Anyone else have a child who needs to be cajoled to ride most anything?

[Abharmagic]

Hello. I haven't posted on here in a while, last time I posted was probably 2+ years ago. My DS has recently been diagnosed with high functioning Aspbergers. He has always had SPD issues (both sensory seeking and sensory avoiding) and OT issues (low tone). He is mainstreamed in Kindergarten and to an "untrained eye" appears very typical for his age.

I was just wondering if any of the other moms & dad out there also have special needs kids who need extra prompting to ride a ride. DS gets easily overwhelmed by his thoughts of what something is going to be like and will start to have an emotional response- cry, say he doesn't want to do it, have a minor tantrum. We have found taking him on inspite of his emotional response works 100% of the time for him and then he loves the ride and will not react that way again- ever on the ride and in fact the ride often becomes his new favorite . Does this make sense? Anyone else with a child like this-- advice, tips, etc. sometimes the people around us in line look at us like we are crazy child abusers and wonder why we just don't remove him from the ride-- like why are we torturing him? In fact this is just his approach to new things... frustrating enough as a parent and to add judging eyes in on it is doubly frustrating.

Any advice, tips, etc. Anyone have a child like this too? How do you handle it at WDW while waiting in line?

 

[livndisney]

Hello. I haven't posted on here in a while, last time I posted was probably 2+ years ago. My DS has recently been diagnosed with high functioning Aspbergers. He has always had SPD issues (both sensory seeking and sensory avoiding) and OT issues (low tone). He is mainstreamed in Kindergarten and to an "untrained eye" appears very typical for his age.

I was just wondering if any of the other moms & dad out there also have special needs kids who need extra prompting to ride a ride. DS gets easily overwhelmed by his thoughts of what something is going to be like and will start to have an emotional response- cry, say he doesn't want to do it, have a minor tantrum. We have found taking him on inspite of his emotional response works 100% of the time for him and then he loves the ride and will not react that way again- ever on the ride and in fact the ride often becomes his new favorite . Does this make sense? Anyone else with a child like this-- advice, tips, etc. sometimes the people around us in line look at us like we are crazy child abusers and wonder why we just don't remove him from the ride-- like why are we torturing him? In fact this is just his approach to new things... frustrating enough as a parent and to add judging eyes in on it is doubly frustrating.

Any advice, tips, etc. Anyone have a child like this too? How do you handle it at WDW while waiting in line?

Have you tried showing him the rides on Youtube? DD has a BIG issue with "not knowing". Once she knows what to expect she can relax and enjoy it.
Other suggestions for waiting would be small activities, pipecleaners, little sticker books, small handheld video games and mp3 players.

 

[krisnme]

Hello. I haven't posted on here in a while, last time I posted was probably 2+ years ago. My DS has recently been diagnosed with high functioning Aspbergers. He has always had SPD issues (both sensory seeking and sensory avoiding) and OT issues (low tone). He is mainstreamed in Kindergarten and to an "untrained eye" appears very typical for his age.

I was just wondering if any of the other moms & dad out there also have special needs kids who need extra prompting to ride a ride. DS gets easily overwhelmed by his thoughts of what something is going to be like and will start to have an emotional response- cry, say he doesn't want to do it, have a minor tantrum. We have found taking him on inspite of his emotional response works 100% of the time for him and then he loves the ride and will not react that way again- ever on the ride and in fact the ride often becomes his new favorite . Does this make sense? Anyone else with a child like this-- advice, tips, etc. sometimes the people around us in line look at us like we are crazy child abusers and wonder why we just don't remove him from the ride-- like why are we torturing him? In fact this is just his approach to new things... frustrating enough as a parent and to add judging eyes in on it is doubly frustrating.

Any advice, tips, etc. Anyone have a child like this too? How do you handle it at WDW while waiting in line?

I could have written this a few years ago! DS is now 20 and still has a few rides that do this to him. I "forced" him to ride things for years, knowing that he would love it after just one try. Now he is cognizant enough to know when he is ready, but he still agonizes over every ride. I don't know that I ever really paid attention to others in lines, I think maybe just one of those "overwhelmed mom (or dad)" looks and a simple "he always does this before a ride" would suffice. On the other hand, there have been a few rides that really scared DS and I kicked myself for forcing him to try to like what I like instead of trusting that he would ride when he was ready. Talk about the "bad parent" looks, when you get off a coaster and DS is just bawling! It's hard to understand how he loves Space Mtn, but couldn't do bugs life untill last year?!?!

