ADHD Onboard

[Mighty Mouse Mama]

My DS just turned 6 and has severe ADHD and his therapist suspects that he is also on the spectrum, although very high functioning. He is also very intelligent (reads at a 4th grade level and is doing third grade math), which can be a problem because when he gets upset, he cannot keep from expressing his frustration verbally...and he does not sound like a 6 year old when he does. This has caused a lot of problems with teachers, who usually take his outbursts as disrespectful and tend to get angry with him. This only makes matters worse, because he actually cares very much about people's opinions of them and wants to please, so he gets anxious, which only leads to more stress and therefore more outbursts. It got bad enough this year that we have decided to homeschool him. (Before anyone jumps down my throats about this, I'm not asking for parenting advice, yes we have him in several activities so he is well socialized, yes we have thought this through carefully, yes he has tutors, no I do not plan on homeschooling him past elementary school.)
My concern is how this may be handled in the kids clubs. He is normally very sweet and happy and is very excited about the video games and the Star Wars area. He is outgoing
and will talk to anyone, likes both older and younger kids, boys and girls, etc. But he has a VERY strong sense of fairness and can get very upset if he is bullied or if he is forced to stop an activity he loves without warning. (For example, he gets to play Final Fantasy as a reward when he finishes his school for the day, but only for 20 minutes. I have to set a timer so he can see that it is actually 20 minutes, and then give him a 2 minute warning so that he can get to a save point.)
He very rarely hits anyone, but he will hit back if he is hit first. He'll also jump in if anyone pushes or hits his little sister, who is a year younger.
I think my question is, what kind of training do the kids club counselors have with this? I know ADHD and autism are fairly common and I'm sure we will not be the first family to show up with a kid with a few issues. But he is so excited about the clubs and I'm afraid he won't be allowed to be there if he has a meltdown. And since vacations can be stressful for little ones, just due to the level of excitement and all the things out of their ordinary routine, I have to be realistic about the chance that he may have a rough time at lest once during the trip.
Does anyone have any suggestions? Is there someone I should talk to about this before we go on our cruise? This is our first cruise, and actually, our first family vacation. I really want it to go well and be enjoyable for everyone. And I really don't want our issues to impact anyone else on the cruise, especially not the CM who will be working so hard. I have several months to prepare him and I'm just trying to figure out what I can do on my end to make sure this goes as smoothly as possible, and to be prepared in case the kids club doesn't want to deal with him.

 

[Mitura]

Wow! This sounds like my oldest son. He is 14 and diagnosed ADHD-ADD at age of 5.

This will be our third trip with him (and his brother and mom of course).

Our son has a hard time making friends and he has a hard time containing himself in regards to speech and personal space. So that is a challenge. He is mainstreamed and goes to the local public school.

How he handles the ship… He likes the clubs, not loves. So he does go to the clubs but gets bored fast. (1 hour or 2)

What he loves is Star Wars, Marvel and any type of action movie. So the whole Disney Buena Vista Theater is his vacation. He (we) tell of the story when he was alone in the theater and watched Ant Man. He has the whole theater to himself! Then Pluto comes in and sits and watches the movie with him. How cool was that! He goes to the theater non-stop and watches whatever is on! If something not action orientated (such as Frozen) is on he comes back to the cabin and watches the TV in the room, which has every Disney Movie ever made. He brings his IPAD and documents all of the movies he watches.

He also likes to make You Tube movies. So lately we have given him an old phone and he walks the ship making “first person” movies of the ship documenting things around the ship. “This is the pool area, if you notice it has a big screen TV on the funnel,” etc…

I have been watching this board for a while and I like the suggestions others have mentioned around topics of this sort. You know your child, you know what your child likes, so go with that. But for us the thing is that on the Disney ships it is a little easier to find that “thing” that will make your vacation special, be it movies, plays, clubs, excursions, AquaDuck, or just family time together.

What ever happens I hope you have a wonderful vacation.



Joe

 

[Mighty Mouse Mama]

Wow! This sounds like my oldest son. He is 14 and diagnosed ADHD-ADD at age of 5.

This will be our third trip with him (and his brother and mom of course).

Our son has a hard time making friends and he has a hard time containing himself in regards to speech and personal space. So that is a challenge. He is mainstreamed and goes to the local public school.

