Please sign and share this petition worldwide in an effort to demand companies like the Noerr Programs Company to train their Santa hires to be more educated on how to handle and treat special needs kids and those with service dogs. An autistic child was recently devastated when "Santa" refused to see her because of her service and therapy dog. We need to ensure that such an occurrence does not happen again.
Recently, while visiting The Shops at Mission Viejo in California, a young 7-year old autistic girl was rejected by Santa Clause because of her therapy service dog, a Pitbull named Pup-Cake. The child was devastated and left the building in tears. A family friend of the girls' family stated that "Autism is accompanied by many sensory issues, included self-harm behaviors and feeling overwhelmed at times by lights, sounds, especially when waiting. Pup-cake the service dog's job is to intervene in those moments."
Authorities at the mall did eventually fire this particular Santa and his helper who worked together and made a statement saying "We share in your concerns regarding the situation today involving a Santa at The Shops at Mission Viejo. We do not condone the behavior displayed by Santa and have worked with our partners at Noerr, the company that hires our Santas, to replace this Santa with one that is more compassionate to our guests' needs. We look forward to welcoming back the Santos family and Pup-Cake for a special Santa experience."
Such an occurrence should never again occur. We are encouraging the Noerr Programs to properly train their people like the Santas and their elves to be more educated, not about autism or pit bulls, but about the disabilities act so that little girls like Abcde (pronounced "ab-suh-dee") won't go and see Santa and end up crying. Help us to achieve that goal by signing and sharing this petition everywhere possible so other little children after visiting one of the happiest fantasy figures of a child's life.
Noerr Programs Company - When training your santas and elves, it is imperative that you educate them all on how to relate to and handle special needs children and those with service dogs. No child should leave a visit with Santa in tears and devastation. No child should be turned away or rejected. These children need good old Santa Clause to be respectful, caring and very compassionate; never rejected and turned away. Please ensure you hire the appropriate people that can handle all situations and children of all needs and circumstances, including their special service and therapy dogs.
