Get tips on visiting Disney with a special needs child at Mouse-Aid

Disneyland and Disney World are supposed to be the happiest places on Earth. Every child wants to go to this place of wonder and excitement, and special needs children are no exception. But for parents of these children, the thought of organizing a trip may seem like a far too difficult task. That’s where the Mouse-Aid website comes in.

The website is not affiliated with Disney, but it is designed to help parents of children with special needs negotiate the obstacles to taking their kids on a Disney vacation. There are tips for travel, packing, get around the parks, dining and choosing a room, and what issues parents of special needs kids should consider The special needs covered range from physical and mental disabilities to ADHD and terminal illness.

For many parents, the most helpful part of the site might be the forums. Here parents can discuss the issues important for their children, like which rides might scare kids frightened of the dark. They can also find support in parents dealing with similar issues as themselves. As the aunt of a special needs child, I’ve seen how just knowing that there are other parents who understand your situation can be a big help in and of itself. If you are the parent of a child with special needs, and you are planning a trip to a Disney theme park, it might be worth checking out the Mouse-Aid site.

Flight attendant afraid of dogs, wants blind woman to move

Guide dogs that people who are blind use in order to have mobility and independence are not like any other dogs. First, they know how to take up very little space if needed. They also don’t bark. They don’t bite. They don’t run around. They stay close to the person they work for, ever ready to guide and help. Unfortunately one woman found a flight attendant on Delta who didn’t know this. The attendant wanted the blind woman moved out of the bulk head seat because she didn’t want to sit next to the dog. She was afraid of the dog.

According to the report in the Consumerist, the woman with the guide dog has flown thirty times with this particular guide dog and always requests bulkhead in order to have room for the dog to sit at her feet. According to the rules established by the Americans with Disabilities Act, a guide dog is like a wheelchair so accommodations need to be made.

Sometimes requesting bulkhead works. Sometimes airlines are not helpful. Snafus happen, and then the snafus are worked out. In this case, the snafu was the flight attendant who also was sitting in a bulkhead seat. Because she is afraid of dogs, she wanted the woman moved to a regular coach seat.

See the problem? Have you ever had a hard time figuring out where you might even place your feet while sitting in a regular coach seat. Now imagine a Labrador, German Shepherd or Standard poodle at your feet. Maybe a foot rest for all three seats in the row if the other passengers AND the guide dog didn’t mind?

In the case of this woman, this guide dog and this flight attendant, a Complaint Resolution Officer was called in to help solve the problem. The resolution was that the flight attendant got a dose of dog therapy. The three shared the bulkhead with the flight attendant complaining all the while anytime it seemed that a hair on the dog was coming closer.

What I don’t understand is why the flight attendant didn’t move? Unless there were only heavy people, drunks and children on board, other pet peeves of travelers.

I have a friend with a guide dog who I have taken shopping. Most of the time I don’t even know that the dog is around and she sits at my friend’s feet in my car in transit. I have a Toyota Corolla.

Man in a wheelchair was told he wasn’t attending to his luggage and almost lost it

Thursday’s entry of the blog “Chewing the Fat” starts with– “Suddenly, I lost existence.”

What follows is a tale of what happened to David Hingsburger, the writer of the missive at the airport. It could be right out of an Alice in Wonderland type story.

In the post, Hingsburger recounts his recent experience of sitting in his wheelchair next to his luggage and enjoying the nuances of the airport when a security guard began loading the suitcases onto a cart to whisk them away. Hingsburger protested the action, insisting that the luggage belonged to him. Taking the luggage was stealing it.

The security guard said that the luggage must be attended to. What followed is lunacy. No matter how much Hingsburger insisted that he was attending to his luggage, the security guard insisted that he wasn’t. In the security guard’s mind, a person in a wheelchair couldn’t possibly attend to luggage.

Finally, a pilot noticed the brouhaha and intervened. Taking the security guard aside, the pilot talked some sense into him. Hingsburger was allowed to keep his luggage, and was left wondering what would have happened if the pilot hadn’t shown up to intervene.

I’m sure Hingsburger would have gotten his luggage back, but what a fiasco that would have been. From reading Hingburger’s profile, it sounds like this may have been the airport in Toronto where Hingsberger lives.

Disabled guests sue Disney on Segway ban

A while back, Disney World made the decision to ban Segways from the park because “they can go faster than 12 mph” which is a danger to other guests. And now three disabled people are, of course, suing the company.

“The suit filed Friday says they’re among an estimated 4,000 to 7,000 similarly disabled people who have turned to Segways as mobility tools,” according to an article by the AP.

Okay, I can understand that it might be an inconvenience to not be able to use a Segway when you’re used to riding one, but Disney World is a private company who has made a decision that’s in the best interests of the majority. It’s not like they’re banning wheelchairs. There is a solution, however. If the problem with Segways is the speed, why not have an arsenal of speed-governed Segways that can be loaned out to guests. You could even paint them to look like Goofy or something.

%Gallery-10204%

Also: