Disney doesn't care about autistic visitors

[Skanky Vamp]

"The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week ruled that plaintiffs in 30 lawsuits can proceed in a lower court with their claims against Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, alleging violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act. People with severe autism often have difficulties with social interaction and communication and often adhere to rigid routines.

Under the parks' current program, Disney allows visitors with disabilities to get a special card giving them an "appointment time" to get on a ride. The card allows them to get unlimited "appointment times" throughout the day and allows them to get on rides immediately if the wait is more than 15 minutes. The plaintiffs said in their lawsuit that the autistic visitors still endured virtual waits, if not physical waits, that often resulted in "meltdowns" since people with severe autism often have an inability express distress at small changes to their routines

Disney previously had allowed visitors with disabilities to go to the front of the line, avoiding all waiting times, but changed the program in 2013 amid reports of abuse by people without disabilities."

In a statement, a Disney spokeswoman said
"Disney Parks have an unwavering commitment to providing an inclusive and accessible environment for all our guests,"


So... why don't they hand out the card that enables them to jump to the front of the line? If that process was working before but people without disabilities was abusing it, why hand out a card only to make people that have difficulty waiting, wait. Why not use the system to had been working for years? Fifteen minutes may not seem like a long time, but if you have been around those with autism, it truly can be.

In essence they are now punishing them because people were abusing the system. Seems like they don't really care to me.

 

[brinkster130]

The way it use to work was the entire party got to go to the front of the line, so you'd have people coming in big groups to use the disability front of the line pass. What probably would have worked better was keeping the front of the line pass but only allow one person to accompany the person with a disability to the front of the line.

I wonder what they mean by "virtual waits"

 

[Skanky Vamp]

The way it use to work was the entire party got to go to the front of the line, so you'd have people coming in big groups to use the disability front of the line pass.

Oh, I see. So you'd just have a token autistic person in your group and never have to wait in lines. That's not how I read it at all. Made it sound like people were pretending to be disabled to jump in line.

I think the virtual line is in regard to the online fastpass thing... that's usually what they are called with haunted houses and such. Virtual line with fastpass or vip access. You still have to wait in a long line though, it's just not as long as those peons that don't get online and pre-order tickets.

 

[brinkster130]

Oh, I see. So you'd just have a token autistic person in your group and never have to wait in lines. That's not how I read it at all. Made it sound like people were pretending to be disabled to jump in line.

Yeah, that was pretty much what was happening. They also added changes to the process to get such passes, you have to register in person and go through a whole interview type thing to make sure you qualify. And going to the park with a sprained ankle/wheelchair/scooter won't get you front of the line access anymore; people doing things like that were most definitely what lead to the current changes.

I think the virtual line is in regard to the online fastpass thing... that's usually what they are called with haunted houses and such. Virtual line with fastpass or vip access. You still have to wait in a long line though, it's just not as long as those peons that don't get online and pre-order tickets.

Ahhhh, yes yes. duh. "appointment times" = fastpass that's not called a fastpass. Yeah, I can see how giving out time windows could make it significantly harder for autistic people as they'd be operating on the parks schedule rather than their own.

 

[November]

The Autism spectrum has been significantly widened in the last few years. If diagnosed before a certain date in Oz, they still automatically qualify for disability services. Those diagnosed after that cut off date may have far less severe issues surrounding autism and are encouraged to adhere to social norms. This is when tantrums and hashtags start.

There are huge numbers of adult psych patients now with added autism, even though they were unaware of autism their entire lives up until psychiatric diagnosis. Autism is scientifically linked to environmental factors in some cases. Give a sensitive kid candy corn at disney land and they are far more likely to display autistic traits. Perhaps disney could review the interactive puzzles in the lines,those are perfect distractions for everyone.

Waiting in line is a fact of life that will not always be catered for, so some do need to learn coping tools for this situation. Im not saying this as an uneducated pleb, I spent years working with those on the servere symptoms end. Teaching them to cope with everyday situations improved quality of life. Allowing meltdowns for every inconvienence was detrimental (and/or resulted in excessive drugging +ect ) when the child became a teen and got violent when others did not bend to their every whim.

Token autistic member of a group is real and readily done at fan conventions for benefits too.

 

[thrasherpix]

I'm surprised that someone with severe autism would WANT to go to a crowded theme park anyway. But these days you'll find plenty of people with an actual diagnosis of autism that would surprise those who know them (and they're able to do things like wait in line like the rest of us).

That aside, I don't know how they figured out who was disabled or not so I can't really say. But I bet it would be hard to say "you lie" when a kid is being used to fake it. It's really crap parents or other guardians who'd exploit a child that way (and provide a terrible model of behavior in the process). It's too bad there aren't laws about faking disabilities (similar to "stolen valor" laws) that would allow Disney to instead have the fakers they catch prosecuted under the law for it as that could discourage enough people so that they didn't feel they had to cancel it due to all the crap people out there.


On a barely related note, I'm reminded of this: