sunflower lanyard - helpful?

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Does anyone have a sunflower lanyard (to indicate an invisible disability)?
When do you use it and has it been helpful?

Just asking as I might be doing some plane travel for work and was wondering whether to get one.

I personally don't as I refuse to demean myself by wearing some private company's identification badge. Nazi Germany finished decades ago and there is no need to publicly humiliate disabled people in the modern world.

However, some people do seem very keen on them. Such a badge gives no indication as to what kind of assistance (if any) you need, so if you need any help, you will have to ask for it whether you are wearing a badge or not. I believe some people therefore use it more as a 'conversation starter', to help get them talking about what help they need.

A lot of testimonials for it are just from people who say it gives them 'confidence'. Personally I would have much less confidence wandering around wearing a symbol that will put me a risk of discrimination or abuse, but everyone is entitled to their opinion.

No, I just pretend to be normal when I go on planes. Somehow I don't expect advertising my disability would get me any more co-operation, and although I find flying quite stressful, so far I've always got away with it. And if I remember right, a lanyard is basically a plastic card on a cord that goes around the neck. I would think it would just boing around, distracting me and getting in my way, which is the last thing I'd want while trying to do something that can get rather difficult. But quite a few people at work used to wear them, and they didn't seem to mind, so it's probably just me who wouldn't wear one unless I had to.

Mm, yeah.
In normal circumstances I wouldn't want to advertise myself as disabled.
But I keep thinking of that time I had a meltdown on a plane and was afraid they would throw me off (I was sort of hitting the side of the plane - luckily I was in a window seat).
Though I'm not sure if the lanyard would make them less likely to throw me off or more.

What a load of BS. Nobody is being forced into wearing a sunflower lanyard. They exist so you can indicate - if you so choose - that you have a hidden disability. Thus making it an un-hidden disability.

It isn't necessarily about assistance: with Covid-19 it has become an indicator of higher risk, meaning the wearer requires extra time / space / caution. That creates an environment of positive discrimination, not negative. You're also free NOT to get involved, which wasn't an option generally favoured by Hitler and his allies.

Well done for invoking Godwin's Law at such an early stage, but I do question your assumption that any private company filling a gap in the social care market must, by definition, be fascist. Is that true of nursing homes, hospitals, schools, and dentists?

Are you laughing with him or at him?

Sorry, I was laughing at the Monty Python clip.
Hadn't seen that one for a long time.

I've never heard of them. Let us know if you try it.

Yeah I haven't decided.
I think they're a good idea but I might feel a bit embarrassed to wear one, which I know is stupid and ableist of me, but there it is.
Might just carry in in my pocket, so I can bring it out if the noise/crowds/wait times get too much and I need to help to find a quiet place.

I don't know how widely recognised the sunflower lanyard is, I can't imagine most people would understand its significance, rendering it pretty pointless.

I haven’t heard of it before. Probably would be pretty pointless in my area, since Kansas is “the sunflower state,” people would probably just assume it was some Kansas-themed thing and nothing more.

I would rather have some sort of card or something that I could tuck in a pocket but would be able to show people if needed. But something would be particularly helpful since in situations where some sort of explanation would be necessary, I am likely to not be able to communicate well, if at all, and having some sort of non-verbal explanation handy would make me less worried about that potentially happening.

I have to admit, when I had my first stroke and used a walker / cane it was nice to have a recognisable disability. I felt like I had a better excuse (for lack of a better word) if I made a mistake or expected any type of accommodation. My daughter has a heck of a time with her invisible physical disabilities which allow her a disabled parking permit. People sneer at her all the time because she is a young woman and she appears otherwise able-bodied.

People wear all kinds of goofy stuff. I don't even attempt to derive meaning from style or logo.

They have become quite popular here since the so-called pandemic. Its popularity has been helped by those who abuse the scheme in the hope that they will simply get better customer service. This only helps to 'normalise' it. If we are not careful there will come a time when disabled people will not be welcome in certain businesses unless they are displaying their identity badge.

As for aeroplanes... The sunflower scheme actually started in an airport here in England. My experience is that airports employ some very bad 'jobsworths' with no customer service skills whatsoever. The staff on the aeroplanes themselves are usually quite good though. If I were to need any extra help, it would probably be in the airport.

There have been reports in the news here of people wearing them being assaulted. Hopefully these cases are a very small minority but it does hint at why some people wouldn't want to wear a badge.