A Very Moving Story about Turtle Talk with Crush

[rgf207]

My uncle and family had taken on of the tours at MK (dont know if it was KTK or Family Magic). When they arrived at the Laugh Floor which uses similar technology to the Crush attraction, the CM told a story

During a showing of Crush, he was doing his thing and picked a little girl out of the audience and had a conversation with her. After the show, when everyone was exiting, the little girl and her mother were comming out and the mother was sobbing hysterically. A CM approached and asked what was wrong and if there was anything they could do. It took the mother a while to gain her composure and what she said was incredible. It turns out, the little girl was autistic and had never spoken a word in 7 years but she talked to crush. The CM's immediatly shut down the attraction and allowed the girl and her mother back in and had private showings.


What an amazing story

 

[Shorty82]

Wow. I'm speechless. Very moving.

 

[KirstenB]

Truly a miracle! Our toddler doesn't speak at all (she gets speech therapy), and I know I'm always searching for silly or different ways to get her to talk. Thanks for sharing such a neat story.

 

[Bugsmom73]

What a moving story.

 

[HarbinsMom]

What an amazing story. I'm sure the mother was completely overwhelmed. Disney is truly a magical place.

 

[lunapnp]

That truly brought tears to my eyes!

 

[Kat77]

It's amazing how much autistic children seem drawn in by this technology. My son watched a disney program on the travel channel and was really excited by the Crush excerpt, wanted to rewind and rewatch as many times as I would allow him to.... asked several times if we get to do this?! He is very high functioning and verbal... If my child was nonverbal like little girl mentioned I would have spent the entire day in the theater even if I had to get back on line to do it. All the new connections being made in her brain by this would be priceless IMHO. I do wonder about the authenticity of such stories though... while touching, I am still skeptical such an acheivement would come out of nowhere.

 

[SueOKW]

That's one of those hits where it hurts story isn't it? And I don't mean hurts.. I mean it hits home.

So many fantastic things happen for my son when we are there - so I can "sort of" get a taste of what that mother must have felt.. tears are just streaming down my face... to have an "un-locking" moment like that, when you least expect it.

fantastic. thanks for sharing. KAT7 - I know what you mean. I will choose to believe it's true. I suppose there are ways to validate it.

 

[tacomaranch]

Tears streaming down my face. It brought back our first word every...we were at disney and our DS said bus.

Just a simple word...

Thank you for sharing!

 

[pugdog]

Stories like this are exactly why we decide to spend our time and money at WDW. They bend over backwards for anyone with special needs, what ever they might be.

 

[alizesmom]

Thank you so much for sharing this lovely story. A ray of hope for many of us. Karen

 

[SueM in MN]

thanks for sharing.
I saw this in a thread on the Theme Parks Board and was going to post a link. Thanks for beating me to it.

 

[jayandstacey]

It's amazing how much autistic children seem drawn in by this technology. My son watched a disney program on the travel channel and was really excited by the Crush excerpt, wanted to rewind and rewatch as many times as I would allow him to.... asked several times if we get to do this?! He is very high functioning and verbal... If my child was nonverbal like little girl mentioned I would have spent the entire day in the theater even if I had to get back on line to do it. All the new connections being made in her brain by this would be priceless IMHO. I do wonder about the authenticity of such stories though... while touching, I am still skeptical such an acheivement would come out of nowhere.

I believe.

I used to be a bar DJ in college. I spent 2 weeks one summer at a bar on Cape Cod, where one day (midday, bar closed) the local special needs school bussed in some kids to the bar while I played 45s on the sound system and lit up the dance floor. They had various disabilities both physical and mental.

I also happened to have a microphone with a long cord. It was designed to reach out into the crowd and not give much feedback. I gave it to a kid and told them to sing, then pass it around. They did.

One kid took the mic and 'owned' it. He stood in the middle the floor, tapping his feet, head down and the mic close to his mouth. He made groaning/grunting noises and were pretty much in time with the music. He was clearly having a great time and wasn't about to give up the mic. The other kids made a circle around him and cheered him on.

A chaperone was against the wall and looked upset. Others were too, but not doing anything. I was concerned that I might have stepped over a boundary - too loud, inappropriate songs, the kid wasn't sharing, whatever. So I asked what was the matter.

