Autism (special assistance card)

[lorrainesminniemouse]

Hi everyone I'm new here so please bear with me thanks x

I have just came back from Disney World in FLorida. The family had a fabulous time. I would like you all to know (if you don't already) that there is a Special Assistance card that you can get from Guest Services in Disney Parks for children/adults with Autism. This card is free and you show it to any of the staff at the shows and rides and you get assistance with your needs. It is best just incase to show a consultant or doctors letter of proof although we weren't asked. We found this very useful as my daughter has problems. When you get your card from any disney park from guest services you can keep a hold of it and use it for the rest of days in the disney parks that you are going to visit.

Have fun!! We did x

 

[bookwormde]

Glad you had a great time, actually you do not have to have a letter of any kind, just let the CM's at guest service know how the disabiltiy limits your child and they are good about making the right notes as to how to accomidate their needs.

bookwormde

 

[SueM in MN]

Glad to hear you had a good time.

If you follow the link in my signature to the disABILITIES FAQs thread, you will find that post #6 of that thread is whole section about Guest Assistance Cards (GAC).

You do not need a doctor's letter, although some people feel more secure asking for the help they need if they have a letter.

And, one correction - the GAC is not given for certain diagnosis, it is based on the needs the person has related to their disability. It all depends on the needs and issues of that person - one person with a specific diagnosis may have needs that a Guest Assistance card can be helpful for. Someone else with the same diagnosis may either not have the same needs or not need accommodation for their needs or do fine with what is available to park guests without special needs.

Many families with someone on the autism spectrum find that they get more assistance from using a touring plan, such as TourGuide Mike or Ridemax (TourGuide Mike is a Theme Parks Board sponsor and there is a link to his website there).
The GAC only helps for attractions, but if the park is busy, you may have just as much trouble with the general 'busy-ness' of the park itself and getting around.
The touring plans will help you to be in the quietest part of the quietest park, which will help you everywhere.

 

[lorac4disney]

I agree that the touring plan is the way to go. We used TGM last year and we are using it again this year. It helped us avoid the super busy parks which really helped my autistic daughter enjoy herself more.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

We have used the GAC for our last few holidays. Getting to the parks early we find helps in beating the crowds.
Though there are some rides such as Soarin' we would never be able queue for without the GAC, if the wait times are short we do try and encourage Joshua to be patient and queue in line like everyone else.

 

[ratlenhum]

We have used the GAC for our last few holidays. Getting to the parks early we find helps in beating the crowds.
Though there are some rides such as Soarin' we would never be able queue for without the GAC, if the wait times are short we do try and encourage Joshua to be patient and queue in line like everyone else.

We do the same. When we first arrive at parks and the wait times are short (15-20 mins) we wait. My son needs to learn to wait, not flap, jump up and down and touch every one. He's now into hugging everyone and will hug random people. We're working on that. It's much easier to encourage and teach these proper behaviors early in the day before he's a little hot and bothered. We use the GAC on much longer lines and later in the day because by then we're usually tired of saying "hands down, stand still, don't hug the little girl...just say hi." REPEAT over and over. I'm sure he gets tired of hearing it to.

Our personal rule for the GAC is "use it, don't abuse it." We use it like I mentioned above. We also will not go back on a ride a second time immediately. If TOT has an hour long wait and we use the GAC, we will wait atleast 90 minutes to even try to go on again so that everyone who was online when we used the GAC has gotten on the ride.

 

[visitingapril09]

We do the same. When we first arrive at parks and the wait times are short (15-20 mins) we wait. My son needs to learn to wait, not flap, jump up and down and touch every one. He's now into hugging everyone and will hug random people. We're working on that. It's much easier to encourage and teach these proper behaviors early in the day before he's a little hot and bothered. We use the GAC on much longer lines and later in the day because by then we're usually tired of saying "hands down, stand still, don't hug the little girl...just say hi." REPEAT over and over. I'm sure he gets tired of hearing it to.

Our personal rule for the GAC is "us it, don't abuse it." We use it like I mentioned above. We also will not go back on a ride a second time immediately. If TOT has an hour long wait and we use the GAC, we will wait atleast 90 minutes to even try to go on again so that everyone who was online when we used the GAC has gotten on the ride.

Awesome approach to using the GAC. We, too, have the same type of view when we use one.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

We do the same. When we first arrive at parks and the wait times are short (15-20 mins) we wait. My son needs to learn to wait, not flap, jump up and down and touch every one. He's now into hugging everyone and will hug random people. We're working on that. It's much easier to encourage and teach these proper behaviors early in the day before he's a little hot and bothered. We use the GAC on much longer lines and later in the day because by then we're usually tired of saying "hands down, stand still, don't hug the little girl...just say hi." REPEAT over and over. I'm sure he gets tired of hearing it to.

Our personal rule for the GAC is "us it, don't abuse it." We use it like I mentioned above. We also will not go back on a ride a second time immediately. If TOT has an hour long wait and we use the GAC, we will wait atleast 90 minutes to even try to go on again so that everyone who was online when we used the GAC has gotten on the ride.