How he handles the ship… He likes the clubs, not loves. So he does go to the clubs but gets bored fast. (1 hour or 2)

What he loves is Star Wars, Marvel and any type of action movie. So the whole Disney Buena Vista Theater is his vacation. He (we) tell of the story when he was alone in the theater and watched Ant Man. He has the whole theater to himself! Then Pluto comes in and sits and watches the movie with him. How cool was that! He goes to the theater non-stop and watches whatever is on! If something not action orientated (such as Frozen) is on he comes back to the cabin and watches the TV in the room, which has every Disney Movie ever made. He brings his IPAD and documents all of the movies he watches.

He also likes to make You Tube movies. So lately we have given him an old phone and he walks the ship making “first person” movies of the ship documenting things around the ship. “This is the pool area, if you notice it has a big screen TV on the funnel,” etc…

I have been watching this board for a while and I like the suggestions others have mentioned around topics of this sort. You know your child, you know what your child likes, so go with that. But for us the thing is that on the Disney ships it is a little easier to find that “thing” that will make your vacation special, be it movies, plays, clubs, excursions, AquaDuck, or just family time together.

What ever happens I hope you have a wonderful vacation.



Joe

Thanks for the input! Yeah, he does like movies, but doesn't always sit through them to the end. His thing is definitely video games, and light saber/sword fighting. My DH is a stuntman, so our kids have grown up watching him doing movie fights and DS has an unfortunate tendency to break out into his own "stunt choreography" without a lot of warning. Since his fights often involve magic or the force along with weapons, and he also reacts to "attacks" from imaginary foes by throwing himself to the ground, these battles can sometimes look to the untrained eye a bit like seizures or possession by the Tasmanian Devil.
Hopefully he will have grown out of that by the time we go on the cruise.

But it's a great idea to try to figure out what will really make his personal vacation. If he's happy, he's more relaxed and less likely to clash with people.

Since you've done cruises with your son before, what did you find the CM response to him to be? Did you talk to them ahead of time?

 

[lanejudy]

Just picking up on a couple of things you mentioned specifically...

A sense of fairness, yet he needs to be reminded to end his time on video games. Can you build on that with him? There is often a line of kids waiting to use the video games. Can he start to recognize the "fairness" is letting everyone have a turn? I don't know that CMs actually clock each kid so he may not have that visual timer and 2-minute warning. Maybe if he wore a watch he could time himself?

I'm not sure what frustrations you might expect him to have onboard, that could results in outbursts similar to what his teachers didn't like. Math and reading skills aren't likely to come into play, particularly, and there are kids of varying ages (3-12) in the same space so CMs are used to a wide range of verbal skills. If you can try to think about what frustrations might occur, I suggset role-play with him what is an appropriate way to react if those situations occur.

If he becomes physical with another child, expect him to be removed. If it's a one-time minor occurrence, they'll probably allow him back after a break. But if it happens more often expect he won't be allowed at secured programming -- regardless of who did what first. Same for protecting little sis -- it can be a busy place, sometimes kids bump into each other but not intentionally. Will he be able to recognize that and keep his reaction in check?

I'd suggest going to open house the first afternoon. Speak with the CMs. Observe how he does. Then maybe try small amounts of time during secured programming in the first evening and full day -- coming back to check in 30 minutes, 1 hour, 90 minutes... until you and he feel comfortable with the situation.

As moms we worry... often needlessly. He'll probably be fine. But it's good to think through possibilities if you can help him plan.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[FigmentSpark]

My DS just turned 6 and has severe ADHD and his therapist suspects that he is also on the spectrum, although very high functioning. He is also very intelligent (reads at a 4th grade level and is doing third grade math), which can be a problem because when he gets upset, he cannot keep from expressing his frustration verbally...and he does not sound like a 6 year old when he does. This has caused a lot of problems with teachers, who usually take his outbursts as disrespectful and tend to get angry with him. This only makes matters worse, because he actually cares very much about people's opinions of them and wants to please, so he gets anxious, which only leads to more stress and therefore more outbursts. It got bad enough this year that we have decided to homeschool him. (Before anyone jumps down my throats about this, I'm not asking for parenting advice, yes we have him in several activities so he is well socialized, yes we have thought this through carefully, yes he has tutors, no I do not plan on homeschooling him past elementary school.)

No judgement here! We have to be advocates for our kids and do what's best for them. Sounds like you've got that down.

