So yesterday we (the wife & I) took the kids (my daughter and two nephews) to Evergreen Wings & Waves Water Park for the day.  We had a blast.  If you live in the area or are just visiting, I'd recommend it.





However...





I saw a small boy - maybe 8 years old or so - running around, having fun, more or less acting like all the other kids in the place.  But this kid had the word "AUTISTIC" written on his back in black permanent marker.  At first I thought to myself "that's different" and then "good idea".  I figure that if the kid were to get into some kind of confrontation or awkward situation with another kid that at least any intervening adult would have some idea that the kid looked at the world a little differently than you or I.





Later, I'm near the end of the line for one of the big water slides.  These things are about five stories up in the air, and the lines could be long.  I'd say I had been in line for 15 minutes or so, and in front of me was a family of five or six - dad, grandpa, two teen boys and a teenaged girl.  The girl had gone down the slide and dad was sitting there, in the slide, waiting for the attendant to green light him when up from behind comes Rain Man Jr. like he owns the place.





An aside about these lines - there are two flights of stairs, each with two lines on them.  At the top, all four lines converge inside the body of a 747 and everyone stops at a big red line on the floor.  There are four water slides, one for each line.  You wait in line for a particular slide.  Some lines are longer than others.  The attendants invite you over to the top of the slide when it's your turn.  You enter the slide and wait for a green light before you launch yourself down the slide.





So back to Mr. Autistic - he rolls up like he's the only guy in the place and stands right behind this guy that's waiting for a green light.  The teenaged boys in front of me walk forward uninvited by the attendant because this little dude just cut in front of them in line.  AUTISTIC gets shut down, not because he's cut in line, but because he's under 48" and not allowed on that particular slide.  The attendant sends him down a different slide (he still didn't wait in line).





An attendant starts walking toward me - she's headed downstairs for some reason - and I ask her if I can go to the car and get a sharpie and write AUTISTIC on my back and not have to wait in line.  She chuckles and says something about having seen that kid earlier and that a lifeguard had already talked to the someone (parent/guardian) about that kid.  I did my best "O RLY?" and pointed at the kid.  She rolled her eyes and said that she'd contact the lifeguard at the bottom and that someone would have a second talk with the kids' guardian.





For future reference, if you don't like waiting in line, consider writing "AUTISTIC" on your back.  Apparently that will buy you a hell of a lot of tolerance when it comes to cutting in line.





I'm considering an "AUTISTIC" tattoo across my shoulder blades.







 

I once saw a 400 black lady wearing a one piece swimsuit. Normally that'd be a relief compared to the land whales in bikinis. However, this lady's one-piece was the exact same color and shade of her skin, which being sucked up into various crevasses gave the distinct impression of being completely nude.

Write:



"RETREAD" on your forehead in sharpie so they know you're not faking it
Speed

jeez, it's not like it was an entire platoon of autistic kids making off with food rations meant for starving villagers

your rope is a bit too tight

Autism causes the afflicted to not comprehend the social norms.



He can have it explained to him 1000 times that it's rude to cut in front of people and he'll never get it.  



You can't even fully blame the parents.  He MIGHT change his behavior if the parents make a rule that he is not allowed to cut in front of people.  Some of those things they just don't understand.

be thankful that instead of really being autistic and not understanding what it means to wait in line you just had to wait an extra 30 seconds to go down a water slide meant for kids

I've had the same problem at amusement parks, except they were Jews and they had on funny hats but no sharpie wirting

You should come to a NY waterpark so you can see how creatively someone can blend knife and gunshot wounds into a tattoo design.

And that's the women.



No, I'm not joking.

You realize, don't you OP, that being autistic can cause people to do things like not wait in line or understand the looks on people's faces when they do something that doesn't meet expectations. In other words, the kid with AUTISTIC written on his back was acting like an autistic kid.

Should his parents have kept a tighter rein on him? Probably, but what 8 year old kid doesn't act up a bit at the water park, especially with long lines for things?

 

That sure is a lot of butthurt.

Am I that wrong to have been reminded of a certain Bill Engvall comedy bit?

Excuse me... Oh, never mind.  I didn't see your sign.

One of the nephews I had with me was diagnosed with Aspergers about 9 years ago - before it became fashionable.  He's borderline autistic in a lot of ways.  I've dealt with his quirks plenty.



If the kid can't handle waiting in line, then he can go play in the wave pool, or on the kiddie play structure (that also had some smaller water slides.  Maybe his mom or dad can wait in line with him.  An inability to comprehend how cutting in line is inappropriate does not result in a free pass to the head of the line for the rest of time.



You think he'd get away with that shit at Disney World or Six Flags?  Hell no.



 

+1

My daughter is autistic too but she would NEVER cut in line or we would leave that instant and she knows it. I think some parents use it as an excuse which is bullshit.



 

That's sad, even *if* the diagnosis is legit.

You didn't happen to be in the Magic Kingdom last monday at Disney World, did you?

Absolutely.

 

Nope.  You got a story you'd like to share?



 

I've seen this too.  A kid that's never heard the word "no" in their life is not autistic, but they might act like they were.



 

I swear that Arfcommers get butthurt over the least little thing.  Now we have folks getting worked-up over an autistic child getting a leg up on the waterslide line.





The lunacy is now complete.

I dunno dude... the kid's behavior was incorrect, but that's why they're called Special Needs kids.



Maybe try to be a little more understanding. Good chance that the kid isn't processing and/or just can't deal.
 

