I HATE the American Museum of Natural History - AMNH

I could rant about the American Museum of Natural History in New York City endlessly. 

There aren't enough elevators.  They don't have signs encouraging able-bodied people, without little children or strollers to leave the elevator to people who need them.  The guards are rude and not knowledgeable.  And they have a perfectly accessible entrance on 77th Street, but make you walk/roll to 81st Street to enter by the planetarium, so that you can then walk/roll back to see the gems.

My son without disabilities went to camp for a week and they invited families to come the last day for an hour to see what they did.  My son noticed that there was no room for his brother's chair and said they would need to leave some space.  The teacher told him that his brother would have to stay in the back.

We asked for an accessible bathroom and were told that the only one on that side of the museum was the family bathroom.  There we waited behind able-bodied families with 10 year old children for 20 minutes before giving up and using the bathroom in the gas station on 110th Street.

When my husband asked if there was another wheelchair accessible bathroom,  the guard said that the wheelchair could go anywhere.  When he pointed out that the stalls were too small for a wheelchair, the guard said " Oh yeah.  I guess so."  So much for training the staff.

I was in the Space area one day and parked my son's wheelchair in an out of the way place, so that my son, who walks with assistance could move around a little.  I was told that it was not permitted.  Untrue.  That was blocking an exit. Untrue.  And I had to move now.  Just rude and insensitive, and I hate them so much.

How about all of the new exhibits that have areas that are not accessible, have lifts that are kept locked off with no guards in sight and no phone to call one?  They should be ashamed!

I'd never go again, if I could avoid it.  In fact, maybe I won't.

NYC DoE SESIS - IEPs and RSAs for Outside Services

The New York City Department of Education has a new computer system to write IEPs and track progress.  It is a horrible system that steals time from kids everyday as the therapists have to make computer entries for every child they see, every session they see them.  The therapists used to do this by hand in 30 seconds or so after each session.  These notes now need to be entered into a computer that is often not in the room where they are treating kids.  In addition, a session with multiple children means multiple entries, so that a 30 minute session may be cut to 15 or 20 minutes so that the therapist has time to go to the resource room and enter their notes before the next session.

My latest discovery is that SESIS has no way to enter related services (therapies) that are to given outside school into the IEP.  In the last few years the DoE has been fighting parents to eliminate these services.  They are most often for children who need so much therapy that it would take them out of the classroom for too much, causing them to miss excessive instructional time.  The old method - by hand- allowed the IEP to be individualized for what each child needed.  By making it impossible to record a proper IEP in the SESIS system that the DoE had designed for them, parents will be further pressured to give up the services their children need.

Parents - don't sign an IEP that you don't agree with!

Movie Night at School

So I try to be positive, but I am so tired of the New York City Public Schools insisting that they don't have money for accessibility.  In a $16 billion  capital budget they have $75 million for accessibility.  5%, for anyone who isn't a math person. 

This week the PTA at my typical son's school is having movie night in the auditorium.  But the auditorium is two double flights up.  It takes two guys to get there - one to pull the wheelchair up and down and another to stand on the 20 minute line, carrying my son, on the school steps to be allowed to sign in.  I could scream.  But instead I will be providing snacks for the PTA to sell while we stay home.  The school performances are hard enough.  Schlepping up and down to see the 1979 Muppet Movie is too much to ask.

The Lago Mar

Our very favorite resort is the Lago Mar in Ft. Lauderdale.  www.lagomar.com

There are lots of reasons to love it, but the thing that makes us able to appreciate all it has to offer is that it is super accessible and never feels like they had to retrofit.  The corridors are plenty wide.  There is nowhere that we can't get to easily with a wheelchair.   There are lots of automatic doors and elevators.  They have a beach wheelchair that is waiting for us whenever we need it.

The suite has plenty of room to move around.  It is spacious, beautifully furnished, and comfortable.  We had the view of the ocean and loved watching the boats come and go.

The resort has a lagoon pool and a lap pool.  The lap pool is always in the sun, so it is a little warmer.  Both are easy to get in and out of carrying my 45 pound son. The bathroom by the pool has a door that swings 180 degrees and a huge stall, big enough for two grown-ups and a kid to make changing easy.

They have a putting course, the big chess board, shuffle board, a playground in the sand, table tennis, real tennis, and hammocks to lie under the palm trees.  There is a lovely spa and a a gift shop that is my husband's go to holiday gift spot.

Food includes the main restaurant, a pool bar with my personal favorite - the Asian Chicken Salad (I ate at least one everyday), a beach grille, the soda shop, the bar and of course, room service.

The main restaurant, Acquario, is dressy in the evening, but welcoming to children.  The food is fresh and delicious.  The restaurant has lots of room around the tables.  You never feel like you have to maneuver to get to the table.  The bathroom near the restaurant has an accessible stall that is really big.  We easily have room for the chair, my son and I.  The bathroom is also beautiful.

Most importantly, the staff at the hotel is great.  We see the same people working there time and again, as this was our 4th visit.  They are gracious and friendly, helpful and kind.  They go out of their way to make our vacation truly relaxing and wonderful.