Disability assistance at BGW

[Jahrules]

I love to see park employees treating guests with so much care.

On a semi-related note; I don't think that BGW has its official autism training certificate yet (many SEAS parks do). But it looks like they're well on their way.

This:

Busch Gardens Williamsburg Connoisseurs | These 2 incredible employees in the bright green shirts at Busch Gardens❤️ | Facebook

These 2 incredible employees in the bright green shirts at Busch Gardens❤️ sat on either side of my brother, who has Down’s syndrome. He really wanted to go on this ride and we were worried he would...

www.facebook.com

 

[Icer]

See THATS how you handle disabilities. Respectful cadence without condescendence.

 

[Mushroom]

Mad respect to those employees. That’s awesome.

 

[ControlsEE]

When I worked there, this was actually encouraged by the park. During training, we were instructed that if a disabled guest does not have a member of their party to ride with and would like to be accompanied by someone, any free team member was allowed to ride with them, or a team member would be relived temporarily to ride with them.

Oddly enough, I think I know one of those guys...

 

[Ghost of Pretzel Kaiser]

reads thread title

reads post

shakes head in quiet disappointment

 

[Nicole]

As cool as that article is, I’ll admit I’m really confused. Downs Syndrome and Autism are different conditions.

 

[Jahrules]

As cool as that article is, I’ll admit I’m really confused. Downs Syndrome and Autism are different conditions.

Admittedly I posted in haste and wrote autism where obviously I had the incorrect condition..

I fixed it.

 

[horsesboy]

Busch actually seems to do a very good job in this department both in guest interactions as well as employing some of these people. There is a gentleman working the exit gate station a lot of days that is a fine example of this as well as several other team members that I have noticed working in the park. Big thumbs up to the park for this.

 

[Luke]

Made it onto a local TV Station

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[Jahrules]

And now Busch Gardens official has re-shared the post and named the employees involved.

Super cool to see these employees get duly rewarded for their efforts.

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View: https://www.facebook.com/18543728314/posts/10156682428733315/

 

[ControlsEE]

Yep, I used to work with Diego. He was one of my team members.

 

[..…]

See THATS how you handle disabilities. Respectful cadence without condescendence.

Absolutely. My brother has a similar disability, and the amount of condescension he gets by others who are seeking a "look at me" moment angers me to no end. As his sister, the motives of people trying to make themselves out to be the "good guy" at my brother's expense stand out like sore thumbs to me. I can look at his Facebook page on any given day and see it clearly. That's why it's so refreshing to see this story, because these employees clearly did this without condescension or an underlying motive of obtaining "likes" or their 15 minutes of fame because of how "kind and good and tolerant" they were. I've known first-hand my entire life that Downs Syndrome absolutely does not make someone "less than" or deserving of pity, and it's wonderful to see a story where that attitude doesn't dominate. Thanks for sharing, @Jahrules