As for the clubs, we put a note on our 'form' that indicated anything we wanted the counsellors to know. In our case, my son doesn't join things easily without being asked. He has some inattentive issues, so we put that down. The counsellors were then made aware to try to get him to join things, not just assume he was happy by himself.

My opinion of the counsellors is that they are all highly trained, many of whom are educators (@bbel will be able to tell you more), so they should have an understanding of how to deal with ADHD.

 

[Disneyteachers]

My DS just turned 6 and has severe ADHD and his therapist suspects that he is also on the spectrum, although very high functioning. He is also very intelligent (reads at a 4th grade level and is doing third grade math), which can be a problem because when he gets upset, he cannot keep from expressing his frustration verbally...and he does not sound like a 6 year old when he does. This has caused a lot of problems with teachers, who usually take his outbursts as disrespectful and tend to get angry with him. This only makes matters worse, because he actually cares very much about people's opinions of them and wants to please, so he gets anxious, which only leads to more stress and therefore more outbursts. It got bad enough this year that we have decided to homeschool him. (Before anyone jumps down my throats about this, I'm not asking for parenting advice, yes we have him in several activities so he is well socialized, yes we have thought this through carefully, yes he has tutors, no I do not plan on homeschooling him past elementary school.)
My concern is how this may be handled in the kids clubs. He is normally very sweet and happy and is very excited about the video games and the Star Wars area. He is outgoing
and will talk to anyone, likes both older and younger kids, boys and girls, etc. But he has a VERY strong sense of fairness and can get very upset if he is bullied or if he is forced to stop an activity he loves without warning. (For example, he gets to play Final Fantasy as a reward when he finishes his school for the day, but only for 20 minutes. I have to set a timer so he can see that it is actually 20 minutes, and then give him a 2 minute warning so that he can get to a save point.)
He very rarely hits anyone, but he will hit back if he is hit first. He'll also jump in if anyone pushes or hits his little sister, who is a year younger.
I think my question is, what kind of training do the kids club counselors have with this? I know ADHD and autism are fairly common and I'm sure we will not be the first family to show up with a kid with a few issues. But he is so excited about the clubs and I'm afraid he won't be allowed to be there if he has a meltdown. And since vacations can be stressful for little ones, just due to the level of excitement and all the things out of their ordinary routine, I have to be realistic about the chance that he may have a rough time at lest once during the trip.
Does anyone have any suggestions? Is there someone I should talk to about this before we go on our cruise? This is our first cruise, and actually, our first family vacation. I really want it to go well and be enjoyable for everyone. And I really don't want our issues to impact anyone else on the cruise, especially not the CM who will be working so hard. I have several months to prepare him and I'm just trying to figure out what I can do on my end to make sure this goes as smoothly as possible, and to be prepared in case the kids club doesn't want to deal with him.

I feel your pain. My son is 8 and has ADHD and anxiety plus some medical issues (preemie at birth.) We did our first cruise last year with friends last year in Alaska. We had a few issues that we hope to remedy on future trips. One, the kids clubs were tolerated to a point (whereas our 11 year old wanted nothing to do with us) and our late seating for dinner was a mistake. We basically forced him out of the room a lot, but he'll tell you his favorite place was the stateroom. We should've understood that his idea of a good cruise was different from ours and diferent from his sister. In the future, we will respect his interests, as well as our own!

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

Since his fights often involve magic or the force along with weapons, and he also reacts to "attacks" from imaginary foes by throwing himself to the ground, these battles can sometimes look to the untrained eye a bit like seizures or possession by the Tasmanian Devil.
Hopefully he will have grown out of that by the time we go on the cruise.

No judgement from me. I think you are fantastic to make the decisions that are right for your family, and that you monitor and adjust as the situation changes.

I did want to comment on this one thing. I'm sure you meant it in a positive way, but I just want to emphasize it. I don't hope he "grows out of it" I hope he "grows into it." Like knowing not to do it in a public place where others might be concerned or inconvenienced, but as the host of many "imaginary battles" myself as a child, I can assure you (as I'm sure you already know) that his active imagination is a blessing of immense size. You made my day to hear about a boy like that! He is aware of a wonderful world that many people never explore.

 

[kittymamma]

I do not have children and no experience with ADHD so I'm not sure why I was reading this post. I am so glad I did though because of the last few sentences in the post by Anchors Away ( I have not figured out how to quote.) particularly the last where he says "he is aware of a wonderful world that many people never explore". What a lovely thought and so beautifully articulated.

 

[Mighty Mouse Mama]

Just picking up on a couple of things you mentioned specifically...

A sense of fairness, yet he needs to be reminded to end his time on video games. Can you build on that with him? There is often a line of kids waiting to use the video games. Can he start to recognize the "fairness" is letting everyone have a turn? I don't know that CMs actually clock each kid so he may not have that visual timer and 2-minute warning. Maybe if he wore a watch he could time himself?

I'm not sure what frustrations you might expect him to have onboard, that could results in outbursts similar to what his teachers didn't like. Math and reading skills aren't likely to come into play, particularly, and there are kids of varying ages (3-12) in the same space so CMs are used to a wide range of verbal skills. If you can try to think about what frustrations might occur, I suggset role-play with him what is an appropriate way to react if those situations occur.

If he becomes physical with another child, expect him to be removed. If it's a one-time minor occurrence, they'll probably allow him back after a break. But if it happens more often expect he won't be allowed at secured programming -- regardless of who did what first. Same for protecting little sis -- it can be a busy place, sometimes kids bump into each other but not intentionally. Will he be able to recognize that and keep his reaction in check?

I'd suggest going to open house the first afternoon. Speak with the CMs. Observe how he does. Then maybe try small amounts of time during secured programming in the first evening and full day -- coming back to check in 30 minutes, 1 hour, 90 minutes... until you and he feel comfortable with the situation.

As moms we worry... often needlessly. He'll probably be fine. But it's good to think through possibilities if you can help him plan.

Enjoy your cruise!

These are great pointers! As far as the taking turns, he usually has no problem with that, unless his turn ends up being much shorter (or is perceived to be shorter) than the other kids'. Your idea of giving him a watch is great. He sets timers for himself when playing at home and that would probably work in the club too.

The things I could see setting him off would be a CM or another kid grabbing him to pull him away from something, or having a CM not believe him. He never lies. He's more likely to tell on himself than lie about something and he gets very upset if he's not given the chance to explain himself. That's not to say his perception of a situation is always accurate, but if he gets a chance to tell his side, he usually calms right down and can see the other side if it is explained to him.

It sounds like you're saying that this is all stuff I can tak with the counselors about on the first day. I like the idea of trying short bursts of time first to see how it goes. I also think it's a great idea to develop a plan with him...that's partly why I'm asking these questions now. It takes a little while for him to build a habit and it's better to start working on things with him now, and give him a picture of what to expect as early as possible, especially because the unknown factor can stress him out.

Thanks for taking the time for such a well thought out answer. I really appreciate it.

 

[Mighty Mouse Mama]

I do not have children and no experience with ADHD so I'm not sure why I was reading this post. I am so glad I did though because of the last few sentences in the post by Anchors Away ( I have not figured out how to quote.) particularly the last where he says "he is aware of a wonderful world that many people never explore". What a lovely thought and so beautifully articulated.

I totally agree! And you just hit "Reply" and it'll do the whole quote at the top of your answer. I haven't figured out how people separate little pieces of quotes yet, or how to do parts in bold, but that's at least a start.

 

[Mighty Mouse Mama]

No judgement from me. I think you are fantastic to make the decisions that are right for your family, and that you monitor and adjust as the situation changes.

I did want to comment on this one thing. I'm sure you meant it in a positive way, but I just want to emphasize it. I don't hope he "grows out of it" I hope he "grows into it." Like knowing not to do it in a public place where others might be concerned or inconvenienced, but as the host of many "imaginary battles" myself as a child, I can assure you (as I'm sure you already know) that his active imagination is a blessing of immense size. You made my day to hear about a boy like that! He is aware of a wonderful world that many people never explore.

I LOVE this!!!! Thank you for this perspective. I have sooo much fun watching him "fight" and I will miss how uninhibited he is right now as he grows up, but I sometimes lose sight of how awesome it is when I'm worried because another parent nervously gathers up her child and leaves the playground when he breaks into an invisible battle, or because some kids are laughing and pointing at him. But this just reminded me that his imagination (and ADHD itself, actually) is a strength in its own way, even if it's hard to understand from the outside. Thank you so much!

 

[SirDuff]

I totally agree! And you just hit "Reply" and it'll do the whole quote at the top of your answer. I haven't figured out how people separate little pieces of quotes yet, or how to do parts in bold, but that's at least a start.

