Will Disney go for Autism Accreditation?

[k8Davies]

Just saw this interesting Article

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-43640054

Sesame Place is the first but I am sure a lot of other parks will want the Accreditation as well.

So personally how great they've been with my family, I think it won't be long before Disney is recognized, but that my only opinion and thought I'd share the article.

 

[nikkislaght]

We are going again to DL in less than two weeks, this will be our 9th trip.. my son has ASD and never once have I felt they have not accommodated him, I know thats not what you are saying,,
I feel that Disney corp does an amazing job of accommodating people with disabilities. Whether physical or cognitive .While I think training staff to be aware of autism, is great, I believe Disney would and is training their staff to be vigilante on all abilities .

 

[lanejudy]

I had more written but for now I will simply agree with @nikkislaght that Disney does, and should continue to, accommodate and train their staff with regards to ALL disabilities and not focus on one diagnosis. Remember some reports from the early days of DAS? Many guests were outright told "it's only for autism" even when official word stated need-based and not diagnosis-based.

 

[Hoodie]

I'd be interested in seeing what other parks follow now that this certification exists. Disney does an amazing job, but they are lacking the "quiet spots" and separate guide that this indicates.

That said, the scale and scope are completely different. Sesame Place is minuscule compared to Disney Parks. They also fall under the Sea World/Busch Gardens umbrella so it will be interesting to see how many of their properties implement this as well. Especially since we found Sea World as one of the hardest parks to find info about for ASD/SPD accommodations.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

I had more written but for now I will simply agree with @nikkislaght that Disney does, and should continue to, accommodate and train their staff with regards to ALL disabilities and not focus on one diagnosis. Remember some reports from the early days of DAS? Many guests were outright told "it's only for autism" even when official word stated need-based and not diagnosis-based.

Oh, yes. There are still many cast members that believe that. And many guests.

 

[k8Davies]

I had more written but for now I will simply agree with @nikkislaght that Disney does, and should continue to, accommodate and train their staff with regards to ALL disabilities and not focus on one diagnosis. Remember some reports from the early days of DAS? Many guests were outright told "it's only for autism" even when official word stated need-based and not diagnosis-based.

Definitely agree Disney staff should be training and made aware of all disabilities; and if there are other awards or accreditation for other disabilities then they should be striving for those as well.

Only put this up as it's a new Accreditation and it got me thinking (Which is a rare thing for me )

 

[Firebird060]

Although Disney is great with accommodating all guest with Disabilities, I think the only issue that might stop Disney from going after this accreditation is the quiet spaces requirement. With Disney resorts still pretty much being above the 90 percent occupancy every night, Disney might not want to lose the space it would require to make that accommodation as it would cost them both money to implement and future money on reservations if they have to take a room or rooms out of rotation to meet this requirement at every resort.

But hey you never know Disney might think this is something they want to follow, but honestly it probably will come down to the cost vs profit formula.

 

[FortForever]

Many guests were outright told "it's only for autism" even when official word stated need-based and not diagnosis-based.

Could be because people call everything autism now. It's gotten completely ridiculous. Anything off in a kid now is labeled autism, if only by the parents. I personally know quite a few people who will tell you their kids have autism, when clearly they do not. It's become such a catch all for a huge range of disabilities, and sometimes just outright behavior problems.

 

[Smittolis]

Could be because people call everything autism now. It's gotten completely ridiculous. Anything off in a kid now is labeled autism, if only by the parents. I personally know quite a few people who will tell you their kids have autism, when clearly they do not. It's become such a catch all for a huge range of disabilities, and sometimes just outright behavior problems.

This is mainly due to the fact the Spectrum has grown exponentially as neuroscience becomes more understood and its intrinsic links to brain chemistry and biology. While I'm sure your intentions were positive, your post is somewhat negative towards parents of special needs children with an accusation that it's a way for parents to admonish themselves from poor parenting or simply rowdy uncontrollable kids. Back in the day the diagnosis was 'Autism' or 'Aspergers' with very little in between. Now as cognitive science and neurology have advanced greatly, there are a myriad of other very real disorders in between. Hence why the diagnosis is now termed ASD with the emphasis on Spectrum. By sheer definition of the word, it includes a spectrum of disorders and thus a relative sliding scale of potential neurological disabilities.

I remember a decade or so ago this exact same statement was made with regards to children with ADD or ADHD.

