TV’s Christine McGuinness was confronted by a man who accused her of parking in a disabled space illegally – but he was wrong.
The Loose Women star has three autistic children with husband Paddy and says son Leo’s behaviour is “unpredictable” to the point that his anxiety can lead to meltdowns when they are looking for parking spaces.
The 33-year-old model needs a blue badge – and now she is calling for more help and kindness towards parents of children with autism.
She said: “It was quite intimidating.
“The man said I wasn’t disabled, my children aren’t disabled, so why are you parked in a disabled space?
“I take any opportunity to educate people on autism. But there’s a time and a place and it’s not when I’m in a car park on my own with three children.
"We all need to remember to be kinder to each other. If there’s a blue badge in the window, just believe they’re entitled to be parked there.”
On ITV’s Tonight programme, Hidden Disabilities: What’s the Truth, Christine says other parents she knows “gave up” applying for blue badges because the application for people with a disability is difficult and must be done every three years.
Christine – mum to seven-year-old twins Penelope and Leo, and Felicity, four – added: “It’s quite disheartening to know I have to go through this same battle in three years’ time.”
The programme features other people with ‘hidden’ disabilities who are questioned about their ability to work or use disabled facilities.
MP Debbie Abrahams says: “People with hidden disabilities have the added difficulty of proving they need support. There is not always the expertise that’s needed, for example from the health assessors, to understand their clinical conditions.”
The show is hosted by journalist Saima Mohsin, who suffered a nerve injury when her foot was run over by a jeep on assignment in Jerusalem.
She told the Mirror: “I could barely walk, sit or stand. I went from covering 28 countries to hardly being able to move without pain.
“I’d keel over and people would push, shove and tut. People with a physical disability have a tough time fighting for their rights.
"Having an invisible disability adds another layer of obstacles. I made this programme so we would give people a little more understanding and kindness.”
Loose Women star Christine and Top Gear host Paddy, 47, are filming a documentary about autism for the BBC, to air later this year.
Christine previously told how lockdown was an “uphill struggle” as they had to act as “therapists” for the kids.
She added: “It will be uplifting. We didn’t know much about autism. We had to educate ourselves, and now we want to pass that on.”
*Hidden Disabilities: What’s The Truth? Tonight is on ITV at 7.30pm on Thursday.
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