YP Letters: Attitudes must change towards disabilities

Paralympian Hannah Cockroft is fronting a new campaign with Skipton Building Society on disability access.

THANK you to Hannah Cockroft and your Business Editor Mark Casci for highlighting the problems faced by many people with disabilities every day (The Yorkshire Post, December 4).

The Yorkshire Post says: Help high streets and make shops welcome to disabled

Sadly I think that unless people are themselves affected, the problem doesn’t concern them as my husband and I have come to realise since he became a wheelchair user a few years ago. We have had problems with hotels such as ramps up to the front door and then steps, a shower over a bath in an adapted room and a lift too small for a wheelchair.

Try going through a manual door when no one offers to help – or using toilet facilities with no raised seats. We’ve also experienced quite recently verbal abuse on a return flight from Dusseldorf when we had to change seats and two middle-aged men then verbally abused us for taking their seats. Believe me, it was not our choice as we were separated from our family and seats with more room near the exit doors, so they actually ended up with better seats!

I feel that I need to do a “dummy run” before we go anywhere. As for shopping, my husband won’t venture out onto the High Street any more.

Unfortunately I don’t think anything will change unless attitudes do and people have a bit more compassion for others.