Speaking of accomodations --Staples Center Los Angeles and the Lakers

Ok I was going to write about this a month ago but now that I am here ---the time is right

Staples Center Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Lakers I have a what I consider to be a real BITCH. This is  multi-million dollar complex that  takes advantage. We recently attended a Lakers game and I cannot believe  the exhorbant costs verses the accomodations  offered-- First of all I know that it is expensive to atten any sporting event but i think it has just gone to far-- for 2 tickets in the NOSE BLEED section 170 bucks A PIECE?????????  40 dollars to park ??????????? 4 dollars for a watered down coke  and lets not even discuss food or beer. I think that the biggest disappointment was the actual seats them selves. to spend 170 dollars to get seats where the players as big as they are  ; are only about  3 inches tall is one thing but i challenge anyone of the basketball players to try to sit in one of those seats -- the leg space is so cramped that a normal persons knees are planted at the back fo the person sitting in front of you not to mention that not all of us are svelt  size 2's the seat itself is unforgiving  to anyone who has a decent amount of weight---lets not even talk about those of us who are genuinely overweight.

My son has had truama to his leg and had a terrible time being able to adjust his leg into a comfortable  position in those seats.. Come on  Staple center you make millions of dollars on all kinds of events almost everyday of operation Dont you think you could take out 2 or 3 seats each row to give everyone a little more space -- or for tha matter pic a couple of sections and replace them with larger roomier seats and charge more  or better yet charge less for the smaller more cramped seats and charge the exhorbant price for the bigger seats but how about accomodations???

The Lakers pay millions and millions of dollars to individual players and then provide them with all kinds of perks because they are stars --who can afford to pay for some of the perks that are picked up by the club or the sporting venue how bout "paying it forward" to the mere peons who make your club and your stars???

The Staples Center is supposed to be a premiere facility but  somewhere either the engineers failed miserably to design a decent  COMFORTABLE VENUE or more likely the promoters and investors were driven by how greedy they can be by squeezing one more seat on each row so they couls make an extra 200 dollars each time the venue had an event---

What in the hell has this world come too ???when a family cannot even enjoy an outing for their children to go see their "heros" at a sporting event without spending 500 plus doolars in a day-- no wonder parents are working 2 and 3 jobs and most of our kids come home to empty houses and microwave food  just so the family can  afford something like a basketbal game!

I know its much more than just Staples Center and the Lakers but if  this outing is an example of what  we strive for to entertain our kids  we will all be in hock up to our eyeballs before the kids grow up! 

 

Applebees and discrimination

Without breaking any confidenced I belong to several Autism Group Websites:of which one of them recently had a post about a Mom who took her 4 year old autistic son  to his "favorite place" Applebees as a reward/ She immediately asked the waitress to supply some kind of drink or cracker or snack to "hold"the little one over till the food came-- 10 min went by and nothing -- the child began to cry as food for other tables went by within 15 min the manager came to the table and told the mother he was loosing business and she would have to leave-- Of course that is an editied verson-- The point is that Autistic kids have great social defecits some would argue dont take them to restaurants but would you not take some one who had cancer to a restaurant? No   This child needs to be able to integrate into the community and having people who are blind to this type of disability need to get a clue--

This group is circulating a petition and writing to the corporate offices and I hope they suceed for the desired outcome which is NOT to burn bridges but to build them--- for the time being Applebees needs to know that we area force to be reckoned with and they need to educate their managers and staff how to accomodate ALL GUESTS.

I hope any of you who read this will remember that sometimes what you see is not necessarily what you get-- there is a fine line between a child who is just out of control and. the parents dont have a handle on a child OR the child who has a disability that prevents him from understading his surroundings and the parent is trying every trick in their tool belt to assist  the child  to be "normal"

Cooperation by businesses especially restaurants allows a child to desensitize  his  enviroment so he can  spend his money at that particular business-- Believe me I have left several LARGE tips to staff that is accomodating and helpful to my plight.

All I can ask is no matter what situation you are in Stop Lookand Listen for just a minute before you jump to a conclusion  You never know when  you will have the opportunity to make a better day for someone who faces challenges every hour of everyday-- Something that most of you DONT!  

Race for Humanity

Hello all-- have a couple entries i will post this weekend the seem to "pile up" but Wanted to forward an announcement about this Fund raiser Walk 

I will copy and paste what i have sent to the groups which I participate in 

Again sorry for the redundancy but Lillian asked to spread the word so thought i should do my part!  

Hello all Please excuse any redundancy or cross posts but I have made acquaintance with Lillian Basque who works for KVCR --a PBS TV station broadcasting from Valley College in San Bernardino.She too is a parent of a child with Autism and is deeply involved in trying to Blend KVCR's participation in helping parents and kids with challenges.
She just sent me an email asking to post this info to anyone who might be interested particularly for those of you in the Riverside area.One of the sponsors who will benefit from this race is the        Riverside County Foundation on Autism. So for anyone interested here is the link     http://www.race4humanity.org/

 

I hope some of you will be able to participate and pass this to others who might be interested

BEST BUDDIES

For those of you who dont know there is an organization called Best Buddies designed for "typical " peers on a school campus to pair up with a challenged child to help augment socialization both in school and in the community--

I have tried to get Dakota involved a couple of times before but it just hasnt stuck--Well this time I think we might be on to something. Dakota has been paired with a freshamn who seems really committed to being a pal and a mentor-- and I love it!

Although a large part of the school year is passed on the 11th of Februaury Best Buddies had a trip to Disneyland and what a success story!  Not only did Dakota get up early enuf but got on the bus and rode with all the buddies and other kids WITHOUT ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh my god -- It was raining like hell and i thought it was going to be a crummy day but another miracle occured the clouds parted and the sun came out and it was a great day-- since this was the first time I had ever allowed Dakota to" fly solo " I did drive down and stayed in contact by cell with the group of kids he went with. Periodically during the day I met up with them and gave them a few pointers about how Dakota  did things around the park and the group was eager to make sure Dakota had a great time! The bus was due to leave at 6 but i had made arrangements to stay over at the hotel and one of the kids that is in his room at school  made arrangements to stay with Dakota -- So we had a stellar day and not only did he do Dineyland without mom for the most part but he also had his first "sleep over"!

Heres the bonus: the kids that were in Dakotas group also decided to stay passed the time that the bus was leaving and would be in the park till about 11pm----Now their obligation was up at 6 when the buses left but these kids were so dedicated to helping Dakota that they offered for Dakota to stay with them and let him go back into the park that evening.That is above and beyond the call of duty> i was so impressed that after we came home  we made certificates of appreciation for those that made the special effort.

The point being that if you can get a willing and committed buddy this is the best way to ease your autistic child into a comfortable situation for community activity.

Best Buddies will also be having a walk at La SierraCollege to raise money for this organization and the "typical " peers will be attending and encouraging the kids to walk with them   they all have gotte donors for how much they walk -- heres the bonus again: a bus has been arranged to leave from the school and the kids will go independent of their parents to encourage a peer experience! How cool is that? The teachers who are the sponsers and the aides that are involved go to make sure all special  needs are met but its a way for our kids to start learning what real friendships are about--

Each buddy fills out a sheet of info likes and dislikes email address and phone numbers  to encourage our kids to develop skills they dont have  i know we have to still monitor and help our kids but at least its a start

I hope that our kids continue to have these opportunities and Best Buddies is around forever.