Last year I wrote about the difficulties of dining out with an autistic child in Restaurant Rules. That post provided a list of 12 Rules designed to make the experience tolerable for the autistic child, his or her family, the restaurant management and other diners.
Taking an autistic child to an amusement park has its own set of challenges. The noise, the crowds, the unfamiliar surrounding and, above all, the long lines make any such outing problematic.
Autistic kids have a hard time seeing things from the perspective of others. They find it difficult to learn to share. Often, autistic kids are not good at taking turns or waiting. My son finds it impossible to stand still for even 15 seconds in the familiar environment of his own house. Waiting his turn by standing in line for half an hour or more is out of the question.
The inability to wait his turn does not result from a lack of parental discipline or from pure selfishness. The way an autistic brain works just makes certain things difficult. One would not expect a blind child to know and obey rules written on a sign. Similarly, it is often just not realistic to expect an autistic child to wait patiently in a long line.
Until today, had I chosen to write rules for taking an autistic child to an amusement park, instead of the twelve Restaurant Rules, I would have boiled it down to one simple rule. Make it a Disney vacation.
The reason is very simple. Disney has long had a policy of accommodating autistic kids at its theme parks. The parents of an autistic child could just go to “City Hall” at the park, present a letter from a doctor or a copy of a school IEP and receive a Special Needs Pass. The pass allowed the child and the child’s group (up to five members) to bypass the lines at the rides. A Special Needs Pass made it possible for many families with autistic kids to enjoy a vacation in Orlando or Anaheim.
Today I received an email from Nancy Bea Miller of Genre Cookshop. It seems that Disney has revoked its policy of providing Special Needs Passes for autistic kids.
Apparently, Disney will now provide a Special Needs Pass only for those with a physical/mobility disability or with a terminal illness. Autistic kids, perhaps because they “look normal,” no longer qualify for accommodation.
I could understand a policy of not issuing Special Needs Passes at all. Having someone cut in front of a long line can cause some consternation among those who remain waiting. My family deals with many situations in which my son’s disability is not accommodated. We avoid those situations if we don’t think they are manageable. We do not, for instance, go to movies or concerts or other places that require the audience to remain quiet. We just can not yet do “Quiet.”
If Disney chose not to accommodate children with disabilities by issuing Special Needs Passes, I would accept that and we would choose not to attend Disney parks until we thought we could manage the waiting.
What I have a difficult time accepting is that that Disney has chosen to issue Special Needs Passes to some but not all children with disabilities. The basis for issuing a Special Needs Pass does not appear to be related to whether or not the disability prevents the child from waiting in line. The disabilities caused by autism, including the inability to wait in line, are no less real (but very different) than an orthopedic disability. The fact that one can not see the disability when glancing at an autistic child makes autism no less real.
A petition is circulating asking Disney to reconsider its decision. If you are of a mind to do so, you may see and sign the petition here. I did.
I think in this case a petition might do a lot of good. I'm inclined to believe Disney officials made this decision due to lack of understanding or incomplete info, not malice aforethought.
Posted by: Elayne Riggs at January 27, 2004 07:35 PMIn the interim, Disney has a "fast pass" for most of their rides, where a person can see a long line, go get a 'fast pass' and then come back much later and go near the front of the line.
I've done it, it works.
The best thing about Disney for special needs kids (when we last went, my son was practically deaf) is that you can ride a bus to the resort (provided you're on site) and return....any time and as much as you wish, so that breaks can be taken on a whim. And the food is much better at the resorts. :)
Posted by: Ricky at January 27, 2004 10:16 PMI grew up in Anaheim, and worked at Disneyland (driving a cart in the Electrical Parade). Every day, our crew leaders hammered our skull with the credo that appearance was paramount (and we drivers hardly ever saw the public).
Team Disney will do almost anything to avoid looking like the hive of craven evil that they are. Removing our access to the pass is discrimination, which could be made extremely embarrassing for them. Hmmmm.
Posted by: squid at January 28, 2004 01:39 AMDwight,
This rumor *isn't* true. It's been making the rounds, and some of the disability groups I'm on have called to check on it. They *haven't* gotten rid of the special pass--you just need to call and speak to a customer rep.
Seriously: it's worthwhile to check this out yourself, because there's so much garbage that circulates on the Net. FWIW, I'm not a fan of Disney and have no interest in taking my kids there....
Posted by: emily at January 28, 2004 10:08 AMEmily:
I cannot confirm or deny the policy (which is why I wrote "apparently" in the post) through the net, but when I called Disney to make a reservation, they told me that the waiting would not be a problem because we could rent a wheelchair and wheelchair bound kids were permitted to go to the front of the line.
When I explained that our problem was not orthopedic, and explained a little about autism to the costomer service rep, the response was that a wheelchair pass was what they could do.
Posted by: Dwight Meredith at January 28, 2004 10:44 AMThe information I'm getting is that the policy is still in place, though it's discouraging that staff isn't better trained/informed (and sorry--I read your post quickly; you were more careful than I'd implied).
Posted by: emily at January 28, 2004 01:18 PMBTW, I can't *believe* I'm defending Disney.
Posted by: emily at January 28, 2004 01:23 PMEmily:
MB talked to some folks at Disney who tell her that the policy has not changed. Disney has always been real good on this issue (if not some others)so I really do not know what to think at this point. It could be that the person I talked to simply was not very knowedgable (although since they shuffled me off to 3 different people in an attempt to get an aswer, one might think that I eventually got to someone with knowledge).
I have contacted Disney by email and asked that they clarify the issue in writing. Whether they will or not remains to be seen. If I get a definitive reply, I will post it.
Posted by: dwight meredith at January 28, 2004 01:29 PM