autism and pin trading

[Christine43]

Hi, has anyone's autistic child done pin trading and how did it go? My almost 12 yr. old autie might do it this year. Thanks!

 

[dzorn]

We tried on the last two trips but DD said she was not trading. She was perfectly happy with the ones on her lanyard and though I was nuts to think she was giving any of them up. BTW some were of characters she did not even care for. Her typical sister loved it and would have traded every 2 minutes if you let her. Don't know if we will try again or not.

Denise in MI

 

[dzorn]

BTW DD turned 9 last April if that matters. She was 8 on the other trips.

Denise in MI

 

[SueM in MN]

There was a thread a while back about this subject.
It was a very positive experience for some kids. One parent had worked on social scripting ahead of time and felt that helped a lot.
A couple important things I remember from that discussion:
- make sure the child understands the concept of a trade and what it means.
- make sure the child understands they don't have to agree to a trade.
- if there are some pins the child does not want to trade at all, keep them separate from the pins they do agree to trade.
- be aware that there are thousands of different pins and hundreds for each character (in case you have an obsessive child who may want to try to collect them all).

 

[Christine43]

Thanks a lot, we're going to give it a try!

 

[SueM in MN]

Here's a link to the thread I was thinking about regarding pin trading.
I'm also going to add a link to that thread in the disABILITIES FAQs thread, in post 3 under autism.

 

[ireland_nicole]

We did it with our two kiddoes last trip. DD wasn't interested (pins are not pink and fluffy enough LOL) but DS LOVED it. OMG, REally loved it; highlight of his trip- which is pretty wild, b/c he normally won't initiate a conversation, to say the least. We did a lot of social scripting and role play first, to get him used to it. (And he never deviated from his script. Occasionally a CM would see him coming and hold out their lanyard for him, but he'd still say, "May I please see your lanyard? Could you hold it out for me?" But hey, the script worked. I bought geniune disney pins from a reputable ebay seller cheap before we went (I think it was $50 incl. shipping for 25 pins). My kids didn't like any of them, so it was easy to trade. Another rule was to trade only w/ CM's. They were very accomodating of him, so sweet. Being a touch OCD, he would completely fill his lanyard w/ the same "type" of pin, then would trade those for the same pin. When he got all 12 the same, he would change to another pin, and start again. Honestly, this kid traded pins over 100 x a day, w/ just about every CM he saw. It really improved his social skills, and ability to be out in a crowd, he needed his "nest" of the stroller a lot less, b/c he was focused on something else. Sorry to ramble, but hope this gives you a couple of ideas that might help.

 

[OneLittleSpark]

We did it with our two kiddoes last trip. DD wasn't interested (pins are not pink and fluffy enough LOL) but DS LOVED it. OMG, REally loved it; highlight of his trip- which is pretty wild, b/c he normally won't initiate a conversation, to say the least. We did a lot of social scripting and role play first, to get him used to it. (And he never deviated from his script. Occasionally a CM would see him coming and hold out their lanyard for him, but he'd still say, "May I please see your lanyard? Could you hold it out for me?" But hey, the script worked. I bought geniune disney pins from a reputable ebay seller cheap before we went (I think it was $50 incl. shipping for 25 pins). My kids didn't like any of them, so it was easy to trade. Another rule was to trade only w/ CM's. They were very accomodating of him, so sweet. Being a touch OCD, he would completely fill his lanyard w/ the same "type" of pin, then would trade those for the same pin. When he got all 12 the same, he would change to another pin, and start again. Honestly, this kid traded pins over 100 x a day, w/ just about every CM he saw. It really improved his social skills, and ability to be out in a crowd, he needed his "nest" of the stroller a lot less, b/c he was focused on something else. Sorry to ramble, but hope this gives you a couple of ideas that might help.

I'm glad to hear pin-trading worked so well for your little guy ! It is wonderful what Disney does to make everbody's trips so special, regardless of our challenges, and that they go to all the effort and expense to offer services like this that don't see a direct profit (yes, they probably get more people buying pins, but still). I see so many stories here of people who's special needs kids have made huge leaps of progress, and each and every one helps to reinforce my love of Disney Thank you for sharing!

 

[ireland_nicole]

I'm always happy to share how durn proud I am of my little guy!

