Travelling

In the United Kingdom, the law states that someone with epilepsy cannot have a driving licence if they have had a seizure in the past year. I’m not in any way an expert on the law, but I know how it affects me. I need to be completely seizure free (including small jerks of the arms and legs) for a whole year until I apply for a provisional licence.

In Scotland this means that people who are not allowed a licence can apply for a travel card. The card itself is mainly used by elderly people, it’s the card you see them flash the bus driver, but it also covers “disabled” people. Much to my sheer joy I was supplied with a travel card which meant I no longer had to pay on the bus, and I get discounted prices for trains and the underground within Scotland.

However amazing this card is, if you are under the age of twenty five there is a stamp on it which says ‘Young Scot’. There is a discount card supplied to school children which is called a YoungScot card. It in itself is great, you get discounts in a lot of places because of it, but because the stamp is on my travel card (not my YoungScot card which coincidentally I don’t own anymore - when I first received the card when I was fifteen I was so disgusted with the picture I cut it up), bus drivers and ticket collectors on trains believe I am trying to get a discount on my travel because they think it is a YoungScot card.

Yesterday I flashed my card as usual at the bus driver, stated my destination and waited patiently for my ticket to find him staring at me through the glass partition. He asked, quite rudely I must say, to give him the money for the fare and would not believe me when I said it was a disabled and elderly person’s travel card. Luckily I am very stubborn and I was determined not to pay and finally he relented at my constant repetition of ‘this is NOT a YoungScot card’. He didn’t believe me though, I could see he didn’t believe me and was merely trying to get me to shut up which in itself is annoying – I don’t want to be presumed a liar, but it’s the fact that I would have had to go into details about my “disability” if he had matched my stubbornness.

As I have said many times before I’m not ashamed of having epilepsy, it can be quite a feat to shut me up about it once I get into my ‘awareness for all’ speech so I would have happily proceeded to tell him that I have epilepsy and because of that I can’t get a driving licence etc, but I know some people do not like to talk about having epilepsy and would not like to go into why they are “disabled” when there is a queue forming behind you, with people impatiently tapping their feet on the pavement so that is mainly why I get so irritated by it.

Personally I think more education has to be given to bus drivers etc about the travel card. I feel that just because I don’t look elderly and I don’t have a visible “disability” that it is assumed that I am lying or trying to get away with something. I have epilepsy, I am proud of having epilepsy, but I do not want to have to explain to every bus driver I meet.

Ps. Just as a wee side note, someone who phoned Epilepsy Scotland today mentioned that hearing about me being in university really helped them and that really touched me. It helps me keep going with this blog knowing that people can empathise with what I am trying to do. So to that person that phoned – thank you.