Alton Towers to remove disability pass for people with ADHD and anxiety

[AnitaRita]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2gwgj4xreo
Too many people wanting to join the "Fast pass queue" so you actually end up with two queues rather than one queue and a fast entry! Got to agree with them - if you're too anxious to queue then a white knuckle ride is probably not for you!

Why is it so necessary for an autistic person on the verge of meltdown to be taken on a white knuckle ride?

There is a difference between not liking queuing and not being able to do it though. I have autism and adhd and don’t like queuing but I can do it. DS has both and can not queue, not for want of trying he simply can’t manage it it causes him intense distress and means we have to leave places.

but the issue is so many people now say they can’t queue (rather than just don’t like to) it means for those who have a genuine need the passes start to mean nothing.

Well they wouldn’t be if they didn’t have to queue. That’s the point!

how can people say people are wrong to apply though?
if it is offered with a diagnosis people take it.

Wouldn’t bother me if I had someone like that in the queue. They is no need for anyone to be upset at the thought of that.

You’re right. I’ve been saying for a LONG time that this constant diagnosing everything and everyone with autism will eventually backfire, and I’m being proved right (before everyone just screamed at me that I was ableist and a terrible human being).

We tried to say, and just got shouted down. This is just the beginning. Now people like your child may find it harder to access services because functioning people see it as their human right to be diagnosed as ND.

The system is too overused as there is a massive proportion of the population with ADHD or autism nowadays and everyone thinks they are entitled to some kind of special treatment.

I have an older DD with anxiety and a son with autism. We have never been to a theme park as it would be too much for my children. Complete and total sensory overload. We stick to local funfairs for this very reason.

Theme parks not to stop overselling tickets so that this would stop the insane queuing times and maybe they should have midweek term time days for home education children that are out of school as there are so many ND families that home educate now if they visited on a day when the general public were less likely to be there there wouldn't be queuing issues.

because they might want to go on the ride?
my son loves rollercoasters. But good luck to anyone stood in a queue next to him. There are lots of things he can't do without accommodations.. should he not be able to do those things either? Should I just lock him in a cupboard or something?

There are so many reasons that people might have an especially difficult time standing in a long queue, but be able to enjoy a ride or attraction. Not every queue leads to a follow coaster. There is no way for these disability programs to adequately evaluate every single person’s needs. For every person they do help, there are multiple other people with just as high needs left struggling.

What would actually be useful is systems that get rid of the long standing queues for everyone. Seating, shade, and even something as simple as taking a number would make things better for everyone, but especially people with additional needs.

When my son was younger, he would literally be trying to grab strangers out of the blue and screeching in the most high pitched voice ever. Then aLeo jumping and spinning etc he would have been knocking into people in a confined space like a queue. He'd essentially had have to have been restrained the whole time to queue without touching other people.

I know a lot of people will hate this, but having been on the other side of the reasoning, I understand it.

My ‘child’ is in a wheelchair, full time. We used to love using Merlin attractions as we live close to three. Unfortunately, he couldn’t ride a lot of them because he wasn’t able to walk. (Obviously since he’s in a wheelchair). The evacuation process requires all riders to be ambulatory, even when he was light enough for me to be able to carry him. I once took a teenager with special needs, she wanted to go on the water rapids ride. She went with my eight year old because I wasn’t allowed to take my other child on. Half way round the teenager decided to try and climb out because she was getting overwhelmed. Thank god there was another family in the boat because I hate to think what would have happened.

If some people get overwhelmed queuing then they really shouldn’t risk going on these rides in the first place.

I can’t understand why these parks have such enormous queues in the first place. By now there must a a successful system of virtual queuing for everyone.

Yes, that’s the only other option to bringing a distressed child on a rollercoaster. Lock him in a cupboard 👍

It says ADHD and anxiety, not autism and complex learning disabilities.

Codswallop. A child with spectrum/sensory/anxiety issues may not be able to cope with queuing because of one aspect of their condition, but would get a lot out of the actual ride itself. The black and white thinking resulting in taking away this concession from those who genuinely need it because the perception is that they don’t have a ‘real’ disability or they’re somehow abusing the system, is really concerning. As is the support for it here from people who have little or no experience of neurodiversity or disability in general.

The problem with this is that it is being reported that it is those with anxiety and ADHD who are being affected and the public response is actually siding with merlin because they think those conditions - especially anxiety - shouldn’t be eligible anyway.

