ANOTHER Adventure in Autism (4/15) A Taste of What's to Come...

[Hedy]

for all of you.
And an extra for Tricia.

 

[KathyRN137]

A big ole Hey, Howdy, Hey to you all!

Part One: Hey to the Lurkers!


ladylyons: Welcome! How many pages? This is turning into quite a novel, isn't it?

figmificent: Hi! Looks like you love POFQ, too! (We've stayed there twice.)

elphie 101: Thanks for coming by, "Ariel"!

chigacoshannon: Hi! Oooh, DDs first trip!

kty: Hello and Welcome!

Juliah: Thanks for dropping in to say Hi!

Casey's Mommie: Hi! I love your self-tag; it's so true!

karriemouse: Well, hello there across the pond!

jess98ac: yes, I remember you! Looking forward to your PTR; you will fall in love with OKW!

jenakate: Thanks, that was sweet! (ha ha)

Amanda Sparks 730: Hi! Nice to meet you!

december14disney: Hi! Welcome! Good luck with the training; Ed ran the WDW half in...was it '07? I'll have to get you the link to that report....


Thanks again for stopping by, everyone. Sometimes when you write these reports you wonder why so many people are reading but not posting. I'm glad you did!

More responses to be continued...


Kathy

 

[Disneylvr]

Kathy, I am so sorry about the experience at the Kid's Club. We will probably never leave Madelyn in any of the kid clubs at Disney especially since she is an only child. It is a shame that they really don't get autism no matter what their claims are. I wish you could of had your night at Pleasure Island. I am also angry about the security guard incident and anxious to hear about the outcome and if you ever heard from the supervisor.

I love your trip reports and when and if this economy gets better our family might consider buying in to the DVC. I can see how important it is to have that extra space.

 

[Vixen]

OMGoodness!

101,000 Views!!!​

C'mon, you Lurkers, I know you're out there! You can at least drop in and say "HI!"


Kathy

Hi!!!!

 

[tinkermamaof2]

Kathy,
Sorry to hear about the incident in the kid's club. If Tricia said it wasn't that big of a deal I think they should have let her and Billy stay. It wasn't as if he hit another child or the place was hopping with children. Maybe letting Billy be, with his videos and keeping an eye on him would have been fine. Did they even question Tricia about how she felt about the incident? Since the place only had 4 children I think they should have made an exception. Sorry your date night was less than magical. Look at it this way...you have your Halloween trip coming up!

Patti

 

[irish dancer]

I'm sorry that the kids experience in the Cubs Den wasn't better. We too were wary of sending DS but have been lucky that they were all good experiences. He's been to the Neverland Club, Sandcastle Club and Simba's Clubhouse. DS is a complete PlayStation-a-holic, will play for hours on end if allowed. I must say though that the staff at Simba's were GREAT, they even got him to do a craft!!!! He now expects to go to a club at least one night to get his PlayStation fix, lol.

I hear ya too on siblings! My two DDs 12 & 7 are generally great with DS but they certainly know how to push his buttons! It's a tough road for them though especially when they don't have any friends with siblings on the spectrum.

 

[KathyRN137]

Part Two: Hello "Regulars"!!

Mousescrapper: You were right; it wasn't that bad! Yes, this was a crazy trip! Wow! You're at 30 days...time to dance!

irish dancer: I'm so relieved you had better luck at some of the larger kid's clubs! I think if they had just let him be, everything would have been okay. It's tough on Tricia; I just signed her up for an e-mail penpal program for siblings of autistic kids...hope it works out!

kimmylaj: I don't know about the Queen, maybe just the

MRYPPNS: I laughed at the "mall rent-a-cop" analogy...Ed is dying to see the movie so he can have some laughs. It's supposedly set in our own local NJ mall.

Disneylvr: Thanks for sending your good thoughts! I'm sorry about not getting to PI that night because of the later demise of the Adventurers' Club.

wvdislover: No one knows our kids better than we do. It was a gamble putting Billy in the Kid's Club; but now I know it isn't for us. Homeschooling! Bless you, I just wouldn't have the patience!

melk: Hint: Aunt Rae was not the one turning the tables!

DisMomAmy: I think you nailed it; autism is so confusing to people. The invisibility of the disability is deceiving.

Charleston Princess: I really shouldn't say the CMs aren't trained properly; I'm sure they do get some training. I'm just very accustomed to Billy's teachers and aides; they are so very good with him.

More, next post!

Kathy

 

[DisMomAmy]

Part Two:
irish dancer: I'm so relieved you had better luck at some of the larger kid's clubs! I think if they had just let him be, everything would have been okay. It's tough on Tricia; I just signed her up for an e-mail penpal program for siblings of autistic kids...hope it works out!

