Autism ? What is your best traveling tip?

[FFerret]

Wow--now I'm considering the same bracelet for my autistic son (turns 5 in 11 days )

Is it easy for him to remove? What if we get the animal sports band with it--does that come off easy? He's probably going to fight it is why I'm asking, but he has to have SOME kind of ID on him, or I'm going to fret myself stupid!

 

[Amaris]

Both of our kids have autism, and they would *never* wear a bracelet like this. There are sensory issues that they would fight, especially with a sports band. Also, the bracelet which is a GREAT idea, seems to have an annual fee attached.

We have also put bracelets like this ( id tags) in belt loops rather than using them on wrists, that way they don't have to touch them and be bothered by the sensory issue.

For autism, with sensory issues, I would move to the iron on labels in a shirt and hope that someone would look inside his shirt... or at least use that as a backup in case he takes the bracelet off. AND hope he doesn't dislike the itch of the tag!!

The main thing with a non verbal child is to have something people will be able to spot quickly. We use our cell phone numbers on our tags and we have the cell phones with us. We have never lost a child for more than five minutes, but those five minutes can be VERY scary!

I hope the id bracelets work well for everyone , they do look like a HUGE resource, if you can get your child to wear them

 

[SueM in MN]

originally posted by s&k'smom
Thank you Sue, you know everything!

I'm mostly good at finding things.
My DD has sensory issues too, so I understand those of you whose children would never keep a MedicAlert bracelet on. When we ent to E-night, we finally had to go back to the place you get E night bracelets and get a new one to put on DD's backpack because she worked so hard to get it off her arm.
The bracelets have a latch on them that is not easy to take off, but any determined child would be able to remove it. i don't know what the answer to that is (if I did, I could make a fortune selling non-removable IDs to nursing homes and hospitals so the confused patients could not get them off).
The advantage of having it is that MedicAlert has beeen around for a long time (maybe 40 years) and health care workers all over the world are very aware of it. They keep a database of specific information - contact info for you, your doctor, etc that can be accessed by police or medical people 24 hours a day.
It's a non-profit organization and the fee goes toward keeping up their database and having people around 24 hours a day to access the information in their database.

 

[FFerret]

thanks so much for y'all's imput

here's what I'm going to try tonight--I'm going to braid a silly little string bracelet for my son and see how long he'll keep it on--just determine the struggle factor

heck, he may not even care (yeah, right )

Amaris--looks like we'll be there at the same time!
BTW, CleverMoms is a great site
I still remember the big egg hunt from last year

 

[Amaris]

Thanks for the nice words about Clevermoms

I love it! It is fun to find deals and coupons for a JOB I have learned to pass up goodies lately, there are SO MANY!!! The Holiday hunt comes up in early December which is fun too!

We are trying to decide between the GF and WL.. teetering back and forth ...

 

[Nik's Mom]

Amaris,
Great idea about putting the id tag through a belt loop! That wouldn't bother my son at all. You must have tons of other tips, having 2 children with autism. Please share more. My son was just recently diagnosed. I have a lot to learn! By the way, go with WL! Our son loved this hotel in our last stay!

 

[lalapodip]

I tried the belt loop, but most of Dennis' clothing has elastic waists and no belt loops. He also tries very hard to remove it when he DOES happen to have loops - we made our own ID tags with his picture, laminated them, and attached them to our key rings, just in case.

UPDATE:

Dennis made it through our VT vacation with the bracelet ON and WITHOUT getting lost - hurrah! He notices the bracelet but does not complain about it anymore. I hope that you all have luck with your id tags! Love the MedicAlert!

 

[lalapodip]

is down to 24 days.... PANIC ATTACK!! I have to UNPACK from Vermont....I can't believe how time is flying.....

 

[s&k'smom]

Don't panic lalapodip, you'll do fine. Let us know how it all goes. We are planning on next Oct. 04 and are prepping our son already as he if freaked by the plane. Of course I just like talking about WDW!

 

[Earstou]

I've decided when we travel, we will buy 2 sizes of t-shirts when we buy our souveneir shirts for my DS. We'll buy the current size and one size larger.
I have so much trouble getting him to wear new clothes. The new clothes have to hang in the closet for awhile before he will wear them! (Then they aren't "new" anymore and he doesn't view it as a change). .
So buying two of the trip shirts he picks out will help solve this problem! He will be used to the 2nd shirt right away when it's time to switch sizes!

 

[Nik's Mom]

Earstou,
My son is the same way about new shoes! We usually try putting the new shoes on while he's asleep. For some reason, if he wakes up and sees them already on, it doesn't bother him as much. I was jumping for joy this weekend when he let us put on new Teva sandals without even fussing. He just watched us strap them on his feet! I felt like it was a major breakthrough!

 

[s&k'smom]

Just thought of something else as I was making a way ahead of time ressie for HDD. I called early so we could make a request to sit on the side of the hall so that if DS needs to get up and release a little energy it won't be such a big deal. Anyhow I was thinking if $ allows lunch and dinner at the resorts is a lot less hectic than in the parks. We eat around 5pm and have found the resort restaurants usually nice and quiet or at least by the time we leave it has just begun to fill up and start to set DS off. We found last Oct places like Cape May, Trail's End, Grand Floridian Cafe (for breakfast) to have a quiet vibe even if busy. We tended to have more than one meal at those places becuase of the atmosphere. We did do a busy place like 50's but DS knew that we would be heading to the pool right after so that would keep him ok. Just a thought.

 

[lalapodip]

Eating at the resorts is a great idea! We had a great dinner at Trail's End - my son really sat nicely and ate well, too. Not too overwhelming for him. We also had a late seating at Garden Grill for lunch and it was VERY quiet there as well. Lots of character interaction as well. The only downside is that I ate A LOT and it really slowed me up!

 

[Figment1964]

Originally posted by lalapodip
We also had a late seating at Garden Grill for lunch and it was VERY quiet there as well. Lots of character interaction as well. The only downside is that I ate A LOT and it really slowed me up!

I would second the Garden Grill! We ate there for a late lunch last August and walked right in. Very relaxing, with individually enclosed eating areas for each party. The character interaction was great too!

My AS son really seemed to do well here. This was a highlight for him since the characters came right to us, no waiting in line or anything!

For the flights the best thing we did was to rent video players from InMotion Pictures. We picked it up in Portland (our airport) when we got to the airport and dropped it at the Orlando airport when we arrived. We did the opposite when we flew home. Now we have a computer with a DVD player so that will work too. It kept our 2 boys VERY quiet and occupied!

Have a great time...wish it were us!

 

[Mel6197]

I was at Target, and saw this tiny black and white mini tv that Plays Mini Dvd's
You can buy headphones to go with it,
The videos play Nick toons. (spongebob, fairly Odd Parents)

Im thinking about buying it for Kira for the flight, Even if it keeps her happy waiting for the plane, it will be worth it to me

Also I found that Kira did Really good at Le Celiar, It just seemed quieter and darker, Not as hetic, she really enjoyed having lunch there

 

[s&k'smom]

What great ideas about the mini dvd player. When I flew last in June we were on Song Airline (Delta's discount airline-otherwise known as the old Delta Express) anyway the flight attendant was saying by October they were going to have those personal tv's at every seat. So if you are flying by the fall you may want to ask. Also I was on another post about Netgrocer.com and I had no idea about being able to shop on line. The reason I say is because I've noticed a lot of special needs parents need to bring particular foods on our trips and to be able to just order on line and they will be able to deliver to the resort. How great is that!

 

[Amaris]

We always carry our laptop with dvds, much to the envy of everyone else around us with kids! Good battery charge will make it most trips.