I agree completely, though there are times when Joshua wants to go on a ride more than once. It just depends on the ride, if it's something like Peter Pan and the queue's are short, we have gone on again shortly after the first ride.
However, as we have said if we can queue with everyone else that's what we do - after all most parents with special needs children just want to do the same as the other people do, but as you say we only use the GAC if we have to.

Joshua also likes to hug and kiss strangers too.

 

[cuches]

We do the same. When we first arrive at parks and the wait times are short (15-20 mins) we wait. My son needs to learn to wait, not flap, jump up and down and touch every one. He's now into hugging everyone and will hug random people. We're working on that. It's much easier to encourage and teach these proper behaviors early in the day before he's a little hot and bothered. We use the GAC on much longer lines and later in the day because by then we're usually tired of saying "hands down, stand still, don't hug the little girl...just say hi." REPEAT over and over. I'm sure he gets tired of hearing it to.

Our personal rule for the GAC is "us it, don't abuse it." We use it like I mentioned above. We also will not go back on a ride a second time immediately. If TOT has an hour long wait and we use the GAC, we will wait atleast 90 minutes to even try to go on again so that everyone who was online when we used the GAC has gotten on the ride.

Hey Ratlenhum!!!! It's your buddies from the Dragons!!! Missed practice today (had to work) I agree with you 100%! We do not abuse the GAC at all. If DD really liked a ride we will revisit it later in the day but we really like to take it slow when we go to WDW and not overload our DD with ride after ride. She really enjoys the little things like eating popcorn on the benches in Tomorrowland. I find that when we push her or go to fast she gets frustrated and melts-down but when we let her take the lead the day is just amazing! We usually book a longer trip (at leas 6 days) so we don't feel like we missed out but I can really on do this when I get those good codes like I did this year---40% off value, moderate or delux, NEVER got this one before so I am excited on the savings $$$$

See you next week at practice!
Tina

 

[ratlenhum]

I agree completely, though there are times when Joshua wants to go on a ride more than once. It just depends on the ride, if it's something like Peter Pan and the queue's are short, we have gone on again shortly after the first ride.
However, as we have said if we can queue with everyone else that's what we do - after all most parents with special needs children just want to do the same as the other people do, but as you say we only use the GAC if we have to.

Joshua also likes to hug and kiss strangers too.

We may have (or may in the future) do it once here and there but not as a rule. If a kid must go on again go for it, but just not every ride every time. My Paul is like Joshua, sometimes he just has to go again. If it were up to him, he'd stay on EE all day long!

 

[LMC]

We just got back (week of 5/24) and had a really NICE CM help us this time getting our GAC. We always get one because we never know when we may need to leave the line and go back (DS stomach issues) and we have to do rider swap alot. She immediately knew my DS was on the ASD (I did not mention it) and made two accomodation stamps on there for us. We did not have to use it much (OK, I admit we used it on Toy Story mania 3 times!) because we usually fast pass and this DS does not ride alot. We only did standby on rides that were under 30 minutes and fastpassed everything else. Our main concern was doing the rider swap due to DS's disabilities/issues he won't ride but a handful of rides and we knew our other two kids would want to ride. In the past we have ALWAYS had to wait in line twice because DS is "not a baby". We would spend 2 hours+ per attraction! The CM assured me that this was not suppose to happen. This trip was much better and we were able to rider swap without any problems.

 

[nyprincess]

We do the same. When we first arrive at parks and the wait times are short (15-20 mins) we wait. My son needs to learn to wait, not flap, jump up and down and touch every one. He's now into hugging everyone and will hug random people. We're working on that. It's much easier to encourage and teach these proper behaviors early in the day before he's a little hot and bothered. We use the GAC on much longer lines and later in the day because by then we're usually tired of saying "hands down, stand still, don't hug the little girl...just say hi." REPEAT over and over. I'm sure he gets tired of hearing it to.

Our personal rule for the GAC is "use it, don't abuse it." We use it like I mentioned above. We also will not go back on a ride a second time immediately. If TOT has an hour long wait and we use the GAC, we will wait atleast 90 minutes to even try to go on again so that everyone who was online when we used the GAC has gotten on the ride.

This sounds exactly like my little Alex...Do you just tell Guest Assistance that he flaps and bounces and touches people? The other posters have said to tell them that he is autistic, but do they ask about his assistance needs? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[SueM in MN]

This sounds exactly like my little Alex...Do you just tell Guest Assistance that he flaps and bounces and touches people? The other posters have said to tell them that he is autistic, but do they ask about his assistance needs? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Since not all people with autism ( or any other condition) have the same behaviors or needs, you do have to explain the needs of your loved one to Guest Relations.

There is more information about Guest Assistsnce Cards in post 6 of disABILITIES FAQs thread. You can find that thread near the top of this board or follow the link in my signature to get there.

You may also find a lot of helpful information in post 3 of that thread.

I am going to close this thread now, since it is rather old.