Special Needs Sensitivity and Business
I’ve noticed at amusement parks and some places that for special needs people, there are certain hoops that a person has to jump through now to get passes for special access. Some parks have modified their rides to be wheelchair friendly to the point where you can literally take your wheelchair on a rollercoaster.
Some parks though have gotten pretty tight with granting access because so many jerks and lazy slobs have abused the special needs pass access. Because somebody is tired they should NOT be given a wheelchair. Sit down and rest. If they actually have a documented condition, that is fine with me. Bring a doctor’s note with you otherwise you are taking access away from my daughter and others like her.
I am tired of the Carlos Mencia (that isn’t even his real first name, by the way, he uses it to sound more Latino) nonsense about people expecting special needs people to say that others are either better than that. His harping on special needs because they are an easy target is nonsense. If he ever has a child or relative born with special needs he will sing a different tune.
To be fair, there are some special needs comics who use their disabilities as part of their routine. More power to them I say. For a lot of people who can’t speak to defend themselves, all they are asking for is a little bit of courtesy.
At one of the amusement parks in Southern California, we had people give us grief about Arianna trying to get a pass. One look at my daughter and as gorgeous as she is you can see that she, due to her hang-wringing from Rett Syndrome has something going on. The guy gave us the party line until we basically showed him the pass we had last time. Sharren and I had gone to the park with our documentation in the past.
Also, please tell all everybody that special needs chairs and access are there for special needs people first people. Get your freaking baby strollers out of the way. We had an instance where we were cut off by a family with a stroller. Not cool. The amusement park employees wereon it and corrected the situation. Kudos all around!
Our money is just as good as people’s money who don’t have special needs relatives. I can just as easily find another venue where my wife, kids and relatives can go to spend more money.
Have any rants or bones to rattle about special needs and business? How about people who aren’t disabled using driving cards they shouldn’t? Let me know your beefs here.
Part of all my book proceeds go to research finding a cure for Rett Syndrom and reversal of symptoms.
Questions or comments? Let me know about them! Thanks for taking the time to visit and for more information or to get back to the beginning of the blog, go here.
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Kim Greenblatt, on his blog, profitable, talks about the recent breakdown in treatment of people with special needs because of people abusing the system and what people can do to change it. More at http://www.kimgreenblatt.com/wordpress.
Tags: amusement parks, Autism, Business, Carlos Mencia, Cerebral Palsy, CP, customer service, disabilities, disabled, jokes, Muscular Dystrophy, Rett Syndrome, ride access, special needs, spending money, wheelchairs
August 11th, 2008 at 3:48 am
[...] Read the rest of this great post here [...]
August 12th, 2008 at 12:04 am
[...] profitable Dealing with people with special needs, improving everybody’s quality of life and making a profit aren’t always exclusive. « Special Needs Sensitivity and Business [...]
October 23rd, 2008 at 12:13 am
[...] Parents must not have learned manners themselves or spend too much time thinking about themselves. That must be the only way to explain it. People today and their kids just don’t want to take the time for a little bit of courtesy. Be honest with yourself, do you like it when people cop an attitude with you? Sometimes your rudeness might be interpreted as unforgivable. [...]