Is it weird to anyone else that OP hasn’t come back to post in the thread again?
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Not really. Like she said, she knew she’d get hate for it. She probably has no interest in reading the responses.
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Not weird to me.
I may be wrong but I think @Nolagal is more active in chat?
I think if someone “has their say” they can read responses but not have a need to respond to others.
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There are a few in WDW that are not mobility friendly
Mostly when the queues have stairs… stairs or not for me it’s the scheduled ride times that make the difference.
Not sure how DL works- we have a trip planned for January…All of our tickets have the G+ option- my family can generally hang longer than I can.
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So I was aware of the DAS “pass”, but in 8 days of park running, I couldn’t tell you if anyone around me ever used it. Of course there are herds of folks in mobility scooters, and it’s easy to make a snap judgement about the reason they’re using that scooter, but I try my best to not judge, and move along with my day because what they do has zero effect on my happiness. I assumed everyone in the LL with me also had G+.
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Thanks @PrincipalTinker .
I truly appreciate your support and congrats!
I enjoyed meeting you at our “ Liner Meet Up” and I hope all is going well with you.
My son is a success story and one that I am proud of. But the work was on him learning to navigate the real world and waiting in line.
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I believe I DM you. I do live in the Nola area and I appreciate your support.
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I too enjoyed talking to you!
@Nolagal ,I am editing my response….
I was just thinking about how we were comparing different school systems in different states. Then I thought of your goals, as an educator but more importantly as a mom, for your son- and I realized that with all the differences we all want 5e same thing, don’t we?
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I apologize if my thread caused you or anyone any rage.
I don’t come here often or read posts regularly so it has taken me awhile to read them.
I am a true advocate for disabilities and have dedicated my life and career to it. I am also a parent of a disabled son.
I am a true advocate for all students and adults with disabilities to take advantage of all of the accommodations that they can.
Especially in regards to the classroom learning and testing!
I can’t truly say I understand all the challenges people have with their disabilities or with their kids disabilities but I do stand by my original post.
I was angry with myself that evening for even considering using DAS for my son to use for the benefit of our family’s trip.
I have always taught and made sure my DS22 be an advocate for himself and how to live in the “ real world “ with waiting in lines.
I completely understand when people or kids can’t wait due to their disabilities but I don’t understand how or why one’s inability to wait in a line due to impatience is deserving of DAS and in MHOP that is what it has become.
I do stand by my original post and will expect to get disagreements from it.
But kids like all of us need to learn to wait in line.
I appreciate this forum and everyone’s opinion.
I do hope that those that truly need DAS continue to get it and that those that take advantage of it don’t.
Thanks and that is all I have to say about it.
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Maybe this is what made you angry? It sounds here as if, in that moment, you were seeing it as a tool for your family’s trip, instead of as a tool for your son?
I guess I look at it this way: we all need helps in life. I could not be sitting here typing this message right now if not for the glasses I’m wearing on my face. That’s my personal “disability”. I also have an autoimmune disorder that could make some parts of just existing uncomfortable or difficult if I did not take the medication I take that helps to regulate my body well. I could choose not to wear my glasses or take my medication, and just struggle along. But the tools are here for me and I choose to use them.
We are talking about different tools, but my point is that we all need help in different ways. And DAS is one tool that is available to people who may find it helpful to use to help them navigate a WDW vacation. It’s perfectly okay for them or those who care for them to not use the tool. But it doesn’t mean that those who do use it are bad people or weak or not working to their fullest potential.
I’m just trying to understand better the perspective that you have. I appreciate you coming back to the thread today!
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…not a Sped teacher explaining that Accommodations are bad for disabled people!!!
Wow!!
That is disinformation rooted in prejudice and perpetuates the stigma surrounding DAS. I’m a teacher and mom of a disabled kid, so this hit close to home. It feels like you would judge me for having a teen who is struggling, that somehow if I just pushed them, they’d be less disabled.
Please educate yourself on hidden disabilities. The truth is those people you were looking at in line may be struggling in ways you’ll never know. Your post perpetuates ableism on so many levels, whether that was your intention or not.
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Just wanted you and others to know about the mobility pass option since most things focus on DAS. They aren’t the same and they aren’t mutually exclusive either. Yes, it’s a pain to have to physically go get the pass but that’s how DAS worked before Genie 
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Thanks for further explaining your POV.
In general I agree, though I’d change that last word from “can” to “need.” (Which is quite likely what you meant, anyways.)
But either way, the above quote is not consistent with this:
You are specifically advocating for people with certain disabilities to not take advantage of an accommodation (DAS), even if they feel it’s needed.
I think the following quote reveals where we diverge:
As I understand it, there are reasons other than a typical sense of impatience.
