If it's the Special Needs session at the local splash park and you're not a SN family, would you stay or go?

[Waitrosejunkie1]

What would you do?

[UmbongoUnchained]

A lot of people don't even know that sensory issues exist. I had a an angry woman tap me on the shoulder last week because I was shopping with my noise cancelling headphones on and my toddler asleep on my back.
How could I possibly parent without being able to hear if my child woke.
Um, because she's strapped to my fucking back you pleb. Pretty easy to tell when a toddler starts to wake up.

[WomanActually]

@umbongo I wonder how she feels about deaf parents, if she'd be angry at them too. Silly woman.

[hazeyjane]

What a lovely post, womanactually.

[thebestfurchinchilla]

The sign would indicate to me that you should go because it's such a small proportion of time out of the whole month that SN families should feel that they can get the full benefit.

[TrespassesW]

Apologies, I haven't RTFT, and I can see the debate has widened a bit, but in regard to the pool... If you took your kids to the swimming pool and there was an 'adults only' session on, you wouldn't think, "oh I've driven half an hour to get here, we're going in anyway". You would think "oh bugger, should have checked beforehand, let's go and play in the park instead". Am baffled as to why anyone would behave differently when they discovered they had turned up during a SN session.

[horizontilting]

That is a lovely post, in so many ways, WomanActually.

Our nearest cinema won't let you book the disabled seats (which are actually just a space with 2 seats removed - no cupholders or anything) - in their online system. You can book all the other seats online. To book a disabled "seat" - ie wheelchair space - you cannot use an automated system but have to call their management office 9-5, Mon-Fri only. So no booking the cinema over the weekend for Sunday morning.

They explained this is because people who do not have anyone disabled in their party book the wheelchair spaces online when they make them available for booking. The spaces are in the front row and between two standard seats so I suppose they look attractive to some people who would like to let their toddlers sit in their buggies in a wheelchair space in the cinema.

Obviously we can't go in if those spaces are booked - fire safety restrictions. So we can't really take a chance and just show up. So it's actually better if they make those spaces harder to book. But having to jump through those hoops adds another layer of difficulty and planning where it would be nice to just go the cinema.

I hope threads like these go some way to convincing people that (mis)using facilities which are designed to give people with disabilities a bit of access has knock-on effects, even when they've been thinking it "does no harm/it's not being used anyway/ I'd move if someone "disabled" came along"

[DriveInSaturday]

I used to take DS to Saturday morning disabled swimming sessions at our local pool. There was a regular crowd, mostly adults with a range of disabilities.

At one point we noticed that families without members with disabilities (sorry for the terrible phrasing) were coming into the pool during our session.

(Before anyone asks how I know, I work at the local school and know the families.)

One day my friend turned up with her DDs. I chatted to her and she told me that the person on the desk had told her it was the People with Disabilities session, but they could go in if THEY didn't mind!

The regular crowd couldn't believe it. Some of us minded a lot! It wasn't even a family disability session, it was just being hijacked by families who fancied a swim and couldn't be bothered to wait until 10.30.

We complained to the staff and things were fixed.

[DriveInSaturday]

Just to make it clear, my friend and her DDs could come in if they (my friend and DDs) didn't mind being surrounded by people with disabilities.

[MrsHathaway]

DriveIn that's left me feeling a bit queasy. SO GLAD it got resolved but I'm staggered that that attitude exists.

[fanjoforthemammaries7850]

I'm feeling rather depressed by the thread where a boy was nice but wanted to control things then had a meltdown and people are lining up to calm him an arsehole and a brat and various other names.

Awareness is sadly lacking in the world.

[NeedACleverNN]

If a Disney park can empty the entire park in 30 mins to allow just hotel holders to have special magic hours after closing time, the splash park should be able to do the same thing.

Yes children will be disappointed to have to leave but it's a good life lesson. You don't always get what you want.

Let someone else have a turn. They only get two hours a month

[UmbongoUnchained]

Is that the birthday party thread?

I'll call my own child an asshole but not someone else's...

[SuperFlyHigh]

I'd leave to let them have their own session. Quite to happy to be there if they were comfy with me being there though.

[Doggity]

Talk about selective reading....

[Doggity]

I'll call about disablism when I see it and don't condone calling kids names but seriously? The thread was about a mother who was incredibly offensive to another. OP did not pass a horrible judgement on the child, just explained what had happened that led to the events.

[UmbongoUnchained]

Oh yeah I totally agree with OP. Just think the posters calling the kid and asshole is a bit much.

[fanjoforthemammaries7850]

Way to miss my point

[UmbongoUnchained]

What point is that?

[fanjoforthemammaries7850]

Forget it

[UmbongoUnchained]

Lol ok then.

[Doggity]

Of course it's totally inexcusable to call a child - any child - a name. I don't see how it relates to this thread.

[Waitrosejunkie1]

It was a PBP anyway and was deleted. The nobhead.

[Waitrosejunkie1]

Some contact from the town council and further discussion to take place on Monday, so quite hopeful.