Asperger Syndrome

[connie1042]

Our grandson, now age 5 has Asperger's Syndrome. He is now on meds, that have helped some, but he still has melt downs for no real reason. He has been to WDW when he was 2 and did fine, but had not really started the melt downs yet. Does this qualify for a GAC. If he was doing well, we would not use it, but it would be nice to have the options. Planning a cruise and trip for 2013. He will be seven, and we will see how he is doing then. But was just wondering. Thanks.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

My DD has bipolar disorder and has a lot of sensory issues. She can have meltdowns at times. We've never used a GAC, but you might find a GAC to be helpful. We've always gotten by using a good touring plan, fastpasses, and going during the slower value season. We get to the parks for rope drop, take a break in the afternoon, go back to the parks for a couple hours, but make sure to stick to a semi-normal bedtime.

Has your grandson ever been evaluated for a sensory disorder? A lot of kids with Aspergers have sensory difficulties. I purchased noise-reducing earmuffs for DD for our last WDW trip. They were extremely helpful because she gets aggitated by a lot of noise.

 

[SueM in MN]

i have only a few minutes to reply, but want to point you toward the disABILITIES FAQs thread, which is toward the top of this board or you can follow the link in my signature. Post 6 is about Guest Assistant Cards and should be able to answer all your questions.

 

[connie1042]

Yes he has been evaluated. He has a lot of sensory issues. If he spills something on his cloths they come off immediately. Loud noises do brother him, but that has gotten much better. He can now watch a movie in a theater. Wind drives him crazy. It is the things you don't even think about that will affect him. He hates bugs, but loves to camp! Figure that one out! He is very smart and vocal. Not real affectionate, depends on his mood. You just never know what will trigger him.

 

[clanmcculloch]

Basically you have to think about what kind issues you need accomodated. What you've described is too vague. What would help? What problems do you foresee encountering? Without this, a CM at Guest Relations won't know how to help you.

Keep in mind that you can request a GAC at any point during your trip. If you find that there's something in particular that triggers problems during your trip, you can go to Guest Relations at that time and discuss the problem with the CM at that time. Even after that if you discover other types of problems you can go back to Guest Relations at any time to discuss the problem so the CM at GR can determine if there's any kind of accomodation that can help. They really are wonderful and try their best to help

Many parents with young kids on the spectrum find that a stroller as a wheelchair tag is EXTREMELY helpful. What this does is allows you to bring your stroller into queues with you just like you would a wheelchair. The stroller provides a comforting place for the child to retreat when their environment is overstimulating and also provides some deep pressure inputs to the child. It also helps for kids who are "runners" meaning they have no awareness of where they're supposed to be at any point in time and will just take off; the stroller keeps the child contained.

Something that many of us parents of Aspies find to be helpful is a good touring plan. I personally use TourGuide Mike but others use other services for building touring plans. This is helpful in many ways. There is no GAC that can help between attractions and those areas can get busy. There is no GAC that can help for shows (other than the stroller as a wheelchair) and waits can be long. GACs in general do not shorten wait times. A good touring plan on the other hand can have you each day in the park with the least people and at each attraction at the time of day when the least people will be there. Following a good touring plan, most people say that they never wait more than 10-15 minutes for any ride. If you're interested in TourGuide Mike, you can save $3 off the regular $22 price by clicking through the ad at the top of the Theme Park board (TGM is that board's sponsor). What I like about TGM is that rather than building a touring plan for me, TGM teaches me how to tour. This makes it very easy to make changes on the fly. Let me tell you, nothing ever goes exactly as planned so being able to make changes is HUGE.

Even with TGM, we typically only spend maybe 3 hours per day in any park because that's what my Aspie can handle. Over the past year we've been able to increase the amount of time at Epcot (it's her favourite park but she's 13). We've also figured out things like water sooths her so we have pool time every day (when we can't swim she takes a looooong shower; yeah, at home we go through a lot of oil heating water for her) and that sand on her feet is very soothing for her so we try to stay at resorts that have beaches. Figuring out what helps and what triggers (in general) issues can make a HUGE difference.