Kathy

That's great!! I hope she makes some good connections. Sometimes I wish Alex had an older sibling to take him under their wing - but I'm sure it's very hard on Tricia.

 

[KathyRN137]

Continued...


preschoolmom: Nothing could sour me on WDW!

IluvXU: I think they were just trying to be reassuring when they told me they had the experience. They knew that they could just call us at any time to take the kids if things got too difficult.

Hedy: I don't really mean to leave you hanging...I just end at what seems to be the most logical time!

mom2mek: Ed chuckled when he read your comment about former military men and cops! Ahh, Mars & Venus, right?

eyeheartgoofy: Gosh, I can't remember what we told AR about the Cub's Den! As for the rest of the trip, I'm still shaking my head over all the drama!

mrsksomeday: Thanks for all your moral support! I will be calling on you for more when it comes time for me to tell AR we are inviting someone else next time! You're a good friend!

jcc0621: Thanks for telling me about your mom; I'm sorry I didn't get to meet her! More on Disney's response later....

tinkermama of 2: for 2/10! I'm looking forward to Halloween; my DH grumbles a lot at WDW, but he always wants to go back!

whedonist: Hello again! Thanks for the nice compliments!


And a few Hello's to some new friends:

moparop: Welcome! I hadn't originally planned on using the Cub's Den, so I didn't get to do much in the way of research. As usual, though, experience is the best teacher!

Vixin: Hi! (Your DBF is a wookie??)


More Coming up...

Kathy

 

[KathyRN137]

Part 3: Hello, Long Lost DISers!

blue river: So, so glad you are back and finishing your report! It's a fun way to get all excited for your next trip! See you soon...

goofster57: Yay! WooHoo! You're here! I missed your sense of humor. Now, don't forget to come back!

jordanyosh: Where's that little green light, huh? Get well soon!


Kathy

 

[WDWNeighbor]

Hi Kathy! Officially a two-day lurker here... Someone sent me the link to this thread yesterday and well, while "working" today , I finally finished up. Your report has been nothing short of fantastic and I am quite sad that it will be ending soon. Sending you for being such a great mom!

 

[kimmylaj]

wow that really stinks about your night ending early, too bad they did not receive more training , disney is certainly a family place but everyone needs a little separation once in a while. just out of curiosity what did aunt rae have to say about what happened there?

 

[KathyRN137]

Ch. 46: Ahh, West and Wewaxation!


Saturday, 11/11/07


Finally! Our morning off! No alarm clock. No early breakfast reservation. No pressure to make rope-drop. And…..may I have a drum roll, please!

No grumbling husband! Suh-weeet!!


As you can tell from my posting habits, I like to stay up late. By nature, I am not a morning person. Boy, did it did feel good to sleep in! I can always hop out of bed early if it’s for Disney, but I had to admit, this was nice!


After leisurely getting washed and dressed (nice not to be stressing over AR ), we sat down to breakfast and began talking about our plans for the rest of the day. Funny how, even though there were no plans, we still needed to make plans! The day was wide open until 5pm; that’s when we were eating dinner at `Ohana (our first time there!) After that, I had my heart set on spending our last night at the MK for Spectro and Wishes. The MK was open until midnight because of the Veteran’s Day holiday and I planned to take full advantage of it.


Having the kitchen in the villa had been wonderful, it was such a relief not to hassle with the food court breakfast crowd! I must admit that DVC has spoiled me completely. Ed poured himself a second cup of coffee and we sat at the little table to watch Billy watch Stacy. You would think he would be tired of “Seven Sees” by now! No way! He merrily jumped around doing his happy-dance while munching on his Cheerios. I remembered my corn bread leftover from yesterday’s lunch and I toasted it for breakfast. Yummy! Crumbly, but yummy!


We had the sliding door open to the patio and a lovely, pine-scented breeze drifted in through the screen. We could hear the faint sound of buses rumbling off in the distance, but today, let the other folks run to catch them! At that moment we just basked in our do-nothingness and contemplated our options. Aunt Rae came padding out from her bedroom in her pajamas, robe and slippers. She said she felt good that morning and she looked it.


“I woke up around five o’clock this morning,” she said, “But I was able to fall back to sleep this time!” She was obviously quite pleased. It had been hard for her this past week; like many older people she did not have any problem falling asleep at night, but would wake up early and have difficulty getting back to sleep. Just knowing that she did not need to get up soon and be somewhere early must have eased her anxieties enough to let her relax and drift off once more. I was so very glad!