I have actually learned that DS does better with only a small explanation of the ride and if the rest of the group stays calm and does not get too worked up and excited. If I act like I think it might scare him, or if I ask him if he wants to ride, then he gets very anxious.

 

[dntd]

My nephew cried thoughout Disney, he was the most whinest kid I have ever met! Needless to say he put a black cloud on our trip. Next year he will not be going and his younger sister who stayed home will! Some kids don't travel well at all, he was even afraid of winnie the pooh ride!

 

[KEVD]

Hello. I haven't posted on here in a while, last time I posted was probably 2+ years ago. My DS has recently been diagnosed with high functioning Aspbergers. He has always had SPD issues (both sensory seeking and sensory avoiding) and OT issues (low tone). He is mainstreamed in Kindergarten and to an "untrained eye" appears very typical for his age.

I was just wondering if any of the other moms & dad out there also have special needs kids who need extra prompting to ride a ride. DS gets easily overwhelmed by his thoughts of what something is going to be like and will start to have an emotional response- cry, say he doesn't want to do it, have a minor tantrum. We have found taking him on inspite of his emotional response works 100% of the time for him and then he loves the ride and will not react that way again- ever on the ride and in fact the ride often becomes his new favorite . Does this make sense? Anyone else with a child like this-- advice, tips, etc. sometimes the people around us in line look at us like we are crazy child abusers and wonder why we just don't remove him from the ride-- like why are we torturing him? In fact this is just his approach to new things... frustrating enough as a parent and to add judging eyes in on it is doubly frustrating.

Any advice, tips, etc. Anyone have a child like this too? How do you handle it at WDW while waiting in line?

My 6 y/o son has ASD (PDD NOS) and has developed some sensory issues since the last time we visited WDW when he was 2. On our next trip this coming June, we're not sure how he will do on some of the rides such as PPF, Mickey's Philharmagic, Soarin'.
We have found that social stories and plenty advanced preparation tend to work well in situations that we know or think might bother him. He has great special needs teachers and an a fantastic ABA at his school, who will work with us to help prepare him for the upcoming trip. We are also going to get him a book like Birnbaums Walt Disney World for Kids for additional prep. Also... if less time in line or even waiting in separate area would help him (or you!), you might want to consider trying to get a GAC. We haven't used one yet so I'm no expert on GAC's... I only know what I know from reading about them on this forum.

Good luck, stay strong and don't worry about what others might thinking!

 

[TiggerDaddyo714]

.... sometimes the people around us in line look at us like we are crazy child abusers and wonder why we just don't remove him from the ride-- like why are we torturing him? In fact this is just his approach to new things... frustrating enough as a parent and to add judging eyes in on it is doubly frustrating.

WOW, you were so lucky to get so many 'trips' under your belt before becoming a mommy. That's kewl!

Our DS (now 18) was about the same age when we first found out he was ADD, it's a long battle for sure. I second the idea of picking up the kid's Birnbaum book. Also having the other little activities in your bag for him is a great idea.

It's weird now reading these post's as we literally had NO CLUE way back then. (some might say we still don't) But the one about Space Mtn really hit home, when I read it. Our's was 5 and pitched a total fit, I mean a horrible mess it was all through the que line up and all the way through getting on the ride that first time. Enough so that he and I just walked through the car and got off, waited on DW and DD (9 back then) to do the ride, then me and DD did it again. A couple of days later we went back and DS not only rode it, but screamed to ride it over and over until my back was killing me. Go figure.

Then reading about Bug's life in the same message was really close to home, likek WOW. What was it at MK back in 2001 when they had the monster thing/transporting tube thingy over in Tomorrowland. It was a static attraction, albeit with the shoulder things like on a coaster. Lot's of sound and flashing lights. Although he was small, he loved monsters and even though they had a height requirement he stood up sooooooo tall and easily met the requirement. So, what's a parent to do but go on inside and get a seat right down front, and I do mean freakin' FRONT ROW. When that thing got to going, and the lights came on with the monster that had broken the big tube and was going around the room eating people that kid almost turned in-side-freaking-out!!!! Problem is, it was SO loud with so many other people screaming that we had no hope at all to get him out of there. We were trapped in the darned thing! Once it was over we got out and he seemed to be OK.