As part of parenting, it should be required for all parents to first spend a day or two with a special needs child so they can see the wonders of how they see the world. It will certainly put a lot of things into perspective. Just remember, extinguishing someone else's candle doesn't make yours shine any brighter ;o)

 

[gap2368]

While I would love some quiet places in the park ( I do not have ASD, but do have SPD, ADD,) I know it would help me a lot. I can not see Disney doing this at all. I mean they set aside a place for DVC member and VIP lounges and club 33 I just do not see then setting aside a place for people with ASD or SPD to go ( well they do have first aids for that) I think the smaller parks can do this since they do not need the other space that can bring in money.


It looks like lego land is head in the same direction as they offer quiet area ( first aid, baby care center) but also weighted blankets, squishy toys and noise canceling headphone too

https://endpoint910861.azureedge.ne...r_servicesforguestswithdisabilities_final.pdf

 

[Nikciburd]

Could be because people call everything autism now. It's gotten completely ridiculous. Anything off in a kid now is labeled autism, if only by the parents. I personally know quite a few people who will tell you their kids have autism, when clearly they do not. It's become such a catch all for a huge range of disabilities, and sometimes just outright behavior problems.

So you are the arbiter of who has a “real” autism diagnosis in lieu of the trained medical professionals who gave those parents a diagnosis of ASD? Frankly, that’s insulting. I’m a mother of an autistic child. He’s obviously autistic to almost anyone who knows anything. He’s very happy and mostly a well-behaved kid though (at least as the public can see because I have him under control mostly). However, I also have the privilege of being an educator and I’ve met many autistic kids in my professional life. One in my class this year did not stand out to me until I got in the classroom for over a week. He was fairly high functioning and was keeping it together. As the year got harder, and more demands were placed, it became somewhat evident to my trained eye. Others with less experience, however, might have just thought he was a whiny little brat who didn’t want to do his work. Nope. He has a clear case of ASD and he’s doing extremely well overall. No one should second guess an ASD diagnosis.

 

[FortForever]

As part of parenting, it should be required for all parents to first spend a day or two with a special needs child so they can see the wonders of how they see the world. It will certainly put a lot of things into perspective. Just remember, extinguishing someone else's candle doesn't make yours shine any brighter ;o)

So you are the arbiter of who has a “real” autism diagnosis in lieu of the trained medical professionals who gave those parents a diagnosis of ASD? Frankly, that’s insulting. I’m a mother of an autistic child.

To put this in perspective, I am the mother of 28 year old son with autism. He was diagnosed by doctors at Johns Hopkins way before autism was well known. While my other 3 children have grown and are independent, my life will always be dedicated to helping my son navigate this crazy world.

I would not disagree with a doctor's diagnosis of autism, but do know more than one parent who "disagrees" with the professionals' diagnosis and have arbitrarily decided their children are on the spectrum.

Be insulted if you want, but I'm insulted by people trying to claim their children have autism when they don't. They don't know the struggle, they just want to claim it.

 

[Nikciburd]

To put this in perspective, I am the mother of 28 year old son with autism.

I would not disagree with a doctor's diagnosis of autism, but do know more than one parent who "disagrees" with the professionals' diagnosis and have arbitrarily decided their children are on the spectrum.

Well,that’s different because there is no diagnosis to begin with. I have only met one of those so far. She’s a mental case though. Sorry if I got a little defensive.

 

[FortForever]

Well,that’s different because there is no diagnosis to begin with. I have only met one of those so far. She’s a mental case though. Sorry if I got a little defensive.

No problem. I should have stated these things in my original post. It does drive me crazy, though. I do know other people with children with on the spectrum and certainly don't deny that it's becoming more and more common. But knowing the pain and stress of our lives makes it a sore spot with me when people try to "use" the diagnosis where it's not appropriate. Some of them don't even know the basic characteristics and haven't even taken the time to research it.

When my son was diagnosed, even prior to the world wide web, I made it my personal goal in life to learn EVERYTHING I possibly could.

I that being said, I would NEVER judge anyone in public, with a child having a meltdown. There is no way to know what is going on with them. They always get my utmost sympathy. I'm only talking about I personally know. I have a pretty small circle and know two people that fall into this category, so I can only imagine there must be many more out there.

 

[gap2368]

Be insulted if you want, but I'm insulted by people trying to claim their children have autism when they don't. They don't know the struggle, they just want to claim it.

I know a few people that are like this even tho the Dr says their children do not have ASD they still say they do.

