Autism ? What is your best traveling tip?

[joyfull]

What is your best tip for families traveling with a person with autism? Also what is your best tip for going to WDW parks or Disney Cruise ?

 

[FFerret]

I'm curious as well--my little boy will be five when we go and he's autistic.

We went to see a movie for the first time yesterday; Finding Nemo. Jess did great

 

[brerpaul]

I have been with my son twice in the last 6 months. He is a seven year old autistic. Here are some quick tips:

1. Go to guest services and get a blue guest assistance card that will let you use the fastpass lane as much as you like.
2. Tell the people at check in that you child has autism and you would like a room that is close to the foodcourt.
3. Seat your child on the plane near the window with you in the middle. Bring lots of stim toys for the flight. Make sure you are seated together before the trip.
4. Use the first class security check lane at the airport. Just let the person know your situation and that your child cannot tolerate lines.
5. Start at Magic Kingdom with the teacup ride. If your child does well, move up the intensity. My son couldn't get enough of the fast rides.
6. Stand near an exit before parade time at the parks in case you need to leave.
Hope this helps

 

[BethanyF]

Originally posted by joyfull
What is your best tip for families traveling with a person with autism? Also what is your best tip for going to WDW parks or Disney Cruise ?

First of, know your child, know what sets him off, and how to regulate him (in our case spinning is a great regulatory activity, think teacups ride).
Be patient, autistic kids like repetition, so be prepared to repeat things.
My son does great if he knows the plan for the day. So I tell him every morning what our plan is, and he is learning to tolerate changes to the schedule.
Remember they can be set off by things we dont see, hear, or smell. A tiny piece of sand in their shoe could be drastically painful, same for a tag on his shirt, etc.
If he has a small comfort object, let him bring it. My son wears a fanny pack to keep his stuff handy.
If he has oral or chewing issues, bring a chewy tube or some other appropriate thing to chew on (licorice, gum, etc).
Dont expect to see and do everything. You need to go at his pace. If you see the signs for a meltdown, remove him from the situation and wait until he is regulated to go back.
Be prepared to leave shows or parades, the noise and activity can be overwhelming to some kids.
Watch for problems with the heat. My son cant regulate his body temperature very well, so we usually have water available to pour on his head or whatever. We also had one of those misting fans for him.
Prepare him for the trip....vacation videos, sign alongs (Fun At Disneyland is perfect), Birnbaums books, and so on. By the time we got there, Sam knew more about the parks than I did, LOL. He had those things memorized.
Repeat, repeat, repeat everything. I had to constantly tell Sam 'we will try to find Mickey" or 'we will try to xxxxxx'. He understands 'try' means maybe. That way he isnt too disappointed if we cant find Mickey or do whatever.
OK, that was just a bunch of random thoughts, but hopefully they helped you in some way.

 

[SueM in MN]

This website has a lot of info about touring WDW with children with autism.

 

[Nik's Mom]

This thread is so timely for me. We were recently told that our son shows signs of autism and are going through the diagnosis process. I was wondering about our upcoming trip. I want it to be pleasurable for him. Glad to get any tips to accomplish this! I'm also glad to hear that I am not alone! We were beginning to feel like we were the only ones with this problem.

 

[Poohnatic]

Best advice I can think of is to follow your child's lead. If it seems as if DS/DD is getting overstimulated, try to find a 'quiet place' to recharge, like the baby care centers in each park.

Take some time at your resort. We get more mileage with my son if he gets pool time a couple of mornings on the trip.

Use a stroller. I found out on day 3 of the first trip how nice those AK stollers were (son insisted on one at Conservation Station). I'm so glad he did-we now tour the parks with a pair of strollers for my kids, and I don't care how big he gets, he'll get a stroller. Another perk of the WDW strollers is that they surround the child on three sides, cutting out a lot of visual stimuli!

We also do a lot of character meals. This way, I don't have to worry about him wanting to meet the characters and waiting in a lot of lines for it. The one line we wait in consistently is Buzz and Woody, his heroes. The character meals are good for both my kids because they have to sit down and take time to eat, and usually we do a buffet to get more food into them.

Enjoy your trip...you CAN do WDW!
Suzanne

 

[Mel6197]

For my daughter, letting her know the Plans are very important. Story Boards helped with the Plane ride etc.

Make sure your near a Exit for some parads and shows, Its very LOUD. Earmuffs help her, and sitting in a stroller to cut down on Visual Stimulation

Slow Down.. LOL.. some of our best times were trying on Hats at the shops and seeing how she looked

Use the Pools, Find quiet areas to Unwind..

We are going back in Oct. And of course get the GAC...We only used it 3 times for our trip in Dec, but its a NICE backup..

 

[SueM in MN]

Use a stroller. I found out on day 3 of the first trip how nice those AK stollers were (son insisted on one at Conservation Station). I'm so glad he did-we now tour the parks with a pair of strollers for my kids, and I don't care how big he gets, he'll get a stroller. Another perk of the WDW strollers is that they surround the child on three sides, cutting out a lot of visual stimuli!

