Adult Daughter with Down Syndrome

[Evette]

Hi
I already posted this on the Disney Cruise Line board but I thought I would see if anyone else here has any advice, tips, etc. We hope to take a 7 night cruise Sept. or Oct. 2009 with our then 22 year old daughter with Down Syndrome. Has anyone had a similar experience with a developmentaly delayed adult. She looks and acts MUCH YOUNGER than her actual age and I wonder if they will let her join in any of the Kids Club activities? Any advice, suggestions, etc. would be very much welcome. Thanks in advance.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

Not sure, but have you tried e-mailing the cruise line guest service? I'm sure they have had similar requests and will tell you how they have typically hanled it.

 

[SandrainNC]

Hi! My oldest son also has Down syndrome. My first thought is that they probably won't let her into the children's clubs because they have age ranges and she is above the age range. Even though cognitively she is at a younger age. But I think it never hurts to ask!!! We would have a problem with it if we were to go now because the rules say the child has to be toilet trained and unfortunately, my oldest still is not. I don't see them bending the rules for him just because he has Down syndrome. Different issue entirely I know, but anyway.

I hope they say that she can participate!! And I hope you have fun on the cruise!

Sandra

 

[jphilhower]

Our oldest son is developmental disable, he's 31 years old and high functioning. I've always wonder what other parents exprience is with childern or adults with mental disabilities at disney. We have not been on cruise yet. but we have no trouble with him at WDW. he loves it and he's one of the reasons we go every year. Oh by the way he is a Special Olympics athlete too.

 

[Evette]

Thanks for your input. We were at WDW in January and Kellie does love it there! We used to live right by Disneyland so she has been there many times but only twice to WDW. She is not high functioning but that is not a problem, although some rides that are not really frightening scare her and we don't know why. That can be a little frustrating at times. We hope she will enjoy the cruise too. We plan on going to WDW before the cruise so I know she'll have fun.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

If you do e-mail them, please let us know their response so that we can help other families in the future. Good luck and have fun on your cruise!

 

[SueM in MN]

I'm not positive, but believe the kids' clubs both on the ships and in the resorts are not allowed to accept older children. The reason is that they are licensed child care providers and their license is only for certain ages.
There were some past threads about children with special needs on cruises that sort of touched on this, but no threads recently. I will try to find some of the threads tomorrow if I can.

 

[Stephaniecmc]

I don't know much about the cruise lines, but we just booked a sitter through Kids Nite Out while we're at WDW. My 16 year old brother has downs and because he is a special needs child, they "bend" the 12 and older rule. Doesn't hurt to give it a shot.