 

[Smittolis]

No problem. I should have stated these things in my original post. It does drive me crazy, though. I do know other people with children with on the spectrum and certainly don't deny that it's becoming more and more common. But knowing the pain and stress of our lives makes it a sore spot with me when people try to "use" the diagnosis where it's not appropriate. Some of them don't even know the basic characteristics and haven't even taken the time to research it.

When my son was diagnosed, even prior to the world wide web, I made it my personal goal in life to learn EVERYTHING I possibly could.

I that being said, I would NEVER judge anyone in public, with a child having a meltdown. There is no way to know what is going on with them. They always get my utmost sympathy. I'm only talking about I personally know. I have a pretty small circle and know two people that fall into this category, so I can only imagine there must be many more out there.

As I said in my original post, I'm sure it wasn't your intended purpose so I am glad you were able to clarify.

One thing I have found from spending a lot of time around Doctors is that they are not always right. There is something to be said about a parents intuition! However, it is very poor form for people to simply palm off any kind of behavioral deviance as being a serious biological condition as opposed to a learned response i.e. poor behavior.

Interestingly, I have found more and more parents who have children that are suspected of having some form of ASD or other learning difficulties to be really really reticent to have them evaluated and as such experience a lot of hardship throughout their early childhood schooling before eventually coming to terms with the possibility and initiating medical / behavioral evaluations. I don't think it's a case of more people are using the diagnosis but more so a case of people being more aware that these issues exist. Either way, education is the key to success, both for those involved directly with the conditions as well as the general public who will be exposed to it.

Thank you for sharing.

 

[FortForever]

Interestingly, I have found more and more parents who have children that are suspected of having some form of ASD or other learning difficulties to be really really reticent to have them evaluated and as such experience a lot of hardship throughout their early childhood schooling before eventually coming to terms with the possibility and initiating medical / behavioral evaluations.

With the exception of denying my son help, which I had to fight for all those years ago, I would somewhat fall into this category. While, intellectually, I knew the diagnosis was correct, and had suspected some sort of disability since birth, my heart took many years to come to terms with it. I went to bat for my son and he had every possible therapy and educational advantage, yet I was reluctant to discuss the diagnosis with family or friends until he was much older. Most of society didn't know what autism was back then. I didn't have it in me to explain the complexities of it to everyone.

And you are absolutely correct that doctors are not always right. However, any mother who has spent a lifetime with a child on the spectrum can certainly tell when they are.

 

[LadyD]

Interestingly, I have found more and more parents who have children that are suspected of having some form of ASD or other learning difficulties to be really really reticent to have them evaluated and as such experience a lot of hardship throughout their early childhood schooling before eventually coming to terms with the possibility and initiating medical / behavioral evaluations. I don't think it's a case of more people are using the diagnosis but more so a case of people being more aware that these issues exist. Either way, education is the key to success, both for those involved directly with the conditions as well as the general public who will be exposed to it.

So much this. I’m one of those people who had parents that were reluctant to seek an evaluation growing up even though something was clearly off. As a result, I struggled in every capacity except academically and only once I realized what I was going through was not what most people dealt with on a day to day basis did I go and seek medical treatment on my own when I was nearly 30. Receiving my ASD diagnosis is probably the best thing that has ever happened to me because it has allowed me to better understand how I perceive the world compared to others and allowed me to receive the support I need so I am not so miserable every day. It’s hard to say what would have happened had I received my diagnosis as a child (support services available now look a lot different than 25 years ago), but ultimately acceptance and understanding from those around you is so critical to being able to live a happy, healthy life, especially when you’re on the spectrum.

As far as Disney seeking the certification, I don’t see them intentionally going after it for the sheer training requirement for employees. For a company like WDW, that is a whole lot of documentation to track and stay up on with such a revolving door of CMs due to things like the college program. I do wish that Disney had more quiet spaces, but how would you police that? I see potentially a lot of conflict with guests over what constitutes as being mindful of the quiet space at Disney.

 

[DisneyOma]

This company that gives out the "certification" - does anyone know about them? I've never heard of them and I've worked in special education for 16+ years. Are they nonprofit or for profit/ they sell stuff on their website, so I'm a bit skeptical.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

Well,that’s different because there is no diagnosis to begin with. I have only met one of those so far. She’s a mental case though. Sorry if I got a little defensive.

I know three.

One that went to so many different doctors, one of them wondered if the mother just enjoyed the attention. And he was right. She does. She did finally get her diagnosis. Not from a specialist, but from a GP that she was told would hand out whatever diagnosis you wanted, plus pretty much any script you asked for. Now her life is defined by it, and she is in all of her glory.