Right beside "Reply" there is a button that says "Quote+". Click it for the posts that you want to quote. Then, start a reply and click "insert quotes". All of the posts for which you hit "Quote+" should show up in your reply box.

To bold (I assume you mean when quoting someone), highlight the text that you want to bold (after doing the step above) and either do "ctrl+b" or push the bold button (the B on the far left of the string of buttons on the top of the reply box).

Hope that that made sense - easy to do but not so easy to describe.

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

I do not have children and no experience with ADHD so I'm not sure why I was reading this post. I am so glad I did though because of the last few sentences in the post by Anchors Away ( I have not figured out how to quote.) particularly the last where he says "he is aware of a wonderful world that many people never explore". What a lovely thought and so beautifully articulated.

I totally agree! And you just hit "Reply" and it'll do the whole quote at the top of your answer. I haven't figured out how people separate little pieces of quotes yet, or how to do parts in bold, but that's at least a start.

I LOVE this!!!! Thank you for this perspective. I have sooo much fun watching him "fight" and I will miss how uninhibited he is right now as he grows up, but I sometimes lose sight of how awesome it is when I'm worried because another parent nervously gathers up her child and leaves the playground when he breaks into an invisible battle, or because some kids are laughing and pointing at him. But this just reminded me that his imagination (and ADHD itself, actually) is a strength in its own way, even if it's hard to understand from the outside. Thank you so much!

You quote multiple messages by selecting the "+quote" link at the end of each post, then select "insert quotes" at the bottom.

You know, I almost deleted my post before I posted it. I was worried that it would come across wrong, or that I wouldn't choose the right words.

I'm glad it came out OK. My own son hasn't been diagnosed with ADHD, but he definitely spends more time "in his own world" than in ours. And I know what he is experiencing because I spent much of my childhood like that too. Over time, I learned to adjust to the "real" world and adapt my behaviors to get along better with people, but I still spend plenty of time "in my world". With my own son, I encourage him to spend some time out in "the" world with us, and to make sure he tends to things out here (like homework!) before going back to the stories in his head. I don't know your son, but I know I was always very struck by the need for fairness because in my own world things always were fair, so unfairness really bugged me.

Since you say you value his imagination and his uninhibited-ness, my guess is, he might keep it up a lot longer than you think, at least at home. My mother was always very encouraging of my stories. She gave me the acceptance I needed to keep imagining and to find ways to tell my stories. My only regret now is that I didn't write more of them down. Or nowadays, video them. I still remember a lot of it, but not to the point where I could share them with others, whereas if I had recorded them, I might have been able, as an adult to turn them into who knows what.

All the best! Enjoy your children. Each are so special in their own ways. Those differences are their strengths.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I haven't figured out how people separate little pieces of quotes yet,

Just highlight the portion of the quote you want and you'll see a little blue botton with +Quote/Reply on it. Click on the option you want and it will insert that portion of the post into the reply window, or put it in your multi-quote list.

 

[Mighty Mouse Mama]

Just highlight the portion of the quote you want and you'll see a little blue botton with +Quote/Reply on it. Click on the option you want and it will insert that portion of the post into the reply window, or put it in your multi-quote list.

 

[cruiser21]

My DS just turned 6 and has severe ADHD and his therapist suspects that he is also on the spectrum, although very high functioning. He is also very intelligent (reads at a 4th grade level and is doing third grade math), which can be a problem because when he gets upset, he cannot keep from expressing his frustration verbally...and he does not sound like a 6 year old when he does. This has caused a lot of problems with teachers, who usually take his outbursts as disrespectful and tend to get angry with him. This only makes matters worse, because he actually cares very much about people's opinions of them and wants to please, so he gets anxious, which only leads to more stress and therefore more outbursts. It got bad enough this year that we have decided to homeschool him. (Before anyone jumps down my throats about this, I'm not asking for parenting advice, yes we have him in several activities so he is well socialized, yes we have thought this through carefully, yes he has tutors, no I do not plan on homeschooling him past elementary school.)
My concern is how this may be handled in the kids clubs. He is normally very sweet and happy and is very excited about the video games and the Star Wars area. He is outgoing
and will talk to anyone, likes both older and younger kids, boys and girls, etc. But he has a VERY strong sense of fairness and can get very upset if he is bullied or if he is forced to stop an activity he loves without warning. (For example, he gets to play Final Fantasy as a reward when he finishes his school for the day, but only for 20 minutes. I have to set a timer so he can see that it is actually 20 minutes, and then give him a 2 minute warning so that he can get to a save point.)
He very rarely hits anyone, but he will hit back if he is hit first. He'll also jump in if anyone pushes or hits his little sister, who is a year younger.
I think my question is, what kind of training do the kids club counselors have with this? I know ADHD and autism are fairly common and I'm sure we will not be the first family to show up with a kid with a few issues. But he is so excited about the clubs and I'm afraid he won't be allowed to be there if he has a meltdown. And since vacations can be stressful for little ones, just due to the level of excitement and all the things out of their ordinary routine, I have to be realistic about the chance that he may have a rough time at lest once during the trip.
Does anyone have any suggestions? Is there someone I should talk to about this before we go on our cruise? This is our first cruise, and actually, our first family vacation. I really want it to go well and be enjoyable for everyone. And I really don't want our issues to impact anyone else on the cruise, especially not the CM who will be working so hard. I have several months to prepare him and I'm just trying to figure out what I can do on my end to make sure this goes as smoothly as possible, and to be prepared in case the kids club doesn't want to deal with him.

