Huntington YMCA — Local services in Town of Huntington

When I first registered my son for swimming lessons I spoke to the front desk associate and we went over my options. They recommended putting my son in a first stage class for swimming. My son is 4yrs old autistic (non speaking) so I knew this may be a challenge for him and I explained that to the person helping me. So they went on to say let’s sign him up and if it doesn’t work out then I can get a refund. The first day of class my son was having difficulty (expected). In his head he saw the pool and immediately just wanted to go in. Following directions and being part of group activities is difficult for him with his disability which I explained to the trainers there. My son was taken out of the pool and was crying and the trainer and I calmed him down. We had a conversation and said that maybe he may need to switch to private lessons if they cannot find a person to be with him 1:1 which is understandable. We went in again the following week and the head director was there. I walked in so I could speak to them and he came up to me without even saying hello to me or my son and the first thing he said to my son was “you better sit down” then he looks at me and says “If he behaves how he did last week he’s gonna have to leave”. It wasn’t what he said it’s how he said it. The people here aren’t considerate of children with special needs they just assume your child isn’t following directions when it’s much more complicated than that. He ended up doing well during that session with a 1:1 but ultimately we decided we were going to stop the group lessons and I would be given a refund to then switch to private. After the class ended I went to the front desk to explain my situation to receive my refund. During this time I had to fill out some paperwork as fast as I could because I knew my son was going to get overstimulated (this is common for him if we’re out in public places with a lot of people around). During this time of me filling out my paperwork for my refund my son starting running and grabbed a lady’s Apple Watch which I returned but the way she yelled at my son and looked at me was so nasty and everyone was just staring. I didn’t say nothing except apologized. It happened twice and she goes “that’s the second time” (yelling) and then I say “I’m sorry he’s autistic”. When she then replies “I’m a special education teacher” and I say “well you should have more empathy being a special education teacher” and then she went to go sit down. Like how can you as a person working in that profession scream and treat parents like that. I get it, people aren’t used to seeing children like my son but for her to bring that up is just embarrassing on her part. The Apple Watch was in one piece, if it was broken then I would have gladly paid for it. There were points during this situation where I was running up and down the reception area while also trying to complete the paperwork. One of the front desk receptionist also looked bothered at my son for touching the wooden doors they had on the side on the front desk. She told him to not touch it and told me he would hurt himself in which I told her “I know I’m just waiting for the person that was helping me give me back my credit card”. I wanted to leave there as fast as possible but its like people don’t know what we go through as special needs parents and I just feel like if you’re going to work at an establishment with kids then more consideration and patience is required as well as inclusion and not assuming that every child is the same. Someone even came up to me after and said “it’s okay there are people that just don’t understand”, and it’s so true. Some of us a trying are best to raise our high support needs children while also trying to include them in fun activities like swimming. People at this place need to do better, and I honestly don’t know if I will be coming back for private lessons. If you have a child with autism or any kind of developmental disability that requires a bit more support this might not be the place...

I used their aftercare services for my son in kindergarten and they were awful. He attended the aftercare program 3 days a week (the other 2 days, he came home on the bus) for more than half of the school year until he was dropped from the program. I was never notified that he was being dropped; I found out when I got a call from his school asking why nobody was home to get my son off the bus. The program staff had told my son's teacher that he wasn't in the program anymore, so she sent him home on the bus. When I called the staff to ask what the problem was, they said that they were unable to accommodate the needs of an autistic child, so my son couldn't remain in the program. Again, this was more than half way through the school year that they made this decision. I should have been notified. I should've been given time to find an alternative aftercare program. Instead, they sent my autistic 5 yr old home on a bus to an empty house while I was at work, and I was left to scramble to figure out who was going to watch him for the rest of the week. I spoke to upper management and nobody cared. They even gave me a hard time about giving me a refund for the month that he stopped attending aftercare (I had paid that months fees a day prior to them dropping my son from the program). It was a nightmare. I do not recommend...

this gym is a bottom tier, uncared for mess. Three rows of currently updated treadmills are not needed especially when half of the weightlifting equipment is out of date, broken, or in such close proximity to another that working out is uncomfortable and inefficient. Middle and high school students plague the gym past 3pm, the workers do nothing to allow 6+ kids running around on the same machine. Without fail the gym is overcrowded weekly, not allowing for a full workout without running into: someone holding a machine for 20 plus minutes, every single machine and treadmill being taken, and the lack of care for personal space and respect in locker rooms/saunas, specifically from older men. Care is not put into selecting new weight equipment or placement of such. This YMCA charging such outrageous prices for a horrendous experience and spotty customer service is an absolute ripoff, go somewhere else...