Today is 1/1/12. I have decided to embark on a new endeavor. This project will be to write this blog about autism awareness, events, my family, my perspective or whatever really comes to mind.
Over the past 10 days, my wife, son and I were traveling for the Holidays. For the first week of vacation, the three of us spent it in Vegas with my parents, brother and sister-in-law. The time spent with the parents, brother and sister-in-law is always fun as well as challenging. Balancing my time between my son and wife and my parents, brother and sister-in-law can be a little nerve fraying. However, I believe we escaped otherwise unscathed and left for three days at Disneyland.
We arrived in Long Beach after a 40 minute flight. It took nearly as long to rent a car. Suffice to say, that while the trainee at the Avis counter was a pleasant and friendly as a customer service representative could be speed is not yet an attribute she has attained. Finally, on the road, we made the drive from the airport to Disneyland in under a half hour. Yes, it also took longer to rent a car than drive 27 miles, but I digress.
We arrive at Disneyland, check in and head out to California Adventure Park. This park has three of my son's favorite rides: Soarin' over California, Mike and Sully to the rescue and Toy Story Mania. To be honest I like two of the three rides too. We called it an early evening and decided to get out to the parks early the next day.
A little Disney knowledge may be necessary. Disney has a system in place to assist guess who require a bit more assistance due to a developmental or physical disability. This system is a godsend to families with children impacted by autism. It makes the trip easier for the parents and allows an expedite trip through the theme parks.
Both DisneyWorld and Disneyland provide this accommodation to guests. My family is a frequent traveler to both Disney resorts. We have put this accommodation to good use to provide our son an opportunity to enjoy a visit to the theme parks. It is a good system but not without abuse. To put it bluntly, DisneyWorld guests abuse this accommodation significantly less than Disneyland guests. The number of individuals that visit Disneyland that I saw who circumvent the rules to access this system is staggering. In my opinion these individuals further insult individuals impacted by development or physical disabilities and their families. These individuals already stare, mock, or otherwise engage in boorish behavior towards those who struggle to overcome their disabilities. While Disney provides the facilities to provide a setting for the Happiest Place on Earth, these individuals take away the one equalizing system that makes a trip magical. For those individuals who have questions or complains about this system, I can only speak for myself, but ask me about why we are in line, about my son and how this makes him feel like every other 12 year old.
I can deal with the noise, the heat, the cold, the wait, the staring, pointing, laughing et al. What I cannot deal with is when individuals subvert a system designed to bring a little more joy to the lives of those impacted by disabilities.
The smiles, laughs and joy that I see on my son's face when we are at any one of the parks is priceless and a moment of pure happiness that cannot be replicated.
However, our trip was not all about being upset with a few individuals. We met several families with impacted with autism. A parent of a child impacted by autism can always put another family. On Space Mountain and It's a Small World, we encountered other families impacted by autism enjoying Disneyland Park. In short conversations during or after each of these rides, we were able to provide and received advice, encouragement and laughs as well as a few stories regarding our experiences in the theme parks. It was these opportunities in community that made that boorish behavior of others dissolve into the smiles, laughs and happiness.
Thank you to the other families impacted by disabilities that put themselves out in the world and live life for reminding me why we do what we do.
Thanks for reading; more to come.
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