How should we follow up with this?

[utterrandomness]

Disabled parking is regulated by the state, not Disney.

Reciprocity aside, Florida's disabled parking application permit specifies the conditions under which someone may apply:

a. Legally Blind (This is the only disability an Optometrist can certify.)
b. Inability to walk without the use of or assistance from a brace, cane, crutch, prosthetic device, or other assistive device, or without assistance of another person. If the assistive device significantly restores the person's ability to walk to the extent that the person can walk without severe limitation, the person is not eligible for the exemption parking permit.
c. The need to permanently use a wheelchair.
d. Restriction by lung disease to the extent that the person's forced (respiratory) expiratory volume for 1 second, when measured by spirometry, is less than one liter or the person's arterial oxygen is less than 60 mm/hg on room air at rest.
e. Use of portable oxygen.
f. Restriction by cardiac condition to the extent that the person's functional limitations are classified in severity as Class III or Class IV according to standards set by the American Heart Association.
g. Severe limitation in a person's ability to walk due to an arthritic, neurological, or orthopedic condition.

If I was familiar with the conditions above and saw a child being pushed in what I perceived to be a stroller, not a wheelchair (and I expect more people probably have a (perceived) notion of what a wheelchair is than a "stroller as wheelchair" tag that is a Disney creation in and of itself and holds no legal standing, I might also be tempted to leave a note (with proper spelling). In some ways, that's nicer than calling the police and asking them to ticket a vehicle because of the unlawful use of a handicapped/disabled parking tag, which is another choice the notewriter had (but did not make).

It can be argued that the notewriter did not have that second choice, because the people concerned were LAWFULLY using the tag issued to THEM. Busybodies, vigilantes and faker-hunters do not get to decide who should be issued handicapped/disabled parking tags, and thank goodness, since they can't seem to process the idea of invisible disabilities.

 

[LisaBi]

I originally got a handicap tag for my son when he was 4. He looked totally healthy. Physically, he was. He has Down Syndrome. At age 4, we used the hang tag only at two places....the doctors office and Kmart. He was too big to be carried long distances, and too impulsive to let walk. He learned how to twist his arm to get away from me - at doctors offices to run back to the car, and at k-mart to run to the little merry-go-round they had out front. The two biggest fears were him getting away from me and getting hit, or twisting and not getting away and ending up with a spiral fracture in his arm. A stroller would not resolve the issue...he would do his twisting to avoid getting in the stroller. So the shorter distance between the car and the door, the less risk, and the more likely I could carry him the distance.

My point is only, like others have said, you don't know the whole story. Yes, there are fakers out there, but just because you don't see a disability doesn't mean there is a legitimate need.

 

[SueM in MN]

Sorry that happened to you it one thing not to have a handicap placard and park in the spot to have someone say something but to have one and still get sown one to say something is more then wrong. No matter what age the person is no one has the right to question wheatear someone has a disability and should be using a handicap spot. It their to use if you have one and you using it legally.

Agree

It can be argued that the notewriter did not have that second choice, because the people concerned were LAWFULLY using the tag issued to THEM. Busybodies, vigilantes and faker-hunters do not get to decide who should be issued handicapped/disabled parking tags, and thank goodness, since they can't seem to process the idea of invisible disabilities.

Agree

We have had people say things to us at times as we have parked in the handicapped spot with DD. She is a young adult who can't walk or stand, but people look and sometimes say, "she's not disabled enough and besides she's in a wheelchair, you can go farther away and push her. "
When we have our own van, we need the extra space in the handicapped spot to put down our ramp.
When we rent a van, we need the extra space to park her wheelchair close to the van so we can lift her out and safely put her into the wheelchair.
We had the same issue when she was small enough to use a stroller. Because she could not stand, we needed enough room to put the stroller close so we could transfer into it.
We usually can't unload DD and her wheelchair and then park because she can't be left alone.

The reason I would report it to security if it happened at the resort you are staying at is I have heard of people (vigilantes) who took things to the next level - keying cars that they felt should not be parked in the handicapped spots. If you and the vigilante are staying at the same resort in the same area, there is a chance for things to escalate.

I'm going to close this thread at this point.