Are people just less tolerant of disability accessibility now ?

[Takemeback02]

I have been raising a disabled child 11 years now and the first 5 ish years I never really dealt with many issues regarding to the assistance she received or disability access.
the last 5 years has been a real struggle. Usually transport / theme parks etc

most recently 6 of us went on holiday abroad to a European destination, 2 disabled children who require a lot of extra care with very high medical needs and equipment. We always check the hotels first and we speak to before choosing one that works for us. We picked a hotel that offered reserved disabled Sun beds. We arrived and they offered us 6 ( same as whole party ) but we told them we only needed 3. We chose ones away from the kids sections and to the side of the main pool,
they were reserved everyday. They placed disabled badge stickers on the beds for the duration of our stay. I reckon there
was 3 days out of 10 where we didn’t have an issue with someone taking them. Most would move on once asked but have a little moan as they did it and a few who got obviously very upset.

one of the days was a nightmare, we were at the pool bar and physically saw a women tair off the disabled badge sticker and throw it on the ground. I put it back on before going to get the kids
changed and when I got back lady was on bed and had removed the sticker again and lobbed it on the floor.

I just feel the last few years there is an obvious difference in peopls
Tolerance for accessibility or has it always been this way ?

don’t get me wrong I know from the past actual accessibility had got far better but it just feels like it annoys people now.

Yes Disney does not give queue passes for simply using a wheelchair.

Not the thread but realistically we cant have all adhd and all asd kids and family skipping to the front if that adds uo to say 6%+ kids then adding sibs/others acessing rides at the same time.
And i say that with an asd child who doesnt q well.
Then add in those with other disabilities or temporary broken leg etc.

Then obviously theme parks have people paying to skip q too.
Tbh we havent been in a yr as 60-90 per q only 7-10 rides a day.

On terms of op im not sure you said if there were other free sunbeds?

I guess its partly people not likeling you bagsying the sunbeds when not actually using them at the time.

Overally people seem keen to get the benefit of a SN even when its not medocally needed - see thread about people parking in disabled bays then disabled person not getting out.

Only some asd kids would be unable to q. For others getting used to it is good. As there will be q they have to wait in. Really we shouldnt be payong to go in somewhere to wait more than 30mon ots rather a con.
At ppw it was crazy as the q move so slowly and its kids under like 6 so many of them cant stand for 2h!

In travelling with my niece who has severe developmental disorder and other physiological issues. She is very small for her age (14) and very obviously has special needs. But she does not need special equipment. Here in Spain everyone has been very kind and accommodating and engaged with her.
It does worry me if there is an ongoing trend to intolerance. My DD was diagnosed with MS at 17, and while not disabled in any way now, it can suddenly change. It's one of those 'hidden disabilities'. She is a bit clumsy and has poor balance, and suffers from fatigue. She may need to sit on the tube for example, but outwardly looks perfectly normal.

Most theme parks now are moving towards a system whereby you need to provide evidence of need not just diagnosis for ride access passes and things which although it is a pain in the backside to sort does make more sense because it hopefully ensures support is based on need.

Only envy a person’s accommodations if you are prepared to also take on their pain and struggles.

I bet the person who moved the disabled symbols on the reserved sun bed saw a ‘perk’ - but didn’t consider the realities of the Incontinence / tube feeding/ access issues/ seizures / learning difficulties / medication / pain / sleeplessness / hospital appointments / EHCprocess etc etc etc

People envy the sun bed reservation here or the queue pass in a theme park etc but don’t take a second to imagine how hard life actually is living with a disability.

I agree that it’s got worse and I agree with PPs who say some people think adjustments for disabled people are some kind of unfair perk.
What those people refuse to understand is that these adjustments just remove part of the barriers that we face. Even with adjustments we are hugely disadvantaged and less able to take part in everyday life than they are.

But this is where it becomes a case of access and adjustments vs compensation.
I'm not denying disabled people have a much harder life in most aspects. But just because they have a harder life generally does that mean they should get a queue jump pass if they don't actually need to jump the queue?
(I realise queue jumps isn't the point of the thread but it's just the best way to ask the question)
If a holiday hotel was allowing disabled people to reserve sunloungers without asking for needs, should someone considered disabled due to having ADHD get reserved sunloungers for their entire family?

@PaperSheet if you can not sit by the side of the pool, then a sun lounger may be the only way to access being outside.

I have always thought disability passes at theme parks were for those with physical disabilities.
I don’t think those with ADHD/ND and no physical impairment need a pass to bypass the queue. Surely if you receive DLA for ND you would use that to buy fast passes?

@TinklySnail Disney say if you use a wheelchair you can queue in your wheelchair. If you can not stand for long, they say you have to hire a wheelchair. Fast passes are only for those with neurodiversity or similar who struggle to queue for long. Obviously some people may use a wheelchair and be neurodiverse.

It does not matter what you think, thank goodness. Maybe educate yourself on the reasons that people who are ND may require those concessions.

@LadyKenya they did used to only be for those with complex disabilities. So I can see how the confusion has arisen.

