Many autism groups have spoken up and condemned Plantation Bay Mactan manager’s response to a negative review of a parent with special needs who stayed at their resort last week.
The mother, Mai, said they experienced discrimination from the resort’s hotel after her child Fin, who has autism, was reprimanded for squealing. She explained Fin does that because he was happy.
Instead of an apology, Menny Gonzalez, a resident shareholder of Plantation Bay Mactan, said, “For your information, uncontrolled shouting is not a symptom of autism.” He went on telling the mother to “Google ‘Autism’ and verify this for yourself.”
In a blog post on Tuesday, the Autism Society Philippines lauded Mai for speaking out and fighting for her son.
“A disability-compassionate and sympathetic hospitality organization would have gone the extra mile to understand their customer’s perspective. Instead, the resort went the other direction,” the organization wrote.
Plantation Bay’s response, said the group, was “ignorant of what the autism spectrum is — even going as far as to shame the parent and question the veracity of the child’s diagnosis.”
Autism groups condemn Plantation Bay manager’s response to parent of child with special needs
Gonzalez’s response is an “opportunity for sensitive training and a review of the resort’s policies for compliance to disability laws,” said the organization.
Meanwhile, Autism Strong Philippines also urged Plantation Bay to conduct sensitivity training for its staff to prevent similar future incidents.
“His response to the complaint of the parent was inappropriate,” the group said on Tuesday. “His remark continues to grow the stigma towards the PWA community.”
It added, “There should be a proper investigation involving his remarks.”
Autism Society Philippines said Mai and other parents experienced the same five civil cases in court for “violations of the RA 7277, the Magna Carta for Persons with Disability.”
Mai has no plans of suing Plantation Bay, but she wanted them to understand families with children who have special needs.
“My point lang naman: be kinder to families with special needs child because it’s not easy,” Mai said.
“It’s so wrong for them na they’re family-oriented, and they welcome children, but they don’t want children to have fun,” Mai added.