What people are failing to understand is that this means all autistic individuals can no longer access this - unless they have a physical condition. No one seems to grasp that this is directly preventing a huge amount of people from accessing the park . It is discrimination.

My son is 18 and autistic. He is heartbroken. Rollercoasters are his hyper focus . I have watched him on them and other thrill rides and he is stimming the whole time and he is happy , they regulate him. He knows he struggles and now knows unless it changes he won’t be able to go anymore. He spends his life watching others his age do things he cannot and live a life that he cannot and he is very aware of that. Theme parks are his thing , the things he looks forward to.

It is not anxiety that stops him being able to queue. He doesn’t get anxious about other people in the queue , but he gets overstimulated. It is standing in one place for a long time, with no distraction, and no certainty on when he can go on a ride. If the queue said 20 mins and we waited 20 mins and were not on he would go into meltdown as he would not understand why. These meltdowns are very distressing and can result in self injury and would mean the end of the day as he would be exhausted, embarrassed and upset. He can’t deal with not knowing when and why the queue hasn’t moved when he knows exactly how long the ride is on for .

A virtual queue can work - if he was told you can come back and go on this ride in 20 mins, 30 min , even an hour - because he would know the time . But he categorically cannot handle the queue . This is what these passes mean .

He would not be distressed on the rollercoaster. Are you missing the point on purpose? He would very likely become distressed in an hour plus long queue, with a RAP being able to virtually queue whilst waiting somewhere calm, he was able to enjoy rollercoasters because he wasn't overwhelmed and on the verge of a meltdown by the time he got there.

Where did the poster say he was distressed ? If he was offered the opportunity to wait his turn somewhere quieter and less stressful, as this accommodation does, then the likelihood is he would enjoy the ride. Why the sneering attitude ?

It's not nonsense you just don't understand anxiety.

What makes people anxious is other people not scary rides.

No wonder we're in trouble if the basic concept of feeling under pressure because there are too many people, it's too loud or you're being judged can be so badly misunderstood.

Try to educate yourself before joining a band wagon of people who lack understanding.

there is a massive proportion of the population with ADHD or autism nowadays

If it were to exceed 50%, then surely it becomes "the norm" ? And people without autism or ADHD would be considered disadvantaged :?

Asking for a statistician ....

My ADHD is internally hyperactive, so stimulants and non stimulants don’t agree with me (made my heart rate too high). I don’t need help focusing. I need help stopping hyper focusing (e.g. chronic utis because I forget to wee, forgetting to eat/drink, working till ridiculous hours).

Typical “male” adhd responds quite well to stimulants but not drugs have actually been made to help more commonly female types.

But that said I’d never even consider a pass for my adhd even though it’s pretty debilitating in relationships.

I also think this shows the huge lack of understanding around “ hidden disabilities “ . If Merlin said those in wheelchairs could no longer use a RAP pass there would be uproar - when , really , a lot of wheelchair users do not have limited capability / understanding etc and are fine to wait as long as the queue is physically accessible for them. The same with a lot who physically have trouble standing - it isn’t about the mental distress of waiting , it is physical which technically could be solved by a physically accessible queue . But , they can get a RAP pass solely on the basis of having a physical disability- because to take that away would be seen as very blatant discrimination.

the changes do not say that. It says only those with difficulty standing, urgent toilet needs and I need of level access can now be eligible for a ride access pass. You're being manipulated by the media if you think it's just anxiety and ashd excluded.

I organised a school trip to a theme park several years ago. Over 300 kids and about a third of them had already organised their own fast pass due to anxiety / ADHD / Autism. Some of them I did not even know had these disabilities. It is not fair on those who genuinely cannot stand in queues. And interesting that they were all okay on the crowded, noisy coaches with the unpredictability of traffic conditions.

I agree. All these people have RAPs because MERLIN decided they were eligible for them! And no one's getting them because they were diagnosed asd/adhd. When we applied we had to produce evidence that queuing for example was a problem. Clearly it's got to a point where they're not very beneficial anymore so eligibility needs tightening, but no one rocks up and goes yeah I'm autistic/have adhd/anxiety and automatically gets handed a RAP.

Yes agree with others a white knuckle ride is the last thing an anxious person should go on.
Queue jumping should be for those with complex disabilities, not adhd or anxiety.