If it’s not from typical impatience, why might a neurodivergent person not be able to stand in the normal line? Perhaps they have sensory sensitivities that prevent them from handling the line. The resulting stress of standing in the actual line might cause dysregulation and lead to self-regulatory activities that aren’t ok in a line (ex. throwing ones body around) or make them much more prone to a meltdown. They might suffer from anxiety in enclosed spaces. I’m betting there are other reasons. I don’t claim expertise, that’s for sure!
It can be problematic to assign motivations to other people based on their behavior. There’s a temptation to think of why I might act a certain way and apply that reason to someone else. If the reason is not right, though, it makes it difficult to handle the situation in a productive way. One could think, “John doesn’t like gym so he refuses to go,” when in reality John cannot tolerate the echoing noises of the gymnasium and is protecting his unusually sensitive auditory processing by refusing to go. Assigning the wrong motivation means one is unable to determine a potential solution, like ear defenders. Similarly, one might think “Amy is impatient and doesn’t like to stand in line,” when Amy is actually feeling like her surroundings are assaulting her sensitive visual and olfactory systems and the experience literally puts her in fight or flight mode.
I’m going to mention one of my favorite books about autism, which I found to be really insightful and touches on the difference between assuming motivations and really digging into the underlying reasons for a challenging behavior: Uniquely Human.
And while looking up the book for this post, I saw that there’s an updated version (onto my wishlist it goes!) and a podcast.
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Thank you for your insight and clarity. You make several excellent points.
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The other statement that rubbed me a little the wrong way is that you should teach to advocate for yourself but also live in the real world without use of accommodations. Whenever I am at parent/teacher conference, the one thing they tell me each time that makes me feel I’m doing a good job of raising a child with a disability is that he always advocates for himself. To me (and them) that means speaking up when the way they are doing something in class doesn’t meet his needs as a kid who functions differently and making sure he’s getting the accommodation he needs….like DAS.
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Oh - so *IS *there is an actual “psychical” pass at DLR for mobility…
That’s very different from WDW…
And if so I will need to rethink our upcoming plans-
So many questions on how this works with or without G+, with or without DAS-
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Very interesting conversation. I work with kids with disabilities under 3 so hearing some of what was shared for older kids and adults is interesting.
I have found that the kids under 3 that tend to be the most successful with their development are the ones that have parents who advocate for them to have what they need to be as independent as they can. (Kids under 3 really can’t advocate for themselves yet). Their parents push them, just like they do for their “typical” children and give them expectations. The kids that don’t have this tend to struggle more and don’t make as much progress. Whatever the reasons, the parents have not fostered more independence and some seem to use their child’s diagnosis as an excuse not to expect them to meet their potential. Those reasons could vary from the grief process, to not understanding the diagnosis, people taking advantage or just any other reason under the sun. Maybe OP is frustrated with this second group of people? However, you can’t control what others do, so you have to move on.
Sounds like there are a lot of people on here who are doing well with their children/adults and kudos to all of you. I hope the families I work with sound a lot like all of you in the future.
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Yes. At DLR there is a physical disability pass it only works on some of the older rides where the queues are not accessible to ECVs or wheelchairs. If you go to GS at City Hall or at DCA they can show you on a map. I don’t think I still have mine as we didn’t use this, but it was nice it was an option.
It’s for people who can’t go through a queue for physical reasons. An example where there are both is PotC. If you got to the PotC GS umbrella as a disabled guest with an ECV or wheelchair you have two choices. You can go through the LL but you must leave your assistive device behind (canes are ok) OR if you don’t feel comfortable doing the “short walk” you can go in through the exit an park your device right near where you get on. This is the physical disability pass process.
- we did the LL option the time we rode it was fine for getting on, but once we were done and had gotten off we had to walk a considerable distance to get back to where we had parked our ECVs. The “short walk” on was a very long walk off.
- doing that once was enough and we decided that we would use the exit process for any other rides on PotC. DH was majorly wiped out by the time we got back to our ECVs.
- when we went a second time we told the GS umbrella person we needed the ECVs and she directed us to the exit. We went in through the exit and there was a dedicated place to park our ECVs only a few steps from entering the boats, it was the same place we got off when over and we again only had to walk a few steps.
- a person with DAS and a physical disability could have one pass each for the rides that have the older queues.
- if you have DAS and go to a ride with DAS but that also has an old inaccessible queue and are in a wheelchair/ecv you will likely be directed to the exit so you can walk as little as possible
Someone who broke their ankle and uses a wheelchair or crutches would qualify for the physical disability pass on the rides that have it.
I’ve tried to be thorough but if you have any questions please ask.
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It works similarly at WDW, but there is no special passes for it. You get directed to the place you need to go once you tap in. For PotC, you have to get a wheelchair, though. If you don’t have someone to push you and they have enough people working, a CM will take you through.
JC will actually take you in your ECV using a cool lift. You have to wait for a boat that has the capability.
I didn’t ride a lot of rides on my last trip, though.
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