Posted on 05/17/2016 12:34:22 PM PDT by kingu
EXCLUSIVE: Florida’s top civil rights agency has again found that Walt Disney Parks and Resorts discriminated against several children living with autism and their families. In five separate rulings issued May 11, the Florida Commission on Human Relations says that an “unlawful practice occurred” when “Complainant and Complainant’s son were deprived of full enjoyment of the facility.” This comes as an attorney today filed a notice of appeal in a recently tossed federal lawsuit claiming Disney discriminated against families of children with autism and other developmental disorders in violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act.
(Excerpt) Read more at deadline.com ...
The complaining families say that this system is fundamentally unfair, as it doesn't take into account THEIR child's disabilities and how it is quite possible that the kid might throw a fit (probably not worse than the parent's) while waiting for their appointed ride time. WORSE, you can't just reserve for many rides at the same time, because they've digitalized the system.
A federal judge recently dismissed a lawsuit by a group of these parents (and ordered restitution to Disney for their legal fees), noting in the dismissal that the patrons are getting equal or better experiences than all the other guests in the park.
Disney's published all of their access guidelines, all of these parents knew exactly what to expect when they arrived at the parks, and demanded special treatment because their kid might throw a fit if they had to wait to ride a ride. I hope that they also get stuck with Disney's costs when they lose their appeal.
ML/NJ
My son is on the high functioning end of the spectrum. We just don’t go to places where he might have issues. I didn’t know I could sue instead. Where have I been?
We are regulars at WDW, and over the years it’s become obvious that Disney bends over backwards to accommodate kids with challenges. There are a lot of things Disney can be criticized for, but this ain’t one of them.
I remember when acting up in line got you a crack on the ass. An earthworm can learn to avoid electric shock. I notice these autistic kids who supposedly can’t control themselves, never seem to jump up and attack the nearest mean looking Hells Angel.
There’s no place left in this world for common sense. You better get with the program.
In all seriousness, good job doing what is best for your family. God bless y’all with every good thing.
Ok, as a parent of two kids with differences, this is ridiculous. NO ONE HAS A RIGHT TO DISNEYLAND. If your child can’t take waiting in line, DO NOT BRING HIM. Children with autism don’t need the crazy amount of stimulation. They will flip out. Save your Disney money and take them to a quiet pond or beach or park.
I am serious. I learned this sh** the hard way and I am right.
The Disney ride lines are for people with patience. Bring phones and iPads and play games. Have snacks and drinks. If kids still can’t handle it, Disney is not for them.
(By the way, if I had a child with autism who consistently expressed a deep desire to go to D-land, here is what I would do. I would explain what behaviors are necessary for him to be able to go there. We would go to simpler places where lines were long and practice. We would go to crowded parks or fairs and test how long he could stand it. He would work with his therapists. It could take 2 years of him getting ready for the experience. Then one adult (or two) and him, no other kids, would go to Disneyland and try it out. Maybe stay overnight so we could shorten the time spent in the overstimulation to 3 hours each day. That is how you get a kid with autism ready for Disney. And if he is too severely affected to do all that, don’t take him - he wouldn’t appreciate it.)
As the mother of a special needs child, I think the new system sucks. It used to be, I can take my son through the exit to get on a ride, without having to wait hours to try and go to a particular ride, and if he decided at the moment we tried to board the ride that he wanted nothing to do with it, then at least we knew we did not lose too much time trying to get on that particular ride. But now, with the new system, I may have to wait an hour or two to get on a ride that he may not want to go on to.
My son tends to be unpredictable, he may have been willing to go on a ride in the past, but that does not mean next time around he’ll be okay with it, and when he decides he does not want to do something, then there’s not much we can do but go with the flow. He does love Disneyland, and it did take years before we were able to coax him to go many of the rides, don’t know if given the new system that would have been possible today.
It would be nice if the people who makes these decisions understand these kids.
So, in your opinion, I should deprive my son, who has autism, of going to Disneyland, which he loves, because there may be occasions when he does not want to stand in a long line ( he happens to tire easily).
My son is 22, we have learnt a lot over the years, and what we know is that given his unppredictability, the old system of being able to walk up to the exit was the best one for us.
