Providing Access for Handicapped

Bill Bolte’s article on handicapped parking, “A Convenience for the Morally Disabled” (Commentary, Aug. 6), expressed the frustration and anger that many individuals with disabilities feel when we see non-disabled people steal the special parking spaces we need so much. The abuse of legal placards and illegal manufacture of counterfeit placards creates a special problem for some individuals with multiple sclerosis, a chronic and often disabling disease of the central nervous system.

Although some people with MS have severe disabilities, others experience symptoms that, while invisible to the casual observer, still limit mobility. Most people with MS also tend to be very sensitive to heat, which can cause otherwise functional legs to turn rubbery, making walking difficult if not impossible.

Special parking spaces for disabled persons help make it possible to participate in the mainstream of life instead of being stuck at home. It is unfortunate that in the current climate of abuse, those who are legitimately entitled to use these spaces are sometimes subjected to the scorn that should be directed at the cheats.

LAURA REMSON MITCHELL

Government Issues Coordinator, Multiple

Sclerosis California Action Network

Canoga Park