I Doubt Justin Bieber Faked Disability–But What Happened Still Hurt My Kid

Gossip and entertainment sites were buzzing this week about fan sightings of Justin Bieber at Disneyland last Sunday, in a wheelchair, cutting lines. Fans shared social media photos, including the above, of the star. There was speculation that Justin did this to cut lines. There were other photos posted of him the next day, standing perfectly fine.

Let’s start with this: Celebrities do not need to “fake” disability because they can easily get preferential treatment at theme parks, and pretty much anywhere they go. Justin’s done a bunch of dubious stuff in recent years, but it just seems ludicrous to think he’d need to do this. TMZ reported that he was nursing a knee injury from basketball and only sat in the chair for a short time. They also noted that Bieber gets escorted in and out of the park, to avoid attracting a crowd.

Not that countless people haven’t tried over the years to pretend to be disabled. My husband knew someone, as a teen, who’d rent a wheelchair to cut lines at theme parks. Last May, the news broke that wealthy parents were hiring people with disabilities so they could bypass lines.

That abuse is one key reason Disney recently changed its policies for accommodating people with disabilities to a system that’s similar to Disney’s Fastpass one, in which a park attendant gives you a return time for a ride. So the second, and more key reason, this whole story can’t be true is that people in wheelchairs do not automatically get access to rides, or any additional leeway. Only wheelchair users who have behavioral or sensory issues or other disabilities might qualify for the Disability Access Service Card. But that wasn’t always the word being spread online. As The Wire said, “Everybody knows that Disneyland allows its disabled guests to cut the lines at any rides that can accommodate them, so, you know, congrats to Justin Bieber for FINALLY getting an advantage in life.”

Right. As if having a disability is ever an advantage. If you have a kid with special needs then you know what a constant uphill battle life can be.

The media is ready to jump on Justin Bieber for any move he makes, but it seems like he didn’t deserve this—and neither did people with disability. Bad reporting like this hurts kids like my son, because it spreads the misconception that people with disability “get away” with cutting lines. Some of them, like Max, dorequire accommodations at theme parks. He has cerebral palsy and can’t stand for long periods of times. He gets scared of crowds. I know of other kids with special needs whose bodies can’t properly regulate temperature, and so they can’t wait for long periods in heat.