Disneyland changed their policy because someone had to go blab about certain people paying disabled people to get exit passes. I guess they saw it as lost revenue, since they were not the ones getting the money for that.
And for all you opinionated people about how we should just keep our kids at home, let me tell you, that one of my goals for my son has been to give him the same experience a normal child would have, to treat him the way I treated my older son, not to keep him locked up at home.
But would you sue?
Sounds like Disney changed their system, and you don’t like it...and you are free to criticize them.
But do agree with the lawsuit?
America’s ‘motto’ has been changed
from “In God We Trust” to
“You Owe Me an Apology.”
Speaking as someone on the high-functioning end of the autistic spectrum, I can’t imagine a worse place to be. Too much noise, too many people, not enough quiet places to hide and clear my head.
It’s not Disney’s fault.
I am serious. I learned this sh** the hard way and I am right.
Of course, in the Disney system, the 'line waiting' is done at your leisure anywhere in the park, you simply return at your appointed time to board the ride. Standing in a physical line is not required.
Here come the shakedown. Here come the shakedown.
Who wants to deal with people anymore?
Accomodate me exactly how,I demand or I sue.
Who wants these people as customers.
It wont be long before signs wil be posted that Sorry, we simply cannot accomodate the folllowing types of people.
Since the same families are the ones who lost the federal lawsuit and are appealing it, it will be interesting to see how this plays out - since they've already filed the appeal, does that supercede the required settlement phase of the state human rights commission, or would the lawsuit be seen as the families having already forgone the required negotiation phase (and likely negating their entry into the civil suit as they did not act in good faith to follow the required structures.)
Wow. You are an angel.
One of my best friends and her husband adopted 2 disabled boys from Russia and then her husband left them with her all alone. It has been a hard 14 years and the one with severe autism has started regressing and can’t handle things he has been able to in the past. She is trying to get him into an assisted living home as he is starting to get violent. Disney is the last place she would take him as lights, noises and other people will set him off.
They fully understand the kids and have designed the system with their consideration in mind. Your complaint is that YOU have to 'waste time' - tough, it is an amusement park with lines, it takes time to get on the ride, and I'm sorry if you feel that your time is somehow more valuable than every other customer there, including, of course, other special needs visitors.
A few years ago we took our little guy (84 lbs) with severe CP, trach etc to DisneyWorld. They went far beyond the expected to accommodate him. In fact because he needed a hospital bed and equipment which we rented, they put us in adjoining rooms at no charge for the second room.
He was greeted by every employee and they held the rides he could go on so that my husband could lift him from his wheelchair and put him on my lap as he is unable to sit independently. He loves Mickey and thoroughly enjoyed all the activity and people. It was a wonderful trip.
Disney has issues especially with gay issues but treating children with disabilities well is not one.
I have a son with autism too. At first I wanted to give him a perfectly normal childhood too, until experience showed that it didn’t work. In the end I had to make peace with some of the things that I thought he “should” have, like big holidays with extended relatives and friends, just didn’t work. I’d end up leaving with him screaming and me dragging his naked self out to the car (when he was upset he would often disrobe), missing most of the festivities anyway. He was actually happier alone with his beloved babysitter at home, which was hard for me to accept but true. So I’d go out and show up and enjoy the holidays and come home and do my own quiet ones with him.
I was lucky at Disneyland because once he was big enough, coasters really calmed him. So he had the motivation to wait. We also chose days with cold almost rainy weather so the crowd would be much less. We have never gone in summer. I never thought to use the special needs tag that is for people who couldn’t make it through the line. Since autism affects one in 30 preschoolers, I think for most of us, we should be more considerate of people who happen not to have a child with special needs.
I don’t know the extent of your child’s needs. It is my own personal somewhat professional opinion that kids with autism fall into two categories re Disneyland: kids who would enjoy it, and can be taught how to wait in line, and can go with parents who know to watch for signs that the child needs to eat, rest, slow down, and to prepare him and entertain him through each line, and second category: kids who are too profoundly affected to even get their enjoyment’s worth out of Disneyland.
If one’s child is profoundly affected, Disneyland might only be a treat in MOM’S eyes and not in his. Maybe a dinner at Goofy’s Kitchen or something would be just as much of a thrill.
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