 

[welovespacemoutain]

I know very little about this, but did want to add some observations from our last trip. Sometimes using the wheelchair "entrance" (when there is one) can mean a longer wait. DD uses a wheelchair and on Space Mountain (and others) only 1 handicapped person can be on the ride at a time (due to evacuation procedures). They send you in a special line once you are up at the top. A family with an autistic child was in front of us with a GAC (but no wheelchair) and they waited MUCH longer than if they had just continued through the fastpass line. The same can be true at TSM (wheelchairs split off so they don't go up the stairs) and a few other rides. So you do get a less crowded line to stand in part of the time, but the wait may be longer. If there is no one else in line with a wheelchair, it isn't a problem. I think we waited at SM an additional 20 minutes to ride once we were already up at the top because there were 2 parties in front of us but the ride was pretty much a walk on for everyone else.

 

[lilwhiterabbit]

As others have pointed out, whether a GAC will be useful depends on what sort of accommodations he might need. Before you go, make up a list of things you think might be difficult for him and take it with you when you go to request a GAC to see what they suggest. My son (who is autistic) has issues with being crowded or touched and has a tendency to flail his arms, so we requested a GAC that would help with that. He's not great with waiting, but we worked up to having him stand in line a few months before the trip, so he handled having to wait pretty well most of the time.

 

[bookwormde]

In the siplest terms, just think about what is keeping him fro having "equal access" and let the CM know at customer relations.. A GAC card can help a lot if lines are issue (by allowing alternate waiting areas). Fast pass is great also.

bookwormde

 

[25eels]

My 7yo DD has Asperger's. We were at WDW last year and the main accommodation I found I had to make for her was to just back off from running around when she got overwhelmed/overstimulated. At DHS, she spent literally hours on the model horse outside a store near the entrance of the park. It was time she desperately needed to regroup so she could better enjoy the other park attractions. (I sent my DS and DH off to do their own thing and played a lot of Scrabble on my phone during this downtime. At least it was shady!)

We are returning in August and I haven't decided if a GAC will help us in any way. When overstimulation is the issue, being in a shorter line isn't all that much help; a change in scenery is. We are planning on being very flexible about our park visits this time and paid extra for park hoppers so we won't feel compelled to cram in a lot of stuff in one visit. We also chose to stay at BC so we have a lot of options besides buses to get to 2 of 4 of the parks, and not be reliant on crowded buses.

I'll be watching this thread for more input!

 

[SueM in MN]

I know very little about this, but did want to add some observations from our last trip. Sometimes using the wheelchair "entrance" (when there is one) can mean a longer wait. DD uses a wheelchair and on Space Mountain (and others) only 1 handicapped person can be on the ride at a time (due to evacuation procedures). They send you in a special line once you are up at the top. A family with an autistic child was in front of us with a GAC (but no wheelchair) and they waited MUCH longer than if they had just continued through the fastpass line. The same can be true at TSM (wheelchairs split off so they don't go up the stairs) and a few other rides. So you do get a less crowded line to stand in part of the time, but the wait may be longer. If there is no one else in line with a wheelchair, it isn't a problem. I think we waited at SM an additional 20 minutes to ride once we were already up at the top because there were 2 parties in front of us but the ride was pretty much a walk on for everyone else.

We just got back last night from WDW.
The 2 times we rode on Small World with DD, we noticed this. We have no choice except using the wheelchair line with DD because she does have a wheelchair and is not able to walk.
At one point, that line extended all the way from the gate where guests enter the line up to the boarding area. I could see that the majority of those waiting in the line did not have wheelchairs, and had presumably gotten into the line because they had GACs and thought that was where they were supposed to go.
The posted wait time when we got into the line was 20 minutes; the person who entered the ‘regular’ line just before us had a very distinctive outfit, so I was able to follow her progress in the regular line. She actually got onto a boat about 10 minutes after entering the line. It took us about 25 minutes, so those who were waiting, but did not need wheelchair access would have boarded much faster by using the ‘regular’ line than waiting in the ‘handicapped’ line.