Fewer threats for disabled teenager

Cancer survivor Luke Van der Leeden and his mother Marice say attitudes toward disabled car park users is improving. Photo / file

Attitude towards the disabled has improved for some.

The Rotorua Daily Post reported in August that Luke Van der Leeden, 11, and his mother Marice Van der Leeden were the target of abuse, threats and judgmental stares when using disabled car parks in Rotorua - even though they have a mobility card allowing them to do so.

Luke was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of bone cancer called Ewing's sarcoma when he was 7. He had to endure dozens of tests, blood transfusions, chemotherapy, and an operation to amputate his leg.

Mrs Van der Leeden had noticed a change in attitudes since the article was published, she said.

"It's been really good since the article. There was a lot of support about the article from last year.

"It might have changed the attitude of people. Some of the feedback from it was that other families have had the same incidents as well. There is a perception if you can't see the disability ... but we haven't had anything ever since that article."

CSS regional manager Joe Herbert said it was difficult to categorise the attitudes of a city, but Rotorua was moving towards becoming more disabled-friendly.

"People make judgments from what they see. It's really hard to gauge how Rotorua is in terms of being disabled friendly, for want of a better word, but there are certainly things happening in Rotorua, like the accessible buses and all of the new plans afoot for the new cycle pathway being wide enough to take people with disabilities, so their needs are being considered in developments."

A disabled woman, who did not want to be named, said she had never had a negative experience in Rotorua, but had come across some stigma.

"Basically publicly it's fine, I have more issues within services and agencies.

"Sometimes I can go into a shop, I have a motorised wheelchair and might not be able to get through, and people are pretty obliging. There's a lot of education and understanding," she said.

"I haven't had any really bad experiences. I went through a lot of stuff when I had my son, but it wasn't in Rotorua it was New Zealand wide."