I'm not sure why you are getting so defensive about homeschooling. Millions of kids in the country are homeschooled for various reasons. It's perfectly ok if that's what works best for your son. I would assume you could talk to the CM and have them contact you if there are any issues. It's impossible to predict how your son is going to act. I think the cm's are trained in how to deal with all kinds of behaviors. I wouldn't stress over it.

 

[Mighty Mouse Mama]

I'm not sure why you are getting so defensive about homeschooling. Millions of kids in the country are homeschooled for various reasons. It's perfectly ok if that's what works best for your son. I would assume you could talk to the CM and have them contact you if there are any issues. It's impossible to predict how your son is going to act. I think the cm's are trained in how to deal with all kinds of behaviors. I wouldn't stress over it.

The defensiveness over homeschooling is due to the vast amount of criticism I've run into in the couple of months since we made this decision. And because I've seen a lot of unwanted criticism in the form of parenting advice as responses to questions about kid stuff on this board. It's really more of a statement of boundaries than anything else. I do appreciate your total acceptance of the validity of homeschool as a choice though!

 

[cruiser21]

The defensiveness over homeschooling is due to the vast amount of criticism I've run into in the couple of months since we made this decision. And because I've seen a lot of unwanted criticism in the form of parenting advice as responses to questions about kid stuff on this board. It's really more of a statement of boundaries than anything else. I do appreciate your total acceptance of the validity of homeschool as a choice though!

There's a lot of homeschooled kids on Disney cruises and on this board. I don't think you'll find any critics here. My son does online public k-12 school. It works better for him. I live in AZ and homeschooling is very popular here. I'm surprised you've gotten so much criticism. I while ago I saw a homeschooling thread on this board I think it was in the community section. You may want to check it out.
Anytime you ask a question about kids and behavior your most likely going to get parenting advice. Just be prepared.

 

[bbel]

Hellooooo!
I can give you a little perspective from a (ex) YA CM point of view!
First off Disney never turns away any child because of medical issues (as long as they can come into the space by themselves).
I'll also point out that he won't be the first kid or the last to cruise with ADHD...and if Im honest, probably won't be the only one on the cruise.
Most of the time, there are so many iPads or computers around, that he will probably be able to get one and spend all his time there if he's happy to. Things like the simulation games or Disney infinity of the Wii can be popular and kids are often asked to line up and are given an amount of time before they swap, most counsellors will also give them a reminder mid game, like you have one minute, or one race left etc...

As for training, Disney themselves don't give much training with things like this, but with the amount of experience you have to have before even applying I would say at least 99% of CM have worked with this or similar issues beforehand, some more than others, but they all have an understanding. (One of my jobs before Dcl was SEN and inclusion, so my job was this....). Like I said, theres kids with ADHD, on the spectrum, have communication and or behaviour issues every cruise so its a daily occurrence.

My advice would be to try and register onboard rather than in the terminal, I say this because the majority of the time the CM registering in the terminal don't work on the ship. They do a great job, they do the registration process perfectly. But I always advise families that may need a little bit more attention during the reg to go onboard, that way you'll definitely talk to a CM that will be working with your kid, that knows the ship, understands the programmes and workings of those exact kids spaces. You can even request to talk to a manager if that makes you feel a little better.

