A Wing and a Prayer

IMG_1646The first flight I remember taking was when I was five, and my parents herded me and my siblings (numbering four kids in total) onto an Eastern Airlines jet to fly down to Florida.  This was, of course, back in the days before we had the kind of security we now have at airports.  Where you could meet your friends at the gate when their flight arrived, even without a ticket.  Where you got real food on aircraft with real utensils and plates, when smoking was permitted on board…

Okay, yes, we’ve established that I’m old.  And that a lot’s changed since I was a kid. Continue reading

How Much Accommodation?

Yesterday, my wife asked me to take the day off so that we could take the kids to Sesame Place.  Baltimore City schools let out early for the summer this week – on Monday – and while the rest of the state seems to still be in classes, it seemed an ideal opportunity for us to fill some time for both children by taking them somewhere fun.

As my long time readers already know, I love how Seaworld Entertainment accommodates guests with disabilities.  Sesame Place has been the top of the heap in this regard – they’ve been so easy with regards to accommodating the Monster, and their policies in general are very disability friendly – so we’ve always looked forward to our trips there.  We’ve even bought season passes, despite the fact that it’s twice as far away (if not more) than the nearest Six Flags park.

MonsterAtSesamePlacePoolSo a visit to Sesame Place is fairly standard for us – we park, we go inside, the wife goes to Guest Relations just inside the gate to get the bracelet and RAP sheet for the Monster, and we go about our day.  And then… this year came with a change. Continue reading

Not Quite a Walk in the PARCC

Last night was a PCAB meeting down at North Avenue, to allow for more discussion about the way that the PARCC exams are going to be administered next month.  Most of our discussions have centered on whether or not schools are ready to administer the exams, whether our students are really ready, and the technology issues around the test itself, since parts of it are slated to be computer-administered.

Bear in mind that the Monster is not old enough yet to be taking the PARCC – he’s in first grade, and the test starts in third.  But one of the things they tout with the exam is that it has features built-in to allow for accessibility for students. Continue reading

A Proposal for Special Access

So I’m going to wade in with my thoughts about special access cards at amusement parks… not that I’m anywhere near the first autism-parent blogger to actually do so this week, since we don’t have a concrete idea yet how Disney is changing their program.

I will be honest, that I have my… reservations about what I’m hearing about Disney’s replacement to the Guest Access Card (GAC). Continue reading