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by Bruce Lidl

Anyone who has been to the San Diego Comic Con can tell you that a large number of the attendees require a little extra help moving around, as there is a small but significant portion of disabled con-goers.  And as demonstrated by the recent Comic Con Talk-Back panel, working to ensure that disabled patrons can enjoy their Con experience as the able-bodied can be a big challenge for organizers, even with the best intentions.

I, unfortunately, had to experience the Con this year from a disabled perspective, as I broke my ankle a little over a week before Preview Night.  After having been to the Con for many, many years, in every capacity from exhibitor to press to panelist, this was clearly going to be a very different version of the Con experience, less concerned with doing everything possible, from the coolest parties to the most awesomely obscure fan gatherings, and far more focused on just the most basics.  Could I even do the Con from a wheelchair?  Would I be able to attend popular panels if I could not lineup for hours beforehand?  Navigate the show floor?  Find an appropriate restroom?  All questions I never really had to consider previously.

In general, and I can only speak for my own experience, attending the Con while not fully mobile is frustrating logistically, but also pretty amazing from the sheer willingness of organizers, exhibitors, volunteers and regular attendees to help out.  That’s not to say everything and everybody went as planned, but the vast, overwhelming response from the people I encountered from a wheelchair was positive and helpful.

The Con’s Disabled Services people I dealt with were perfectly fine, did not question my credentials other than to look over my massive cast and wheelchair and gave me a handicapped sticker for my badge, and a disabled attendant card for whomever I brought to help me out.  Prior to the Con my friends and colleagues had tried to cheer me up by telling me that I would be able to get into the most popular panels easily with a handicapped sticker, and while I had no intention of “profiting” from my misfortune, I was curious to see what kind of access I could get.  

My attendant and I swung by Ballroom 20 about an hour prior to the Firefly/Serenity reunion panel on Friday, assuming it would be one of, if not the most, heavily desired event of the Con.  It turned out that there were at least a hundred people in the separate handicapped line, and it looked very unlikely that all of them were going to get in.  

We moved on to other activities, which was likely the right call, considering what some others have reported, but we did return to Ballroom 20 a few hours later, to see if conditions had changed, and indeed they had.  There were only a couple of dozen, at most, waiting in the handicapped line at that point, prior to the Women Kicking Ass panel.  We got in line and then almost immediately a Con staffer came up to us and offered to bring us in.  She did not explain why she had us jump the handicapped line, the only thing I can assume is that we were the only people at that point, in that line, in a wheelchair.  She took us to a place in the room that had an empty space for a wheelchair, and a red labeled attendee seat next door.  It was not in the front row or anything like that, it was pretty far back, behind the big screens, but it was in the room, and we got to experience eventually Joss Whedon’s hilarious panel appearance.  But it is very clear that a handicapped sticker does not provide some sort of magical access to everything cool at the Con.

That was basically the only panel we tried to attend, the rest of our time that day (and for a few hours on Sunday) were spent cruising the show floor.  For the most part that was fine, it just took some creative steering from my helpers to avoid getting caught in the massive streams going down the four main North-South alleyways.  There were some positive effects as well, primarily in that in a sitting position, I would invariably end up with direct eye contact with the exhibitors that were sitting down themselves.  It sometimes allowed for a quicker, more direct exchange with them, I believe.  Also, every exhibitor I engaged with was very solicitous to help me out, although I really did not attempt anything too ambitious in the sense of getting celebrity autographs or scoring Con exclusive merchandise.

Again, I would stress that this is merely one person’s experience, and I was very lucky to have generous friends and family willing to help out.  But aside from dealing with the same huge throngs that everyone there has to cope with, I do not have much in the way of complaints.  I definitely look forward to my next convention and being equipped with a working right ankle!

6 COMMENTS

  1. I will say this. The Actual Organizers for SDCC and disability services are great and very helpful from transportation to having an aide come to the con for a day… Last year i was in a scooter and for the most part, the booth’s that higher caliber and security(Hasbro, Matty Collector) were helpful with their disabled line.

    The Con itself was a nightmare navigating in a wheelchair or scooter. People just did not or would not see you and there were bottlenecks. Out of site out of mind i suppose.

    This year I was in a leg brace and maneuving was better but lines for the panels was still aggravating(i never even tried for ballroom 20 or Hall H) and some of the people working at the booths did not know where the disabled line started or ended.

  2. I am disabled and have been attending the con as such for about a decade.

    I was actually the first person to speak at the talk Back on Sunday and I was clear that Disabled Services actually did an excellent job but unfortunately there was communication issues between them, security, Volunteers and the Fire Marshall.
    they had queued up the Disabled attendees for Hall H outside and had us standing since there was no seating.
    This went relatively smoothly until Sunday when the man running the main line misunderstood the Fire Marshall and cleared most of the main line while causing the Disabled line to wait for over an hour. The Marshall had actually want the Disabled line cleared!
    Making matters worse they had only counted the red marked seats with no consideration for attendants.
    The Con seemed very aware and receptive to the issue and I think this will be fixed next year.

  3. Wow! the discussion just took a turn down a dark alley!

    Having had several conversations with Dan he is anything but “Intellectually Disabled” point of fact he’s one of the smartest people I’ve eve met.

    Dislike his policies all you want but launching personal attacks only makes you look bad and invalidates your opinion.

  4. To whom it may concerns,

    I am disabled single father of 2 teens(16
    & 18 years old) my 18 years old son is also disabled/cerebral palsy/wheelchair.
    Me and my boys been dreaming to go to Comic Con SD. Is there anyway we can get a free pass for me and my sons? I really can’t afford but I just want to surprise my boys today or tomorrow/Sun 7-12-15. I would really appreciate if anyone can help us get a pass, just to experience it. I am also a full time student and studying graphic designs and a freelance photographer. I would trade any work as a photographer or a graphic designs. You can (Facebook/ferdiesg). Or email me at [email protected] or my cel #(760) 855 8250. Please help me fulfill my boys dreams. I appreciate any help or advice. Thanks so much for reading, take care and God Bless. Ferdie Gonzales, Fernand and Francis.

  5. Great read. I have a genetic disorder that sometimes requires me to be on crutches or in a wheel chair. Heres some things you might not have known. California isn’t allowed to ask you what your handicap is, so anyone can get a handicap sticker. If you ask, they have to give you one. I wish they’d change this. Also most events have an area for wheelchairs that’s not always full, so if you’re in one they will find you and place you there if a spot is open. They are VERY good about this. They even let in all the wheelchairs into hall h early so they don’t have to navigate the mob. One issue we’ve had are wristbands. There is a handicap line for these and you still have to wait hours to get one, our problem last year was they only had about 20 or 30 for a line of maybe 500 and those only went to anyone in awheelchair. They set aside 6500 to 7000 for the regular line but a itsy bitsy amount for handicap but then subjected them to segregation based on a wheel chair or not. There was an interesting curfuffle where the cci president had to come down at 2 am, from his home, san Diego news crews were there. the handicap crowd was in an uproar over the lack of attention. Eventually it was rectified and the president gave out wristbands personally. It was more lack of communication on the staff working late at night on the lines. Theyre simply volunteers that know nothing and nobody who knows a lot around at night. They had 5 different supervisors all giving different stories or orders but none of them knew anything. Hopefully they learned their lesson last year. Other than that incident the ada at sdcc have been treated amazingly well. I even had an attendant track down not only ice but an ice bag for me. A fabric waterproof container to hold ice i had to use to ice a knee. He first came back with a few trash bags but realized it might leak. Took him half an hour but i sure appreciated it.

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