Yes I understand that and agree it's a good thing for where its actually needed. But the problem is these things start being used by people that don't need them and that's possibly where those without disabilities start losing empathy etc.
You start getting people with hearing loss getting queue jump passes and reserved sunloungers.
Accessible things should be based on need. Not JUST on the fact they have a disability. Not all disabilities require every adjustment. A person with autism does not need the wheelchair space on the bus etc. A person with hearing loss in one ear does not need to queue jump at a theme park.

I think this is true plus there has been such a scarcity of resources I think it's created more of an every person for themselves mentality.

I think the massive massive increase in ND is partly to blame. It’s not just a tiny minority who are disabled so in the queue jumping example it feels like there are more people who qualify than don’t.

There are many situations where someone with a neurodiversity will be significantly less capable of waiting than someone with a physical disability. A wheelchair user might be sitting in the same chair all day and it makes very little difference to their physical well-being if they’re in a queue or in a restaurant. A person who might get huge benefit from the sensory experience of a ride might be unable to understand that they are going to do something unusual but that they have to stand and wait very still for a long time and if they did it would be emotionally and possibly physically harmful for them.

On the OP, I think people become especially intolerant at airports and on holiday. Or any time they’re doing something that is a bit special to them and cost money. They’d be nice when they’re doing their weekly shop and aren’t in a hurry, but when doing something they’ve paid for, their entitlement outweighs their kindness.

I think a lot of the culture war, right-wing rhetoric about 'wokeness' has emboldened people to be selfish and bigoted. What was, and should be considered a reasonable accomodation, is now being framed as 'entitled' or 'snowflakey'.

It is nasty.

As borne out by some comment on this thread, there is a possible perceived hierarchy of worthy disabilities or what they believe a person needs help with.
For example, it seems that many understand that a person with a leg amputation (to use the example above) and in a wheelchair would need a space on a bus but may not understand why they would need to go to the front of a queue at passport control and cannot queue along with everyone else.

Yes!!!!!! 100000000% OP. I was just thinking this today.
However, conversely, I only ever get challenged about parking in disabled, by those approaching or post retirement age. Just my own experience though, it may not be across the board, but I've personally never ever been challenged by anyone my own age (40) or younger.
Tolerance & general compassion is def getting worse though, you're right there

I have a little boy with ADHD. He is very sweet, but he absolutely cannot cope with queues. This is more so than the usual 5-year-old who does not like queuing. We recently took him to Legoland. We had fast passes (these are not easy to get by the way! You have to have a whole body of evidence to get an access pass to allow you to not have to queue.) we went on a Monday in termtime and it was great. But even on a 'quieter' day it would have been impossible if we had needed to queue for more than a few minutes for each ride.

This is not him getting something extra, it is enabling him to enjoy something NT children can.

Do I think the usual queues are ridiculous? Absolutely. If themeparks,.or zoos, or other places were encouraged to have lower numbers of people in attendance then the queues would be less. But profit and all that. Places were much nicer during COVID, when numbers were limited and tickets needed to be booked in advance. Less queuing for everyone. But also, less overall availability.

I lived in London until recently, a large number of tube stations aren’t suitable at all for wheelchair users. We now live in a Scandinavian country, every single metro station is wheelchair accessible, all publis buses are, facilities have to be wheelchair accessible, financial support is much better as is actual practical support where both care and equipment is concerned, your employer can also receive support to cover any additional costs that may arise from your employment.

I've had similar experiences including at airports. People have been incredibly rude, either blatantly staring or outright asking me about 'what I've got'. Some older people seem to envy my assistance as if I would choose to have an incurable, progressive disease in middle age which is robbing me of my health, future and life. One interrupted my booked assistance at the airport as if they were hoping I'd be kicked out of the wheelchair and they could take my place.

They don't want to be in my place even if they're 70 with a gammy knee. In the moment though their knee is hurting them and how dare a much younger woman be getting help!

Out of interest, do you think accessible passes should be limited to a certain amount each day?
Because going to a theme park on a quiet day with an access pass is great that you didn't have to queue. But on normal weekends the access queues can be 30 mins+.
I genuinely wonder what the solution could be. People say you can't limit the amount of access passes available as that's not fair. People also don't like it when they get given a virtual queue time slot to come back as its too restrictive.
Lowering the numbers to theme parks sounds lovely in theory. But it would then mean people would need to pre book only (otherwise you'd get turned away on the day). And that would start causing it's own issues in the long run.

At Merlin attractions and Blackpool at least you do have to prebook to use the Access pass. They are limited to a certain number a day. Also at Alton Towers/Blackpool no one is skipping the queue. You go on the ride and are given a time equal to the length of the current queue where you are locked out of using the access pass. You can’t go on another ride using the pass until the time is up. The only people skipping the queue are the people who have paid for the queue jump passes.

Oh well that's better then. It never used to be like that though did it?
At least with numbers being restricted people with passes is actually worthwhile rather than having a never ending access queue instead. The access queues at thorpe park etc were getting silly.