So we did little people stuff for hours after that and he seemed fine. Then did "Honey I shrunk the Audience" and OMG it was ON THEN! With the 3D glasses the show was cool and all but you've gotta' remember, kids can SEE Mickey, and touch him too.... he is REAL. Very real, and at that time even though we had him watching the show on the TV's to the side of the screen and nobody in the family was wearing the glasses by that point, he was convinced that "We are all SHRUNK-ED DAD, we're ALL shrunk-ed!" When we left and went to the playground with all the big props, grass, film cannister, etc. that just made it worse. We, and every other family in WDW was "shrunk-ed", and there was no telling him otherwise. Even the next day it was after breakfast at WL with Goofy before he came around. (I wanna' insert a lmao because it was funny, but for that boy, at that time, and for a while actually.... it wasn't funny at all.)

We do laugh about it now, and even though he went back and met the fear head on a few years later, I can't help but feel exactly like I did that day when I think about it. IE wondering what we did wrong. We do what we can, we give them everything our heart has to offer, and if the people around us don't know how to handle it at the time.... then Poo on them.

 

[sheboz]

I second the youtube viewing of the rides. I also feel the Unofficial Guide to Disney was a great tool for planning. They go into great detail about sound, dark, light and movement. They even describe the restaurants noise level. (we needed to know all details). After making a list of possible rides we watched them on youtube. We also used touringplans, great web site that helped us organize what rides we wanted to accomplish with the least amount of waiting.
Make sure to get a pass that would allow you to wait in a quieter area.

Set him up to succeed. Make sure to take breaks and stay on the childs routine eating times. We had a great trip! All the planning payed off!!

PS the pirates league was a great experience, DS wears his pirate gear all the time. Speak to them ahead of time and again the day of the appt and it will be great!!!

 

[bethy195]

My daughter was 5 last year when we went to Disney World for the first time. She has SPD and is completely overwhelmed by loud noises, bright lights, etc., but she does well when prepared for things in advance. We spent about 3 months watching Disney travel dvds and reading about each and every ride. We gave her "permission" to tell us what rides she thought were too scary, and we made it very clear to her that she would not be forced on any ride she wasn't ready for. We ended up having a great time! For us, waiting in line was the hardest part because of the nearness of all of the people, but she was a champ.

 

[berries]

My dd obsesses over the warning signs so I do my best to block them. Once she is on a ride, she is fine. Sometimes I have to be speedy to get her on it or she will back out. Then she is fine. Worst are rides like the canoe going over the big drops that she can see from the line...I haven't been able to get her on. I know she would love it if she would try it.

So I tend to distract her from any info on the ride while waiting for it and then she is fine once on it. Only one ride last time terrified her and she was upset after. I always tell her to try it and if she doesn't like it, she doesn't have to ride again.

I do get the WDW guidebooks and she loves looking through them before our trip.

 

[johnnchristi99]

I agree with getting the gac card for autism and the wait will not be so long. Also bring bubbles! They keep my son's mind off of things and help entertain others in line as well.

 

[clanmcculloch]

Please do NOT use bubbles in queues. You never know if there's somebody in line who is allergic to the solution and for those of us with glasses, the solution is annoying to have to keep cleaning off. It's not like there's a lot of room to get away from the bubbles if they float your way so for a person with allergies it basically means they're being forced to leave in order to stay safe. There are many other kinds of toys/distractions/manipulatives/techniques which will not affect other guests that can be used in the queues.

FYI about the GAC: it does not mean shorter waits. Yes it does sometimes but other times it means longer waits. The reason the GAC is helpful for many of us is that it keeps our kids from being crowded in close to others in lines which would basically mean we're unable to ride/attend the attraction. For somebody with anticipation issues based on theming, it could also help because they're not seeing the theming or warning signs or whatever else may trigger anxiety. For the most part, it will not shorten waits though. You do need to have realistic expectations. To shorten wait times, you need to employ fastpasses and a good touring plan. Using touring plan advice, we never have waits of more than 10 minutes anywhere, but then again we also don't do nearly as many attractions as most guests since we can't stay in the parks more than a few hours per day. But, using a strong touring plan we do accomplish a lot in that time and we hardly have to use our GAC.