The TFL 'Please Offer me a Seat' Scheme & Feeling Confident with Disability
Hey All!
I recently discovered that similarly to the 'Baby on Board' badge TFL (Transport for London) also offers a 'Please offer me a seat' badge. The 'Please offer me a seat' pack is available to request for free on TFL's website and comes with both a badge and a card. The message on the card sums up pretty well why I like TFL's approach to this scheme:
"Please offer me a seat. Remember not all impairments and conditions are visible."
I wanted to use this week's post to discuss why I think this idea is so very brilliant but also some of the personal challenges I've experienced regarding the badge's application.
I really admire the way that TFL has approached this idea. I've had my pack for a short time now and the online application was incredibly easy and non-invasive. There is no where on the form that asks you to prove or even disclose your reason for your requesting the badge. I've had people question me about how people can therefore be trusted to request the scheme, but my answer to this is that I can't imagine many able-bodied people so desperate for a seat that they're willing to wear a big blue badge. If such people do exist than I'm sure they are in the minority. The other thing that I really appreciate is that nowhere on the design are any visible aid symbols used (e.g. the wheelchair symbol) and the card explicitly states states that "not all impairments and conditions are visible." This means that the scheme is accessible and welcoming to far larger group of people. For myself as someone with invisible physical disability it feels far more exclusive but it also opens the scheme up to others who face different challenges. For example, it may be useful to someone who faces large amounts of anxiety when using public transport and might find a seat useful for remaining calm or maybe people who simply experience unpredictable pain due to various different conditions or injury. It's great to see those on the TFL side opening up the definition of disability beyond the visible appearance of impairment.
However, I have found some difficulties in putting the badge to use. To be fair to TFL I think that the scheme is brilliantly thought through and that many of these struggles are unavoidable, as they are primarily due to societal perceptions of disability and the impact that has upon self-confidence. I personally find it really hard to know exactly how to use the provided pack. My posts may suggest that I'm confident in dealing with my own disability and needs but we all our moments of feeling shaky and self-conscious. Everyone does. It's just that sometimes with disability that shakiness can result in your mate requesting the key for the disabled loo for you. I know I shouldn't but sometimes I worry about what people think. I know I look young (because I am) and it looks like I can walk (because I can) so I do worry about someone not believing me or judging me for identifying as disabled. I know that I should feel confident but that doesn't mean that I always do. Add on some of my social struggles and suddenly walking up to a stranger to show them my badge seems a lot more daunting.
At the moment I have been using the badge by putting it on my backpack but that doesn't make it easily visible to those around me. To be honest I do think the question of where to put the badge may be made a little easier to answer in the colder months when I will be wearing a coat. I feel somewhat uncomfortable about the idea of wearing it on a t-shirt like a birthday badge, even though I shouldn't have to. That is possibly the most frustrating part, I should be able to feel confident to wear the badge without fearing others judging or questioning the validity of my disability. That is part of this post's purpose; to say that you should be able to ask for help with your head held high but to also say that I understand that it doesn't always feel that way. The badge leaves me even more confused! Am I suppose to go up to people and show it to them? Again, if I'm in pain or struggling to stand that is something that I should feel able to do, but that doesn't mean I do.
Some advice would be massively appreciated here. I want to be out with my badge on my top and a grin on my face. I want that opportunity for everybody. However, I completely understand how that can feel like a hard thing to do. My current approach relies upon others choosing to acknowledge the badge, but if I'm struggling in a situation where a seat would help should I be waiting for an act of kindness when the badge is there? I know that there are many lovely people in the world but sometimes a few people acting nasty can create lasting anxiety and I believe my past experiences with public transport have left me weary. I think what TFL have done is brilliant and an amazing step forward but I think some of us need to see society change in order to regain our trust.
I'd love to hear your views!
See you later alligators!