When you register don't be afraid to give too much information: likes, dislikes, triggers, calming techniques, examples of behaviours, if/when you want to be contacted...When they attach the band they'll use a red lock - don't be afraid of it, it will potentially help him: if he's struggling the CM in that area can see from that lock that there are some notes to look at, then they can go and look and that info you gave which can help them help him.

He won't not be allowed in because of a meltdown, if anything they'll want to work with you to get him back in and make it a good experience for him. The only way kids get 'banned' is repeated bad or dangerous behaviour, and even then they give quite a few chances so its very rare that it happens, so please dont worry about that side of things.

I dont know what ship you'll be on, but all the ships can get very busy at times. The busiest part of the cruise is usually from 9.30am - lunchtime on the first sea day.
I always say that 'normal' kids have issues concentrating in the kids spaces and can become overwhelmed and often result in them being 'bored'. I think its due to there being so many options and it being so busy all the time. you might want to prepare him for it a little: there's lots of lights, screens, noise, music, people, activity, moving around.

I would go for a walk around the spaces together during Open House and talk about whats available and your expectations, they'll be many CM around that can show you both round.

That's all I can think of right now (sorry if some doesn't make sense, its been a long/crazy day at work and Ive just re-read some that Im pretty sure wasn't written in English and changed it...) If you have any more questions Ill be happy to try answer them.

 

[Mighty Mouse Mama]

Hellooooo!
I can give you a little perspective from a (ex) YA CM point of view!
First off Disney never turns away any child because of medical issues (as long as they can come into the space by themselves).
I'll also point out that he won't be the first kid or the last to cruise with ADHD...and if Im honest, probably won't be the only one on the cruise.
Most of the time, there are so many iPads or computers around, that he will probably be able to get one and spend all his time there if he's happy to. Things like the simulation games or Disney infinity of the Wii can be popular and kids are often asked to line up and are given an amount of time before they swap, most counsellors will also give them a reminder mid game, like you have one minute, or one race left etc...

As for training, Disney themselves don't give much training with things like this, but with the amount of experience you have to have before even applying I would say at least 99% of CM have worked with this or similar issues beforehand, some more than others, but they all have an understanding. (One of my jobs before Dcl was SEN and inclusion, so my job was this....). Like I said, theres kids with ADHD, on the spectrum, have communication and or behaviour issues every cruise so its a daily occurrence.

My advice would be to try and register onboard rather than in the terminal, I say this because the majority of the time the CM registering in the terminal don't work on the ship. They do a great job, they do the registration process perfectly. But I always advise families that may need a little bit more attention during the reg to go onboard, that way you'll definitely talk to a CM that will be working with your kid, that knows the ship, understands the programmes and workings of those exact kids spaces. You can even request to talk to a manager if that makes you feel a little better.

When you register don't be afraid to give too much information: likes, dislikes, triggers, calming techniques, examples of behaviours, if/when you want to be contacted...When they attach the band they'll use a red lock - don't be afraid of it, it will potentially help him: if he's struggling the CM in that area can see from that lock that there are some notes to look at, then they can go and look and that info you gave which can help them help him.

He won't not be allowed in because of a meltdown, if anything they'll want to work with you to get him back in and make it a good experience for him. The only way kids get 'banned' is repeated bad or dangerous behaviour, and even then they give quite a few chances so its very rare that it happens, so please dont worry about that side of things.

I dont know what ship you'll be on, but all the ships can get very busy at times. The busiest part of the cruise is usually from 9.30am - lunchtime on the first sea day.
I always say that 'normal' kids have issues concentrating in the kids spaces and can become overwhelmed and often result in them being 'bored'. I think its due to there being so many options and it being so busy all the time. you might want to prepare him for it a little: there's lots of lights, screens, noise, music, people, activity, moving around.

I would go for a walk around the spaces together during Open House and talk about whats available and your expectations, they'll be many CM around that can show you both round.

That's all I can think of right now (sorry if some doesn't make sense, its been a long/crazy day at work and Ive just re-read some that Im pretty sure wasn't written in English and changed it...) If you have any more questions Ill be happy to try answer them.

Wow! Thank you so much for all of this. This is exactly what I needed to know. Thank you for taking the time to write all of this, especially after a long/crazy day at work! This helps calm a lot of my worries and gives me a lot to work with as far as how to communicate with the CM. I really appreciate it!