Special Needs

Students with Special Needs and "Inclusion" in Group Ski and Snowboard Lessons
We often receive requests from schools and families to accommodate children with various challenges in group lessons.
Although schools now routinely include students with significant behavioral or emotional problems that occasionally render them disruptive, special needs students may not do well in a group ski lesson.
Students with intellectual, emotional, or behavioral challenges learn better one-on-one in a private lesson setting.
Students with physical challenges, requiring an instructor with special adaptive training should consider booking private lessons with a CADS (Canadian Association of Disabled Skiers) certified instructor.
If you need to switch your child to private lessons, please speak to a reservation agent.

Accessible Customer Service Plan

Providing Goods and Services to People with Disabilities
Mount Pakenham is committed to excellence in serving all customers including people with disabilities.
Assistive devices
We will ensure that our staff or volunteers are trained and familiar with various assistive devices we have on site or that we provide that may be used when teaching skiing to customers with disabilities. We recommend that ski lessons for customers with disabilities be arranged with CADS- the Canadian Association for Disabled Skiing. See www.cads-ncd.ca for more information.
Communication
We will communicate with people with disabilities in ways that take into account their disability.
Service animals
We welcome people with disabilities and their service animals. Tethered Service animals are allowed on the parts of our premises that are open to the public except ski lifts and alpine ski runs.
Support persons
A person with a disability who is accompanied by a support person will be allowed to have that person accompany them on our premises.
Fees are only charged to the support person if they require use of any ski lifts or recreational use of Mount Pakenham's alpine ski runs or cross country trails.
We will notify customers of this through a notice posted on our premises and on the Mount Pakenham website www.mountpakenham.com at the tab for "Services-Special Needs"� and at the tab for "Instruction- CADS-Adaptive Skiing"�
Training
CADS will provide training to their volunteers and others who deal with the public or other third parties on our behalf.
Individuals in the following positions will be trained by Mount Pakenham:
Managers of all departments and all employees who directly service our customers at the front desk, in snow school lessons, on the lifts, in the cafeteria and rental shop
This training will be provided to staff each year before the season starts or within 2 weeks of hiring new staff.
Training will include:

• An overview of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 and the requirements of the customer service standard
  
• Mount Pakenham's plan related to the customer service standard.
  
• How to interact and communicate with people with various types of disabilities
  
• How to interact with people with disabilities who use an assistive device or require the assistance of a service animal or a support person
  
• Who to refer customers to who are interested in ski lessons requiring adaptive devices
  
• Where the "handicapped parking spaces" are located
  
• Where the washroom is located that can accommodate wheelchairs and/or a support person.
  
• What to do if a person with a disability is having difficulty in accessing Mount Pakenham's goods and services
  

Staff will also be trained when changes are made to our accessible customer service plan.

Feedback process
Customers who wish to provide feedback on the way Mount Pakenham provides goods and services to people with disabilities can speak to a supervisor at the front desk or send an email to ski@mountpakenham.com
All feedback, including complaints, will be directed to Joanne Clifford-President or Eireann Montreuil-Snow School Director.
Customers can expect to hear back in within 3 days.
Modifications to this or other policies
Any policy of Mount Pakenham's that does not respect and promote the dignity and independence of people with disabilities will be modified or removed.