Plantation Bay Resort and Spa resident holder Manny Gonzalez apologized to the mother, who left a negative review of the resort after experiencing “discrimination” from the resort’s staff concerning his son with autism.
“This is in response to my poor handling of a guest complaint a couple of days ago. I was wrong to question the mother’s motives, and deeply regret leaving the impression that we are not supportive of the community of parents with children who have special needs,” he said in a letter released last night, December 8.
“Our hotel’s policy om keeping noise levels down in the pool and at the restaurants is geared towards safety and relaxation of guests. We try to apply this policy even-handedly. As a result of that policy, in almost 25 years, we have never had a child die here. A mother’s pride is important, but more important are the lives of the children who come here,” he added.
Also read: Autism groups condemn Plantation Bay manager’s response to parent of child with special needs
Plantation Bay manager apologizes to mother of child with autism
As a response to the parent’s review in Trip Advisor, Gonzalez replied, “For your information, uncontrolled shouting is not a symptom of autism.”
Gonzalez went on to say that “autistic children” were typically “silent, non-verbal, and overwhelmed” and withdrawn when faced with strangers.
“Google ‘Autism’ and verify this for yourself,” Gonzalez added. “Therefore this parent is most likely deliberately lying, or has been given an incorrect diagnosis of autism, when what the child more likely has is a lack of discipline due to simple parental neglect.”
“If their parents would pay attention to them, and would refrain from screaming at each other, there would be no need for the child to scream. In our experience, one word from a responsible parent is enough to make a child quiet down,” the reply continued.
Gonzalez said that if Mai was truly concerned, she should have “read and noted our policies.”
“Therefore, this parent is trying to blame the resort for her own failure to look after her child’s interest,” the Plantation Bay manager wrote.