I was not particularly butthurt over the incident.  Sorry if it came off like I was.



Lunacy completion no longer valid.



 

Maybe this place needs a new domain name.  Autistic15.com


Seriously, if a child is that out of control, perhaps the waterpark should be on the list places he just can't go. Not really fair, but that's life sometimes.  Just like he can't grow up and be President.of the United States err, the CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

UM, Actually you can (at Disney at least) you get a special pass if you have a note from the  doc and you go straight to the front of EVERY line. Not just her but the whole family, And, no. We didn't get it even though we could have.

Shes gotta learn how the wold works cuz I aint gonna be around forever.





 

He better learn now to play by the rules.  It's cute when you're a kid, but adults don't put up with that shit.  What if a 40 year old man wearing an "AUTISTIC" shirt cut you in the line?  Or any 40 year old man?  Would you just look at your feet and take it?  Hell no.  You'd tell the motherfucker where to go, namely the back of the line.  Autistic or not, there's a certain way you're expected to act, and he better get used to it, or it's gonna be really painful later in life.

 

Well, yeah.

Some dude almost had his face punchisized when he started bitching like a two-year old when a make-a-wish kid (terminal) and his family were let to the front of the line.  Nowhere near your situation, I know.  but it just brought the image up in my head.

To be honest, I don't think i have witnessed something as low as that motherfucker in at least 10 years.  I'll be stewing about it for weeks.

Karma is a bitch.



 

You think an 8 year old was just gaming the system? Give the kid a break.

Fify
ETA !!!!!!! what if we got Obama a T-shirt that had that written on it???? We could get our AAA rating back!!!





 

Thats fuckin low

maybe if there was a patch or something...

My nephew - the one that's been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome - is socially retarded.  He is literally incapable of relating to anything or anyone from any perspective other than his own.  He has no empathy or sympathy in his brain at all.





For example - he loves video games.  The other night the three kids and I were having a Tekken 6 tournament.  Loser passes the PS3 controller.  If you win six in a row (beat everyone twice) you pass the controller.  My nephew finds a guy that he can fight really well with and he manages to beat all of us twice (the first time that's happened) and even though he knows the rules it's "unfair" that he has to pass the controller.  A little bit later his brother finds a guy and starts kicking butt - and beats his older brother with his special guy.  Nephew A loses his mind.  Everything is horribly unfair, his brother is cheating, he shouldn't have to pass the controller, etc.





Nephew A always chooses the same guy, and for a while he always wins.  To him, this is completely fair and as it should be.





Then...





Nephew B finds a way to defeat his brother and now Nephew A cries foul.





When he does it, it's funny and cool.  When someone else does it, it's unfair and cruel.





I deal with this kid all the time.  I do have some idea what it's like to have to manage someone who's socially retarded.





 

Meh, it's not like you had to wait in line for an hour to ride something, only to have a family of eight come up the handicap line on a roller-coaster at Universal Studio's... because one of their kids had a brace on her ankle.  No, I'm not joking, and No, I didn't blade... but I did let the County Deputy there working know that one of the parents smelled like booze and that probably constitutes some kind of child endangerment.  He understood my point and dealt with the problem.  

Special Needs??? Come on... there's so many kids diagnosed with "XYZ" Syndrome because parents aren't willing to CONTROL their kids, that it makes me sick.  One of my neighbors daughters has Autism and I do believe she has it (based on her actions and the way she behaves), but how many people claim their kid has ADD, ADHD, or some other disorder???  They should call it IABFPBICCMK (I'm A Bad Fucking Parent Because I Cannot Control My Kid).  Just call it "Shitty Parent Syndrome" for short.
-SS

ETA:  No, they did not have the Express Pass either...

So, I guess it's sort of like what it must be like to be a mod here.

Did he just call us all social retards?  I think he did.







 

Nah. Already been tried.

OST to explain reality later on.

Let it go man. Let it go.

Get a sharpie and write PTSD across your forehead and smack the shit out of the autistic kid everytime he comes around.

Oh yeah, I'm serious, the little bastards. Pushin' to the front of the line. I wanted knock that little beanie right off their heads. It annoyed the hell out of me.

I'd add "Tourettes" to that also. Screw it, may as well really have some fun!

Went to a local theme park. There's a ride like that where you wait on stairs going all the way up to the top. I was almost eye-level with a large hispanic woman with a goddamn jungle coming out the sides of her bikini bottom.


I'll take Autistic Guy over that any day.

holy fuck I'm dying laughing over here



 

An autistic flash mob.

I considered hitting the report button over that post.







 

I probably should not post in this thread, but............

A little background so you can understand where I am coming from.  I am the parent of an autistic child.  He is 6 1/2.  We have used the "go to the front of the line band" at an amusement park twice with him.

One of the issues with an autistic person is they do not respond to the normal peer pressure to wait patiently in line.  If they melt down, that's it - they are in meltdown mode and NO ONE will be having a good time at that point in time.  Not the parents, not the child, not the attendants, not the other people waiting in line.  The amusement park we went to had wrist bands and the policy of allowing us to move to the front of the line to make it a pleasant experience for everyone.

Now, we are VERY blessed that our son is very high functioning, and has learned some patience.  It is possible that that child has none, and never will, hence the "autistic" label on his back.  It also helps others to understand why they are not behaving normal.

HOWEVER, if that park did not have a specific policy to address the special needs of this child, or if his parents did not properly use those policies properly, shame on all of them.

It's better than "CHRONIC MASTURBATOR".

I'll snap a photo for you next time