{"id":576373,"date":"2026-05-10T12:30:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T12:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/576373\/"},"modified":"2026-05-10T12:30:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T12:30:10","slug":"self-diagnosed-dyslexics-allowed-to-skip-airport-queues-and-given-vip-lounge-entry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/576373\/","title":{"rendered":"Self-diagnosed dyslexics allowed to skip airport queues and given VIP lounge entry"},"content":{"rendered":"

Self-diagnosed dyslexics are now allowed to skip airport queues and are handed free VIP lounge entry. <\/p>\n

Travellers with “hidden disabilities”, a term which encompasses a number of mental health conditions like ADHD and autism, can exploit a long list of luxury privileges without medical proof.<\/p>\n

Holidaymakers taking advantage of the extra travel perks can enjoy a life of luxury in the airport lounges, sipping on free champagne while being offered an array of culinary delights, including hot food buffets and fruit platters.<\/p>\n

They can also receive priority boarding as well as free seat collection, all with a simple wave of a sunflower lanyard. <\/p>\n

The “Hidden Disabilities Sunflower” was launched back in 2016 as a way for individuals to signal they have a disability which might not be immediately apparent.<\/p>\n

It covers conditions like dementia, Crohn’s, diabetes and epilepsy and is recognised all over the world, including 300 UK airports.<\/p>\n

However, it also includes mental health conditions, such as dyslexia, autism and ADHD.<\/p>\n

The scheme allows people to indicate they could be in need of a “helping hand, understanding or more time in shops, at work, on transport, or in public spaces”.<\/p>\n

\"Champagne<\/p>\n

One who exploited the disability-designed perks said she felt ’embarrassed’<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

GETTY<\/p>\n

The lanyards can be bought for as cheaply as \u00a31.30 and require no formal medical diagnosis for purchase.<\/p>\n

Lanyard-wearing individuals can also travel with extra bags – free of charge – and can fast-pass through security lanes for both them and their travelling partner. <\/p>\n

Online influencers are showing off methods to trick airport staff into handing over the perks, with one, revealed by The Telegraph, telling followers: “Helpful tip \u2013 Tell your airline you have ADHD!”<\/p>\n

Another, exposed by the paper, used a Sunflower lanyard to exploit a Virgin Atlantic flight – a system which she admitted was “tricky” due to overstimulation and concerns over losing baggage. <\/p>\n

\"Airport\"\/<\/p>\n

Around 300 airports recognise the sunflower lanyard<\/p>\n

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GETTY<\/p>\n

In the video, she said: “I felt really embarrassed at first and like a fraud as I have not had an official autism diagnosis yet. <\/p>\n

“It is really good to know that you can wear it anyway, you don\u2019t have to prove anything.”<\/p>\n

She claimed to be going through the “diagnostic process”.<\/p>\n

A Virgin Atlantic spokesman said: “At Virgin Atlantic, we believe everyone can take on the world and we are committed to supporting customers with additional needs, including those with non-visible disabilities such as autism, ADHD, dyslexia and other neuro-diverse conditions, to help reduce travel anxiety and make journeys as smooth and comfortable as possible.<\/p>\n

“Customers should contact our dedicated Accessible Travel Services team in advance of travel to discuss any support they may need, and they will provide assistance free of charge.”<\/p>\n

Psychologist Dr Becky Spelman added that a support system, once widely known, would “inevitably” be a target for exploitation.<\/p>\n

In the UK alone, some 6.3 million Britons are dyslexic, making up about 10 per cent of the population.<\/p>\n

However, whether the condition is overdiagnosed has been the subject of heated debate, with many classing it as merely “reading difficulty”.<\/p>\n

GB News has approached The Hidden Disabilities Sunflower scheme for comment. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Self-diagnosed dyslexics are now allowed to skip airport queues and are handed free VIP lounge entry. Travellers with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":576374,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[84,59,50,56,54,55,46278],"class_list":["post-576373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-gb","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-woke-madness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=576373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576373\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/576374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=576373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=576373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=576373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}