 

[tmli]

DS (12) has been doing this since he was 5. It started out as me using the verbage for him and him just standing there....now he is a master at it!! I modelled for him how it went, we have very clear rules as to when and with who we can trade. Such as CM's only and only when they are free. Upon approach he must say "Hello, May I see your pins?"....once he has looked he must say either Nice pins, but nothing I am looking for, and/or thank you....or if he wants something he says "May I trade for..."

We have always seen it as a social skills exercise. We also divide our pins between "keepers" and "traders". Only traders go on his lanyard (or in his pin trading belt bag), the keepers are kept seperate and go on our display board at home.

I can't tell you how much this as helped DS come over his awkardness....he even makes perfect eye contact as he's doing it.

Disclaimer: Ds has Aspergers and is quite high functioning

 

[graygables]

My 12yo has Asperger's with selective mustism and pin trading has been a great way to help her. We started out with understanding the rules of pin trading and she carried cards with "thank you" printed on them that she decorated with stickers (this was back when she was 7). Anytime we had an interaction with someone (character, server, Cast Member), she would hand them a card. We progressed to the ASL sign for "thank you" and now she has finally gotten to where she will mutter it. Pin trading has been very helpful to her in overcoming her fears, but there are still some CMs that she refuses to even look at their lanyards just b/c there is "something" about them.

 

[jennilynn510]

Hi, has anyone's autistic child done pin trading and how did it go? My almost 12 yr. old autie might do it this year. Thanks!

our DS9 who is autistic loves to pin trade too. i also suggest keeping special or favorite pins on a separate lanyard, this avoids any accidental trades or meltdowns. my personal rules are similar to the other posts...he must politely ask to see the pins (while making eye contact) and then either politely ask for a trade or thank the cast member for letting him browse. we started this on our last trip (last january) and when we got home it opened alot of doors, he started ordering for himself at restaurants and talking a lot more to people. if he gets uncomfortable he'll just say "i'm sorry i'm a little shy" and thats my que to get in there & save him. you gotta love the affect disney has on our special kids

 

[codimouse]

my DD is now 5 and is excited about it.
she started at 3 and focuses on that. LOL
she is adamant about what not to trade and will ask
daddy to hold her lanyard with her keepsies.

but only if the crowd gets to big does she just want to walk away!
but other than that she gets excited.

she already has her pins ready to go for next month!

 

[FFRSPEC]

Our son likes to trade some. He was 10 on the last trip and will be 11 on this one. We got him the book for all of his favorite pins. But I think his mom likes to trade more. She buys bulk pins and trades them instead of the ones purchased at the park. He has moved on to the pressed penny now he really loves those things. There is a book that you can keep them in. There is also a map that will show you where the machines are. Might be a good alternative.

 

[renchick]

My DS with autism will be 7 on our next trip, and I've been collecting pins for him (eBay), as I think trading will be very beneficial for him (and now realize, I've only purchased pins he will love - time to purchase a grab bag). For those of you who have used social stories, were these written, or verbal? Would you be willing to share some detail (I am not knowledgable about the protocols of pin trading)? Thank you.

 

[ireland_nicole]

We made sort of a comic book style together for the actual "book" and then we role played - a lot. We used Daddy and Grandma's ID lanyards from work to practice with (of course, if you have disney ones, they'll work too lol). We taught a "script." I can't find the book now, but here is pretty much how it worked.
DS/DD: May I see your lanyard?
Me: Sure (I would change this up to other responses once they got the idea.)
DS/DD: Will you hold it out for me please?
Me: I would hold it out for them to see
Ds/DD: here there were two choices
1. May I please trade for "that" one? They would point w/o touching the pin they wanted.
2. Thank you, I don't see any I want to trade for right now.
Me: What will you trade me for them?
DS/DD: This one
(I taught them the basic rule, which is to put the back on the pin, and no two of the same pin can be on the lanyard at once, so they had to look and make sure they offered a pin that wasn't a match.)

They then said, Thank you sir/ma'am (as appropriate)

The main things for us were focusing on not touching (bounderies are a challenge) and trading only w/ CM's.

I know this probably isn't very clear, but hopefully it will help a little. My DS really loved it!

 

[pilgrimr]

Thanks for the idea on pin trading. Our son is 6 autistic and limited verbally. We are going to try this and see how it goes. Again thank you on the great thoughts.