Disability classification: I feel humiliated
Munich – Günther Peetz carefully gropes for the next step with his foot, he clings to the banister on the left. In his right hand he is holding a walking stick that is more of a hindrance to him at the moment.
It takes many minutes for him to climb down the few steps in this way. When he greets them in the station underpass, Peetz is completely out of breath and needs a break first.
Another 150 meters, up a ramp, to the parked car. On the way there, Peetz needs two longer breaks because it is very difficult for him to breathe. He suffers from allergic asthma, cardiac arrhythmias and disc problems. Among other complaints.
Fates are not so easy to categorize
“It’s embarrassing,” says the 84-year-old apologetically. A feeling that accompanies him constantly in everyday life, as he later describes. “I can’t help my wife bring drinks into the house, I can’t stand in a queue, and I have to drive even short distances to the doctor or pharmacy.”
Peetz has had a severely handicapped ID card since 2014. With a “GdB” of 80 percent. “GdB” means “degree of disability”. On the back of the ID card you will also find a “G”, the symbol for “simple walking difficulties”.
To obtain a parking permit for a disabled parking space, you need an “aG” – “exceptional walking disability”. Günther Peetz fought for this “AG”.
There are many other acronyms that ultimately stand behind human destinies. Individual fates cannot easily be categorized.
This is arguably the greatest difficulty when it comes to determining disabilities. Kerstin Celina is spokeswoman for social policy, inclusion and mental health of the Greens in the state parliament. She receives numerous petitions from citizens. “A very large proportion of the complaints relate to the issue of the severely handicapped ID cards,” she says. That prompted the Greens to make a request to the state government.
Severely handicapped ID: More and more lawsuits before the social court
The answer provides an insight into the situation in Bavaria. Those who apply for a severely disabled person’s pass receive a notification after an average of 62 days. Around 40 percent of those affected object to this decision.
Around 40 percent of the contradictions are also successful. The next step after the objection is to file a lawsuit with the social court. Almost every second lawsuit is wholly or partially successful. Between 2018 and 2020, the number of lawsuits rose by 11.4 percent.
However, during this period, disability applications have decreased by about eleven percent. There are also more frequent complaints. A total of more than 68,000 lawsuits against decisions on the severely handicapped ID were heard before Bavarian courts within eleven years between 2009 and 2020.
“The criteria have become stronger in recent years”
One of the plaintiffs is Günther Peetz. “I urgently need a disabled parking permit for my errands and visits to the doctor, so I submitted a new application in spring 2019.” He did not receive the mark “aG”. The contradiction was also unsuccessful. He also complains. In the coming spring, three years will have passed since the application.
“According to my personal feeling, the criteria have become significantly stronger in recent years,” says Daniel Overdiek, head of the legal department of the social association VdK in Bavaria.
He receives regular reports from the advice centers in 69 Bavarian circles. “The support of our members with the application of the severely handicapped pass is an absolute standard with us and is often taken advantage of.”
Doctors appointed by a court carry out the examinations
Overdiek himself advised members for many years. He knows the process very well: “It is important that certificates and diagnoses from all attending physicians are available when submitting the application; this increases the chance that the desired degree of disability will be determined.”
Should this not be granted, then it is usually worthwhile to lodge an objection and, if necessary, to sue. “Without our advice, some members might not dare to file a lawsuit, but we would like them if it makes sense,” reports Overdiek from everyday consulting.
If patients actually go to court, they take another very close look. Doctors appointed by a court, so-called state doctors, carry out the examinations.
Most municipalities do not have any disabled parking spaces
Günther Peetz was also examined by a state doctor. He has sorted his documents in a folder and is looking for the report. “Do you notice something?” He asks as he passes a summary across the table. Under the file number is: “Peetz Jürgen” and a date of birth. “My name is Günter Peetz and I was born in 1937, wrong first name and wrong year of birth. I don’t even know whether the report is really based on my file.”
The doctor did not take much time to examine him closely. He also did not mention his hearing loss in the report, although the evidence was in his file. “I suffer from tinnitus and dizziness due to my hearing loss, which of course affects my mobility.”
Peetz originally comes from Franconia, the dialect resonates very easily. His beard is neatly trimmed, his shirt is ironed, his hair is combed back. In between he likes to joke. Then you can hear the Franconian dialect very clearly.
Peetz: “I have the feeling that I have to beg for alms”
When he was asked to describe his feelings, tears suddenly welled up in his eyes: “I feel that my rights have been cheated, and not only that, I have the feeling that I have to beg for alms.
Green member of the state parliament Kerstin Celina says her fate is going very close. Günther Peetz also wrote her an email once. “It is sometimes a social question. Do we want to show solidarity with younger and disabled people?”
In most municipalities there are far too few disabled parking spaces. That can also be the reason why the mark “aG” is used so restrictively. Celina: “The municipalities are difficult to convince to create more disabled parking spaces. The street space is fiercely contested. There are costs for regular controls, because these parking spaces must always be kept free.”
Celina: “Not everyone has the familiar framework”
In their eyes, more needs to be done by a higher authority. And there would be a need for simpler and more general access to the facilities, such as parking permits, free tickets or call taxi rides.
“Not everyone has the familiar framework and the opportunity to be driven to a doctor. You also have to take the living conditions into account.