My plan to change from taking a mid-afternoon break to staying in one park and leaving shortly after dinner had worked out beautifully for the kids, but not for Aunt Rae. She had really suffered from not getting her afternoon catnaps, which she had vehemently denied needing, but for whom they were an obvious necessity. Today, however, she was ready to roll!


“Can we go to Downtown Disney, Kathy?” she asked timidly. “I’d like to do some shopping.”


The antennae vibrated next door. Instantly, Tricia was standing next to me. “Yeah! Let’s go shopping!” she cried, taking up Aunt Rae’s cause. “I really want to go to Pin Traders!” She threw her arms around me and looked up pleadingly. “Please! I haven’t bought that many pins at all!”


“I want to buy something for Marcie’s baby,” Aunt Rae chimed in. Marcie, the activities coordinator at the senior building, had just had her first baby. “And I want to get something for my cousin.” I had to admit that I could have gone for a little therapeutic shopping, myself. But then, what would the boys do? Shopping would not be as fun for them, especially Ed.


He was fine with it, though. “You girls go shopping; Billy and me will hang around for a bit and then we’ll go to the pool, right buddy?”

“No pool, go with Mommy!”

“No, buddy, the girls will go shopping. We boys will go swimming!” Ed told him. “Daddy and Billy are going to the pool.”

“No, no! I want DVDs!” He began to make a high-pitched whining sound.

Well, it’s not like we couldn’t see this coming from a mile away.

Ed, however, was firm and insisted that he go put on his bathing suit. He went off dutifully, but made sure we knew that he was upset. “He’s crying!” he said, referring to himself. “Sad!” I felt bad for him, but knew he would change his tune as soon as he saw the pool. He loves the water!


Tricia decided that Jessica, her AG doll, would enjoy a trip to Downtown Disney, so as soon as AR had changed, we girls were out the door and off to the bus stop.

After a while,

The bus was fairly empty, so Jessica had a seat. However, as soon as we reached the MarketPlace, Tricia wanted to be hands-free for shopping, so Jess hung with me.

As usual, Mom winds up being the pack-mule!

I was a bit concerned about the crowds here; it was Saturday and the Festival of the Masters was going on as well. But initially, the crowd level looked good!

We went straight to Tricia’s objective:

We spent a lot of time here and all three of us bought pins. I also got some pin binders for Tricia and me. We each had so many pins, and I wanted to be able to store them properly.

Next, we went to Once Upon a Toy. It was beginning to get crowded and AR wasn’t finding what she wanted, so we didn’t stay too long. My wallet thanked her.


The general walkways were crowded in part due to the fact that many areas were roped off for the Festival. We were fascinated by the work of the chalk artists:

I can’t imagine putting so much heart and soul into such a temporary creation!


This cartoon artist was doing a live demonstration; we stopped to watch for a few moments, but there was shopping to do!

Continued next post….


Kathy

 

[maroo]

I am caught up!!!! YEA!!

cool chalk drawings!!! They are beautiful!



And I love the Pin Trading store!! I started my addiction right there!

And your cliffhangers are really funny...uh...except...I am caught up now... so, maybe not so much!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Yeay for a nice, relaxing, stree-free morning! Those chalk drawings are AMAZING! So cool!

 

[Melissa]

Great TR, I think I have read all of your reports, I can relate to a lot of what you are going though b/c Billy reminds me a lot of my nephew Max. He is autistic and loves DVDs as much as Billy, when you talked about Billy doing his happy dance while watching Stacy I could see Max doing his TV dance. They actually look a bit a like too. Max has been with us for a couple trips and is always a rollercoaster ride that is for sure! There is a special place in heaven for the moms of autistic and other special needs kids. Can't wait to hear about Ohanna, we are trying it out in April!

 

[Hedy]

Your bagalinni was just right for Jessica as well.

 

[jcc0621]

What a great relaxing morning. GIrls day shopping is always theraputic So glad AR was feeling good.

Um, wheres's the next post

 

[DisMomAmy]

Oh how I would love a shopping morning with the girls!

 

[wvdislover]

Shopping!!! DH and my girls don't usually want to shop. Plus, we have a tendency to lose Sarah She's our "Houdini," our little wanderer. Disney, though, is one of the few places we feel comfortable taking her, as we feel a lot (maybe too much) safer there. Can't wait to see if you bought anything fun!

I had to laugh when you talked about Billy and his DVD's. We took our first Disney Cruise this past September, and Sarah's favorite thing to do on the cruise was watch movies on tv. I think she watched Kung Fu Panda 5 or 6 times during our 4 night cruise! She did take a break one night and go watch Prince Caspian in the movie theater