She choked back tears and said "He's never purposely made a sound before."

I believe. And I'm pretty sure Crush can do it if my dumb records could.

 

[jayandstacey]

Oh, Kat77 - that wasn't meant to be a snippy reply back to you.

I am a very skeptical person myself and I certainly know nothing of Autism. Nor do I know what that kid in Cape Cod had. I suppose that in my life, I feel like i've only ever been a part of one 'miracle' and that Crush story is kind of like the miracle I saw.

I do wonder though...did the kid really launch into full-on speech for Crush? Or just say a word or two? And did she continue to talk after that, as if a veil had been lifted? Not to mention the ficticious story about the girl who sings "Wishes" with the fireworks and how she died 3 days later - turned out not to be true - but made for a over-zealous (if not well intentioned) CM story.

But even after all that, I still believe there's truth in that story.

 

[Piper]

I believe it may have happened. When I was a child, I had a really exceptional cat. He let me put doll clothes on him and push him around in my doll buggy. He was very friendly with all the neighborhood children. One day a large dog jumped our fence and really freaked him out. He hid under our house.......and wouldn't come out.

The family next door had a 5 year old boy who had never said a single word. His parents were frantic, but back then--getting help was next to impossible.

He and his mother came over for "coffee" with my mother. When they arrived, Mother was outside with a dish of food trying to entice the cat out from under the house. She was so frustrated. Mother told Allen's mom that the cat just wouldn't come out and as far as she was concerned "he could just stay under there and starve!" (Hear the frustration speaking? ) Allen stayed outside when we went in to get refreshments (He was pretty much allowed to do what he wanted because of meltdowns. He was probably on the spectrum, but I don't actually know that.)

Back then (in the dark ages ) we didn't have air conditioning, so the kitchen window and back door were open. In a few minutes, we heard a voice saying, "Here, kitty. Come out. Eat your food like this. Don't starve!" The moms flew to the window and looked out and there were Allen and my cat sharing a bowl of cat food! I'll never forget the sight of Allen's mom standing at our kitchen window sobbing. And Allen did begin talking after that---not full out talking all the time, but he wasn't completely silent any more.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

A few of years ago I saw my 3yo autistic grandnephew get up from the table at Biergarten, go onto the dance floor, and start playing with other children. His mother (my niece) was beside herself because it was the first time he had ever joined with any other kids to play ever. And after every trip to WDW he comes back home with a lot more words.

 

[KPeveler]

maybe we should petition the American Medical Association and the American Psychiatric Association and any other association having anything to do with autism to make Disney an approved (and insured) therapy site!!! i have heard a ton of stories of parents of autistic children say disney just did wonders for their kid. i say we make it a regular part of autism therapy!

 

[irish_trip_mom]

You just affirmed the reason why when people ask us why we found WDW so magical. Friends come back with their kids and don't experience the same magic that we did. Well, for us, it's where we've seen our kids the happiest. Seeing my DS#1 pose with the Power Rangers or DS#2 run up and kiss Mickey. Both have autism. But in Disney, for those moments, they were typical little guys in the happiest place on earth.

True or urban legend, the story makes my day. And for every parent who longs for their child to simply talk, I am sure it makes theirs also.


Forget therapy, I want my kids to live at Disney! We joked that we were treated so well at Disney that we forgot what the real world was like when we returned home and had to advocate each and every day for our kids.

 

[Merriwind]

Great story OP--and all the others who shared! Thanks.

 

[robin09]

I just need to chime in here for a second about Crush. My DD8 has aspergers, and now is totally verbal. She started talking at 3 years old after much speech therapy. About 2 years ago, we went to the Crush show. DD was devastated that Crush didn't pick her to answer questions, so when the show ended.. she just had a total meltdown.. crying sobbing, refused to get up.. the whole 9 yards. A CM came up to us and asked what the matter was. We explained how Jenn was upset not talking to Crush... well, after everyone left.... Crush came back on and talked to Jenn, I cannot tell you what a magical time that was. Her eyes lit up and she actually sparkled... that alone was so much pixie dust and one of the main reasons we return to Disney, year after year, after year!