Only to find by the time i got into the hall all the golds had been called and all the gold seats were taken. I had to sit almost near the back of the hall. It wouldn't have been hard our unfair for the member of the crew to say wait here whilst we load the diamond guests then you can take your seat in the gold seating. I had had a seizure before i came to LFCC and i very nearly had another one there. can showmaster pleas take hidden disabilities into consideration for talks next year and tell their staff if someone tells them your have a disability to let them stand aside till their type of ticket is called for the talks and then take their seat NOT have people who are disabled trudge their way for 15 minutes to find a way out the building, then find their way unknown to a different entrance, only to find their ticket has already been called and they have to sit at the back. Heat is one of the main causes of my epilepsy and I got VERY hot trying to make my way outside and then back in for the BTTF talk.I hope I don't have to go through this sort of thing again for a talk.

If people say they have a disability they should be given the benefit of the doubt as 99% of us who say it really do have a disability and we don't need a lot just for someone to help us out not for someone to send us on a pointless journey.

Edited by stargate geek emily
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I watched how people treated those with less abled bodies at lifts - people were walking around them to get in the lift. After I saw this I became very forward with my queuing; I have a walking stick and people kept knocking it out from under me. Maybe next time we could have a lift that was used solely for those with medical needs.

 

I would never of used the lifts if I could use the stairs; especially with the amount of people hovering around the lifts entrances. I did get a few stares from people; I had a few people just run pass me because I couldn't move that quickly - which is a shame because I did get there before them - I thanked the people behind them for respecting me.

 

One young women was having a panic attack; was let in first but then people started to fill up the lift - I put my arm out to stop people coming too close to her.

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I can understand what you mean with not having an obvious disability like a wheelchair for example. Having epilepsy for example I get the same response from general public, sometimes making you feel that you have to show your medical certificate to prove it each time. (this is a general comment not just cons in general)

 

(I also agree with Lesley where it is wrong to use items like wheelchairs inappropriately).

I know exactly where you are coming from.I too have epilepsy and had a seizure the day before LFCC and still there were times staff weren't the most curious or helpful even when i explained my condition they still fobbed me off. I didn't try to take advantage of my disability when waiting for autographs or photo shoots. But i do think when it came to the BTTF talk on Sunday the staff could have been more curtious and helpful and let me stand aside inside till golds started seating as following directions to go outside and then back in via another entrance was almost impossible for me. I dindn't get a seat in the gold area, the talk started by the time i found my way in and i was almost in tears. add in the the heat of trying to get outside, round the building and then back up the stairs coupled with the stress almost gave me another seizure. it would have been much easier if someone had said i could stand aside till golds were called.

Edited by stargate geek emily
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One thing that I am confused with was that I was told not to kneel down with my photo shoot with MJF but all the photos I've seen on twitter the attendee is kneeling down - is this just because I had a walking stick and it might take me a little bit longer to get back up. I paid a lot of money for that photo - I would have liked to had a photo like everyone else did.

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