You can also get a GAC that allows you to use a stroller as a wheelchair. This allows the stroller to be brought into queues if necessary and into buildings like the pavilions at Epcot where strollers are not usually allowed. You may not need to use the stroller except to get from here to there, but it's another good back-up, insurance tool to have.

 

[s&k'smom]

I couldn't agree more with the above tips. For my son we kept a schedule. So he knew exactly what we would do. We took a long afternoon break everyday and went to the hotel pool area. We also bought one of those $10 umbrella strollers for him and it was invaluable. though he was six he's so skinny he fit it just right. We also sent down a package of all his favorite foods which he loved having in the room. We also didn't push it. We were back in the room by 8:30-9pm everynight. We really did follow his lead and he did much better than I could have hoped. (Though he hated the plane)! Oh and one more thing if he has a blankie don't wash it for about a month before you go. I did this and he buried his face in in more than once for comfort, something about the scent of home.

 

[Crazy Kanga]

All of the already mentioned info is great advice. I can't reiterate enough how important it is for down time in the middle of the day. Staying on property really helps with this. I wish we could afford to stay at a deluxe on the monorail. This would be the ideal situation for getting back to the room/pool quickly so if you can I would highly reccomend it. Also, check out the menus at www.wdwig.com/dining.htm to see which restaurants have foods your child likes. We had a hard time the first time we went because no where on Disney property had Dr. Pepper which is my sons favorite soft drink. We knew next time to take some six packs with us. Little things like that can stop meltdowns or at least keep them to a minimum.

 

[SueM in MN]

You can also check out the menus right on the DIS. Go to www.wdwinfo.com and look for the dining links.

 

[StitchGirl88]

I am 14 and i have asthma and they made a portable battery opperated asthma breathing machine ase the person has asthma bad ask your dr. about it it is really nice plus for your hotel bring the reagular breathing treatment machine that's what we do and bring an inhaler the machines if you have insurance may pay for in but the portable breathing treatment that runs on batteries coast around $90.00 which isin't bad and a big one depends on what kind you get Hope this helps!!!

 

[StitchGirl88]

sorry scratch the idea i gave i read it fast and thought it said asthma!! SORRY!! REALLY I AM!!

 

[SueM in MN]

That's OK, StitchGirl.
If you find in the future that you made a mistake, you can edit or delete your post if you want. At the bottom of your post, you'll find a button that says Edit. Click on that and it will bring up your post in an editing window so you can change whatever you want to chenge. If you just want to delete the whole thing and start over, you can check the Delete box on the left side at the top of the edit window, then click the button that says Delete Now and your post will be gone.

 

[Mel6197]

Thanks a bunch for the tip about using strollers as a wheelchair to.. I didnt know they could add that to the GAC card..
But what area's could I use the stroller, I dont remember having to leave the stroller behind for anything untill we went on rides.. So Where can I use the stroller? Thanks a bunch again..

 

[s&k'smom]

I just though of it and sorry if it's being repeated but one thing that really helped was we got the promotional video that Disney offers. We watched it over, over, over, over, over again. But what surprised me was the things that my son pointed out once we got to WDW. When he freaked on the plane we would talk to him about all the fun things we saw on the video and that we were on our way to go do those fun things. Of course we stayed at GF so needless to say he is now completely spoiled.

 

[SueM in MN]

But what area's could I use the stroller, I dont remember having to leave the stroller behind for anything untill we went on rides.. So Where can I use the stroller?

You normaly can't bring a stroller into any lines in any parks or into any of the pavilions at Epcot (with the exception of Innoventions in Future World). The "Stroller as a Wheelchair" GAC would allow you to bring the stroller in if that would help your child to feel more in control.

 

[Earstou]

My son has always had trouble with anyone dressed as a character. So we prepared him for the fact that there would be lots of characters at WDW, starting about 4 months before the trip. We told him stories of great character breakfasts we had before he was born. We told him he did not have to interact with the characters, but we also let him know he couldn't treat the characters badly. I tried to prepare as best I could, and also to set limits ahead of time.
Our trip was last month, and the preparation was the best thing I did! He would hang back when approached, and we never pushed him. We did a character meal towards the end of the trip, and he actually interacted with the characters after he saw how much fun we were having!
I got my first pictures of my son with a character this trip!!!
So, my suggestion is to try to prepare them as far ahead of time as possible!

 

[Crazy Kanga]

I agree with the tip about watching the planning video repeatedly and talking about all of the fun things you will do, make a list, draw pictures etc. We did push our son to interact with the characters, but we also know his limits and were careful about how we approached it. I am so glad we did, because once we got him to go up to him, Mickey kissed him on the head and he was hooked. We spent the rest of the trip having to go see Mickey. It was great.