waltfan1957 said:
while i agree with ariel on some points sue has had more experience having a disabled dd on this subject, and from our own time in disney the able bodied have no idea or care about the lets face facts the cheating they do or the extra hardship they place on the truly disabled,
LakeAriel said:
You are absolutely right and it is what I tried to say to you but you find it your place to judge whose opinion is worthy, a posters or yours!
There is no doubt that the people using wheelchairs/ECVs in the examples given by waltfan and dash were doing nasty and selfish things. I don't disagree with that at all.
Were they "truely disabled"? I don't have enough information.
Were they "faking"? I don't have enough information.
Do I think some people do use wheelchairs/ecvs that they really don't need to get "benefits"? Yes, but I have been around long enough to know that there is little benefit in using either an
ecv or a wheelchair. So, I don't think it's a widespread problem. Apparently there are some people who believe otherwise.
Do nice people sometimes do nasty things for a good reason (like maybe they were in a hurry because they forgot some medication in their room and were frantic because they missed a dose)? Something like that wouldn't excuse doing selfish things, but could explain them.
If those people in the example were not using wheelchairs, they would probably still be doing other nasty and selfish things. Things like:
- have one person waiting in line and just before boarding, a whole lot of people join them in line.
- board first on the bus and use a number of seats for packages, while other people are standing.
- push past other people to the front of the line at one of the food carts.
- bypass the line that is waiting for characters and push their kids to the front.
- use a stroller as a battering ram to clear the way.
- arriving at the parade at the last minute and expecting good spots in the front.
- taking flash pictures of every scene in Pirates.
- etc, etc, etc
The point I'm trying to make is that just because someone acts in a selfish way doesn't mean they are abusing a wheelchair.
There are some perfectly nice people who are using wheelchairs/ECVs. There are some perfectly nasty ones. Some were that way before they became disabled. Some became bitter or feel like the world owes them after a disability. But, that abuse. It doesn't mean they don't need the wheelchair.
And being disabled doesn't give someone the right to be selfish and nasty, but some are.
WDW does have some ways to deal with things that are not always followed. In the situation where 10 or 12 people accompanied the person with a wheelchair - Disney policy is a total of 6 people (5 plus the person with a disability). I don't know why the CM didn't abide by that, but that's the policy. It's also the policy if they
didn't have a wheelchair and had 10 or 12 people rush up to join the one person in line. Again, the CMs don't always follow the policy.
In the situation where one person with a wheelchair came up past others with wheelchairs who were waiting - well, if they were waiting in the regular queue; the bus driver boarded the person who was in the wheelchair boarding spot. Maybe he didn't know the others were patiently waiting in line because they
were in line, not where he could see them. If it was us waiting in the wheelchair boarding area and someone rushed up to go ahead of us - we would have said something at the time.
The only people who can judge whether or not a need is real are those people using the wheelchairs/ecvs.
The people over the years who observed my DD and decided she was cheating
thought they had enough "evidence" to decide that she was a faker. The people who have made comments/looks to people like Figaro and zumbergc, and eeyore45
are hurting people.
Over the years, I've seen lots of posts from people who are in pain, but worried that they are "not disabled enough". For every post where someone complains about abuse, there are probably 10 where someone in pain is afraid of being judged and chooses not to use a wheelchair or ecv they really need.
I choose to look at people using wheelchairs and ecvs as having made a decision that they need one. Maybe a few people decided based on what it might "get" them, as opposed to what their needs were. But, I figure why they are using them is their business, not mine. And to look with suspicion at everyone is not helping anyone and hurts some (as Figaro very eloquently posted).
So, if that's deciding my opinion is more valid than a posters, I plead guilty.