handicapped sticker

[cynthia]

how difficult is it to get a handicap sticker for your car? I am about to request one...this heat and humidity takes a toll when I am in and out doing errands and having to park a mile away from an entrance :oops:

[Pam Alexson]

Cynthia , a few weeks anyway. Get the form at the registry but I believe it is available online as well . Fill it out and get it to the docs ASAP. That's all that is involved. The docs signature and away it goes. As my doc relies on me for the details, she always has me do my limitations for all forms . Not all docs are the same and usually want full control. Including a stamped addressed envelope and a little note will help expedite the process and any delays.Good luck and do it today. Pam

[angall]

Hi Cynthia
I understand how you feel about walking so far from an entrance.
It took me a few weeks to get mine. I actually got the form from the Mayo Clinic when I was a patient there in April and gave it to my doctor the next day. He gave it back to me and I took it to the Courthouse and they gave me a temporary handicap paper. She told me that if I had not received the official sticker (the kind you'd hang on your mirror in the car) by the end of the month, I should contact them and they would look into why I had not received one and issue another temporary one. I live in Minnesota, other states may not issue a temporary.
I only use it when I feel winded or just know I would be dragging once inside and not feel like shopping because I had to walk so far.
Hope you have success getting one ASAP. The humidity can take a toll on us HCMers.

[Burton Borrok]

Hi,
In both California and Nevada – and actually in the State of Washington too – I stopped by the DMV and picked up the necessary form. Most, but not all, doctors usually have the form also, but I didn’t want to take the chance of him not.

I filled out my portion and then brought it to the doctor at my next visit, either PCP or cardio, and had him complete the form and sign it. I then personally brought it back to the DMV and picked up my placard or plate – whichever I wanted. The plate is a bit more complicated because there is also the auto registration involved, but then you also get a placard to use when you’re not in your own car.

In Nevada especially it is quite simple because some kind soul somewhere initiated separate lines for the handicapped. Instead of waiting an hour or more on line, you’re in, and ten minutes later you’re out.

There was another thread about this awhile ago. Search on Handicapped and you’re sure to find it.
Burt

[cynthia]

I just called the Medical Affairs Branch of the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles :evil: I spoke to a really nice person (I'm being very sarcastic !)...why is every person at the Mass. DMV rude??? She told me it takes at least 30 days to receive it! Is that ridiculous or what?? I told her that too...she wasn't too pleasant. I can't believe that it takes this long to process. I'm fuming :evil: By reading posts about this, other states takes no time! By the time I get one, summer will be over..and that's when I need it the most! geez, Burt...you're lucky in Nevada--- you got yours the same day??

[cynthia]

Well, I take my nasty words back...I just spoke with a different person at the Mass DMV....it said on the form "hand deliveries" and gives a Boston address. This person told me that if I hand deliver my application, I can get the placard the same day! The first dip never mentioned that..the best part is that my doctors are on the same street and I have an appt. next month so I can get it then

[Heartmans Wife]

Hi-

In Pennsylvania things get expedited much faster if we go through a state representative's office. When we applied for my husband's plate, he had it within a few days as the representative hand carried it from Harrisburg. I was always reluctant to call the rep's office, but I've begun to realize that my vote elects him and my tax dollars pay his salary, so let him do things for us!! Good luck-

Ange

[Lisa Salberg]

In NJ it is VERY simple. Get a form from DMV, bring it to your doctor, have the doc sign it, return it to DMV, get you Disabled card!
No big deal at all :wink:
Lisa

[Laoshur]

In Virginia we got one for my dad when he came to visit us a few years ago. I called my PCP's office and they refused to cooperate because he was from another state and they wanted to do a complete physical first. My father was 97 years old at the time and has always been very poor, never having earned more that about $10,000 per year at his maximum, so this seemed pretty unreasonable. So, I called a local poverty clinic and they said the criterion was whether he could he walk 50 yards without assistance. They had him come in and walk down a hall and signed the paper on the spot! They enjoyed talking with him and everyone had a little fun and it cost nothing but 5 minutes of entertainment for their time. We went to DMV and got the hanging folder and it said it was good for a number of years - it seems like it was 7 years. We all had a good laugh at the idea of a 97 year old man having a pass that lasted that long. But we used it several times over the next couple of years. Unfortunately, we cannot get him out to visit us, even when we come back to Virginia, but if he ever gets well enough to come, we still have 3 years left on that pass, if my memory serves me correctly! :lol:

Rhoda

[shirleymahoney]

Well guys I'm about to give in to my husband he wants me to get one and i guess it has always meant if i got one i would have let this disease defeat me but there are days i could have used it and now that the doc doesn't want me walking, i guess it's time i plan on calling my PCP doc tomorrow.

Shirley

[Burton Borrok]

Cynthia,
Just a quick thought. You might call the receptionist at your doctor’s office to see if you could bring in the form and have him sign it while you wait, then you won’t have to wait until next month. Tell them that you are having trouble now.

Many doctors will oblige a regular patient that way – of course some won’t, but you’re only investing a phone call.
Burt

[Toogoofy317]

yeah, I know how you feel. I thought the same thing too. I never even asked for mine. My PCP gave me a sheet of paper one day and said take this to the DMV for your handicap sticker. I was surprised I told her I didn't need it. She then told me to stop the BS and just use it. It is hard for me to suck up my pride and do things but I've goten better at it.

Some days I use it and ohers I don't but at least it is always there.

Mary S.

[cynthia]

Mary,
That's how I feel....I sent the form to my doctor and put a sticky note on it saying basically that I'll only need it when it's hot and humid and I have to walk in a steamy parking lot...I don't plan on using it all the time

[Burton Borrok]

That is exactly how I felt when my PCP suggested I get one – the first time. I got it to use strictly in an emergency, and obligingly ‘emergencies’ came more and more frequently. Today I just drive to the handicapped spots as a matter of course.

As you know summers out here in the desert can get somewhat hot. Just yesterday we waited until afternoon when things cooled down to go shopping. When we left the super market the heat stopped me cold – I mean hot. It was still in the high ninety’s and it was all I could do to walk slowly to the car, parked in the closest handicapped spot. I turned the air conditioner on high and sat there awhile until I caught my breath.

Let’s clear the air, shall we. HCM’ers are legally handicapped and are fully able to get and use handicapped placards. If we choose not to use it at certain times, that’s our business, and if we need it, that’s fine too. In the many years I’ve had a placard or plate only once was I ever accosted and told I didn’t look handicapped. It was during a time when the police were cracking down on people with phony placards. I asked if I had to turn a different color or if a note from my doctor would be enough to satisfy her, and she apologized. I wasn’t mad or sarcastic. I figured she was trying to protect handicapped spots for those who were legally allowed to use them.

If you guys want or need a handicapped placard, by all means get out from behind your misplaced pride and go get one. You’re entitled. It’s like someone in the desert to proud to accept a nice cool drink of water. Why make life any more difficult then it already is?
Burt

[cheerchicken05]

i was thinking about getting one. my mom has been forever annoyed with me cuz 2 steps from the car im already slowing down and walking behind her in the summer. on nice days im ok, but when its hot and humid i have a really hard time if i park too far away.

i just hate the idea of being 16, got my license less than a year ago, and i already need a handicap thing? its just hard for me, but walking in the summer is hard too...

[Janet]

I live in Illinois and it took several weeks to get my handicapper placard. I had my neuro sign the paper from the DMV about 8 years into my 16 years with myasthenia gravis. Now that I have HCM on top of the MG, I decided my pride wasn't worth all the refusing to use the placard. Now I tell everyone, even if you only use it once a year, it is worth the trouble to get.

Janet

Believe in the goodness of mankind!

[Burton Borrok]

Hi Janet,
I can only assume you got your placard sending in through the mails, and getting it sent to you via the mails also. I feel certain that if you had hand carried it to the DMV you would have gotten your placard much quicker – probably while you were there.

If your state is like most others, and the doctor had indicated that it was a permanent disability, you will probably either get a new placard mailed to you before the current one expires, or they will mail you a form to renew it, again prior to its expiration.

I got my first handicapped placard in California, when my doctor suggested I should have one. When I was up in the State of Washington I had to get another form from a Washington doctor to get the placard, but it was no problem at all.

After I had been in Nevada a short while, I went to my PCP, and passed the form to him through the receptionist out front. She also brought him my records. After waiting about an half hour I got the form back and headed to the DMV. Once there I looked at the form, and should have known then what a dip this doctor was. He had checked that I had emphazema, which I do not have, and also checked that it was a temporary condition.

Luckily I got a DMV inspector who had a working brain. He asked me my age and the condition I needed the placard for. He then corrected the form and issued me a permanent handicapped plate and a placard for when I’m in a different car.

Some days, despite everything, things just go your way. (It’s good to live in a gambling town on days like that.)
Burt