Freya x
More Information about the Scheme and where to get a pack: https://tfl.gov.uk/transport-accessibility/please-offer-me-a-seat
PICTURE SOURCES:
https://londonist.com/2016/08/please-offer-me-a-seat-tfl-trials-new-badges
https://www.leonardcheshire.org/support-and-information/latest-news/news-and-blogs/tfls-please-offer-me-seat-badge-now-permanently
I recently discovered that similarly to the 'Baby on Board' badge TFL (Transport for London) also offers a 'Please offer me a seat' badge. The 'Please offer me a seat' pack is available to request for free on TFL's website and comes with both a badge and a card. The message on the card sums up pretty well why I like TFL's approach to this scheme:
"Please offer me a seat. Remember not all impairments and conditions are visible."
I wanted to use this week's post to discuss why I think this idea is so very brilliant but also some of the personal challenges I've experienced regarding the badge's application.
I really admire the way that TFL has approached this idea. I've had my pack for a short time now and the online application was incredibly easy and non-invasive. There is no where on the form that asks you to prove or even disclose your reason for your requesting the badge. I've had people question me about how people can therefore be trusted to request the scheme, but my answer to this is that I can't imagine many able-bodied people so desperate for a seat that they're willing to wear a big blue badge. If such people do exist than I'm sure they are in the minority. The other thing that I really appreciate is that nowhere on the design are any visible aid symbols used (e.g. the wheelchair symbol) and the card explicitly states states that "not all impairments and conditions are visible." This means that the scheme is accessible and welcoming to far larger group of people. For myself as someone with invisible physical disability it feels far more exclusive but it also opens the scheme up to others who face different challenges. For example, it may be useful to someone who faces large amounts of anxiety when using public transport and might find a seat useful for remaining calm or maybe people who simply experience unpredictable pain due to various different conditions or injury. It's great to see those on the TFL side opening up the definition of disability beyond the visible appearance of impairment.
However, I have found some difficulties in putting the badge to use. To be fair to TFL I think that the scheme is brilliantly thought through and that many of these struggles are unavoidable, as they are primarily due to societal perceptions of disability and the impact that has upon self-confidence. I personally find it really hard to know exactly how to use the provided pack. My posts may suggest that I'm confident in dealing with my own disability and needs but we all our moments of feeling shaky and self-conscious. Everyone does. It's just that sometimes with disability that shakiness can result in your mate requesting the key for the disabled loo for you. I know I shouldn't but sometimes I worry about what people think. I know I look young (because I am) and it looks like I can walk (because I can) so I do worry about someone not believing me or judging me for identifying as disabled. I know that I should feel confident but that doesn't mean that I always do. Add on some of my social struggles and suddenly walking up to a stranger to show them my badge seems a lot more daunting.
At the moment I have been using the badge by putting it on my backpack but that doesn't make it easily visible to those around me. To be honest I do think the question of where to put the badge may be made a little easier to answer in the colder months when I will be wearing a coat. I feel somewhat uncomfortable about the idea of wearing it on a t-shirt like a birthday badge, even though I shouldn't have to. That is possibly the most frustrating part, I should be able to feel confident to wear the badge without fearing others judging or questioning the validity of my disability. That is part of this post's purpose; to say that you should be able to ask for help with your head held high but to also say that I understand that it doesn't always feel that way. The badge leaves me even more confused! Am I suppose to go up to people and show it to them? Again, if I'm in pain or struggling to stand that is something that I should feel able to do, but that doesn't mean I do.
Some advice would be massively appreciated here. I want to be out with my badge on my top and a grin on my face. I want that opportunity for everybody. However, I completely understand how that can feel like a hard thing to do. My current approach relies upon others choosing to acknowledge the badge, but if I'm struggling in a situation where a seat would help should I be waiting for an act of kindness when the badge is there? I know that there are many lovely people in the world but sometimes a few people acting nasty can create lasting anxiety and I believe my past experiences with public transport have left me weary. I think what TFL have done is brilliant and an amazing step forward but I think some of us need to see society change in order to regain our trust.
I'd love to hear your views!
See you later alligators!
Freya x
More Information about the Scheme and where to get a pack: https://tfl.gov.uk/transport-accessibility/please-offer-me-a-seat
PICTURE SOURCES:
https://londonist.com/2016/08/please-offer-me-a-seat-tfl-trials-new-badges
https://www.leonardcheshire.org/support-and-information/latest-news/news-and-blogs/tfls-please-offer-me-seat-badge-now-permanently
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