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.

I speak as a person with ADHD who has struggled to be ‘normal’ all my life.

My DC are also ND. They will struggle all their lives too.
I am speaking from lived experience so I don’t really want to educate myself further

I think the frequent nasty threads about disability in MN reflect the attitudes prevalent in our society. Barely a week goes by without some thread barely disguising the OP calling disabled people lazy liars who are a drain on society and then the majority of replies agree and the vitriol is beyond belief.
I started a thread about lack of accessibility when I went for a pub lunch recently and many replies were completely defending the wealthy owner of the premises who had chosen not to have a ramp or even a handrail as well as no loo even though he owns five pubs all doing very well and the building is not listed and has plenty of room available. I was blamed for having the audacity to think that in 2024 a pub would accommodate disabled people.

I forgive me, I do not have physical disability so may be I am mistaken.
I genuinely thought it was so they could get on and off the rides without holding up the queue.

Then surely you would know then, that some children who are ND would not be able to cope with having to line up for too long.These concessions have been implemented for a reason, in the first place.

I also if the constant talk about privilege, of all kinds, isn't having an effect.

Basically, average people are being more and more told they need to be willing to step aside or give extra etc to make room for those who are in some way worse off.

The problem is that realistically, often the people being asked to make room aren't exactly living the high life.

I think when the focus is on this stuff all the time it very quickly build resentment and social division.

I was stood at the disability access gate for a ride at a small theme park with my severely autistic son. Someone asked if that was the main queue. When I said no, the main (still fairly short) queue was around the corner and that we had a disability pass she walked away and said "lucky you"

What??! Lucky?? Really??!

It honestly feels like the world is moving backwards. I'm not sure if peoples attitudes are changing or they just feel more emboldened to let their shitty views be known.

I am fully aware. It’s torture queuing. We make our own adjustments to outings.
I also buy fast track passes because we struggle queuing/being near to people etc.
I also take them to places out of season and preferably raining so there are fewer people.
It also depends on the severity of any condition. ND doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t utilise coping skills.

Disney Florida has recently changed policy and are requiring screening calls with assessors. DAS pass is now only for severe autism. If you can understand what a queue is it’s a no. For physical disabilities they say lines are wheelchair accessible. It’s causing a big outcry as lots of physical disabilities mean people can’t wait in line but a wheelchair isn’t the solution. The DAS used to let people with physical disabilities wait somewhere more comfortable or toilet accessible etc - so not skip the wait but that accommodation has been removed.

They are more emboldened, helped in no small measure by the previous Government, who were not shy in stoking up a culture war, that included the disabled. They fostered this toxic atmosphere.

It also depends on the severity of any condition. ND doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t utilise coping skills.

Okay, but for those that struggle immensely with queuing, and can't utilize those coping skills, adjustments have been put in place, so people are able to use them@TinklySnail .

I think actually the closer you get to equality for any group, the more you get resentment. Adaptations for disability have improved enormously but as the gap has started closing the perception of need has decreased as things are now ‘almost fair’.

You see the same with feminism. We have reached a point of equality in many areas and it means any accommodations for women are highly resented, leading to MRAs and Andrew Tate

Agree with this. I think a lot of EDI and social justice just increases division and othering

Yes, a PP has explained it to me. I honestly thought those passes were for physically disabled and severe non visible disabilities.
I will keep doing it my way and stand corrected on the use of accessibility passes. You live and learn.

I think there's been a noticeable difference since the pandemic. A lot of people seemed to lose all patience for disabled and chronically ill people and saw them as being to blame for mask policies, social distancing, lockdown etc. I vividly remember so many horrible comments that basically boiled down to not wanting to protect vulnerable people, if it meant a small amount of inconvenience for able bodied people. And a lot of people just don't understand accessibility, they see it as disabled people getting preferential treatment, which is obviously ludicrous.

This is what we normally try and do even with the access pass. We have never been to Legoland when it hasn’t poured for at least some of the day lol! We wouldn’t ever go at peak time but as my husband is a teacher and we are in Scotland this seriously limits the times we can go.

We did have passes for Disneyland Paris but went at a supposedly quieter time. It allowed queue jumping which was just as well as we had three day tickets and managed a total of about 8 hours in the parks in total. We all have ASD and it was just too busy and we spent much of the time in our room or hiding in a small corner of the park. We had booked longer then we thought we’d need, we had strategies in place etc as we knew it might take a bit longer but without the access pass Disney would have been completely inaccessible for us.

Well I never said it was justified either.
Only that it's due to the actual condition of the country based on what people live through daily.
Not what the media or any other propaganda outlet says.

We haven’t been to Legoland, Haven’t been able to get the youngest ones on a plane yet so Disney is not on the list for us either.
Maybe I just got used to dealing with it all and now I’m the same with my kids.
I don’t think I’d want to go anywhere at peak times, it really is my idea of hell 😂

There's a suspicion around disability that people are faking it. Especially 'hidden ' disability.

What I see even from this thread is just a complete lack of awareness about certain disabilities and the variation involved, covert abelism even from supposedly disabled people.

Such a shame, but very much reflective of society as it is.

What we need is to educate from the very beginning about disabilities oncluding neurodiversity and how to be as inclusive as possible.

This thread shows people are just uneducated about disabled life and believe that they have some sort of right to decide what is and isn't acceptable in terms of accommodations.

There are no fucking perks or compensation, fucking fuck off with that nonsensical shite.

Yeh see I would think this to but both the kids ( one mine and one a friends ) both have very visible tubes and lines 🙈

Unfortunately a lot of people simply do not understand disability (or any experience they did not have), so they think disabled people are getting perks, instead of necessities they need in order to participate in society.

And then there are also nasty people who think disabled people should not even participate in society so they wouldn't god forbid inconvenience them, they think we should all just never leave the house

YANBU

I'm lifelong disabled and I feel the attitude and atmosphere towards people with disabilities is the worst its ever been

The behaviour of the old government didn't help matters

I'd settle for being able to go to the local park and finding equipment my child could play on or for being able to take him swimming. Our local pool has a Changing Places area but once he's been hoisted out of his chair onto the bench and changed there is no way of getting him into the water. I don't know of a single pool near us that has a hoist into the pool. There are very few parks with equipment that is truly accessible to a child with profound disabilities. Theme parks in this country are pretty much out of the question as he is nowhere near sitting without support, he is registered blind and panics in stressful situations like queues.

Walt Disney World has recently severely tightened their Disability Access Pass due to the amount of flagrant abuse of the system, people faking disability for a queue pass has got so bad they've gone to an extreme with the rules and you no longer qualify if you are just a wheelchair user !

It's unbelievable really