Autistic Child Can't Tolerate WDW Toilets That Automatically Flush

[curemyreed]

Just looking for advice....the toilets throughout WDW automatically flush. My autistic child just can not deal with this. She is unable to sit down for fear it will flush, which it does do unexpectedly due to her movement in front of the sensor. I've tried social stories, manually blocking the sensor, etc., etc., etc.; none of which has been enough for her to overcome her terror and sit on the toilet. We so want to take our children back for a vacation, but can't if these automatic-flush toilets are all that are available.

Do you think there is a regular flush toilet in each park somewhere behind the scenes we could request to use? Even if there is just one in each park I could plan regular visits to that location throughout our day. Is there a Disney employee I could contact regarding this unusual situation? I just can't believe we aren't able to vacation at our favorite place on the planet!

Does anyone have any answers/suggestions?
Thanks,
Penni

 

[dwaddict]

Try covering the sensor with post it notes that way it will not flush automatically and will give you more time in the restroom!! Hope this helps!
lydia

 

[ducklite]

Even the toilets in the backstage areas have the sensors. Use the post-it notes, they work like a charm, even for younger kids w/o special needs.

Anne

 

[Scutapipig]

My daughter (non-autistic) had this fear, too. Post-It notes did work wonders, and sometimes I would simply stand there with a small piece of cardboard over the sensor. I would also enter the stall before she did, so that everything was set in place before she followed. If she was nervous about me going in first and hearing it flush, I would tell her I did the flush to make sure the area was clean for her.

 

[curemyreed]

Okay, sounds like the post-it/carboard route would keep the toilet from flushing! Once she believes this I think she will go ahead and sit on the toilet. However, all the unexpected flushing sounds around her are also very difficult for her so that she has anxiety/coping issues following the experience. Are there single-room restrooms adjacent to the Men and Women? (For instance at our children's museum and zoo these are available and labeled Family Restroom and are often utilized by an adult in a WC along with an adult caregiver.)

Thanks once again!
Penni

 

[1stluvispooh]

My autistic daughter has the exact same fear! I tried the post it's but she still refused (screaming and running out of the bathroom) to use the toilet. Anyway (just thought I'd let you know your not the only one dealing with that problem) When we went in October I took her to the baby care centers. They all have manual flushing toilets as well as the ]non handicapped restroom in Morocco in Epcot As long has I took her to the baby care center she was fine once she realized that it was a not automatic. Also most of the time we were the only ones in the restroom so I didn't have to worry about the loud flushing of another toilet We didn't do so well at Morocco. Hope this helps. Have fun./

 

[OneLittleSpark]

I used to have this problem when I was younger (I think when you're smaller, the sensors don't always notice you as much, so they can flush suddenly), but I thought I was on my own! I know a few of the regular toilets used to have manual flushes, and I don't think they've changed, but I'm not certain. I seem to remember the ones behind Peter Pan being some we visited fairly regularly because of me (I think my poor mother got rather fed up with have to go farther afield to find the manual flush toilets), but I may have misremembered. I used to know off the top of my head which were automatic and which were manual (everyone needs a hobby I suppose ), but I can't really remember now.

Have you tried emailing Disney? They might be able to help you, if you explained the situation. If you do get a list, please post it up here for other people who's children have a problem with this.

In answer to the follow up question, there are some Companion Restrooms around the parks, outside of the Ladies and Gents toilets (they're marked on all the maps).

 

[dreamsofdisney]

The post-it notes over the sensor work great for the kids with ASD at my school. I also have a son with an ASD and we visit Disney every year. I was a single Mom for years and worried about the bathroom situation as he got older. I couldn't very well go into the men's room, it wasn't safe to send him in there alone, and he wasn't about to go into the women's room after the age of five! (His decision.) We scoped out all of the Companion Restrooms throughout the parks and used those. In fact, even though he is a teenager now, he still uses them because he prefers the privacy and I can linger outside nearby the door.

Good luck to you and have a magical time!

 

[SueM in MN]

In answer to the follow up question, there are some Companion Restrooms around the parks, outside of the Ladies and Gents toilets (they're marked on all the maps).

The Companion Restrooms are not marked on any of the park maps. The only place from WDW that they are listed is in the Guidebook for Guests with Disabilities for each park. There is a page on the allearsnet site that lists where the Companion Restrooms are.

Most of the restrooms have autoflush toilets and I doubt that there is any kind of list anywhere of which ones might not be autoflush (probably the only people who know for sure are the engineers who repair them).
Post it notes do work very well at keeping the toilet from flushing until you want it to.

 

[OneLittleSpark]

Oops sorry, my mistake! Didn't mean to confuse anybody!

 

[SueM in MN]

Oops sorry, my mistake! Didn't mean to confuse anybody!

That's OK. A lot of people assume they are on the park maps.

 

[DIS-NH]

The restrooms have bee a problem for us as well. I know carry a set of
hearing protectors (they look like headphones that go over the entire ear)
that certainly muffle the sound.

This has also allowed us to view parades that were previously impossible.

Good luck

 

[Nik's Mom]

My oldest ds had the same problem. While I was nursing our littlest ds, I had dh ask a cm if my older son could use their mini-toilets (for toddlers I assume) and they said no problem. Ds was able to use the restroom without screaming from all of the self flushing toilets. They were the regular flush-type. The only down side is that you have to treck all the way to the baby care center.

 

[Bugsmom73]

The toilets in MGM just after the gates are manual. DD is n/t and hate electronic flush toilets. DS who is autistic loves them.

 

[Foohound]

My DD has the same problem. She is also terrified of the fire alarms in the bathrooms. She has to cover her eyes and I lead her into the bathroom stall before she will look up. We then have to use hand sanitizer because she will not look up to wash her hands. She runs out look down at her feet. Once we get outside she is fine.

 

[Dzierzy Mierz]

My 6 yr old has been a series of potty issues. When we moved to Germany she was still in diapers, so American toilets were unknown to her. German toilets don't "swirl" and make everything "go up" before going through the hole. It just all goes down. Anyway, fast forward a bit. In Sept of 2005 we returned to the US on emergency leave (hubby's father lives in the New Orleans area, so we got to come back to the states to make sure he was ok...he was). Right after getting on the transatlantic flight our little one needed to go. Well, the airplane toilet made alot of noise and was generally intimidating (not to mention it was an automatic job, and it went off while she was still on). It terrified her, and she held it for the rest of the 10 hour flight. She then met another autopotty at the airport, where we got caught in a storm and an 8 hour layover (cancelled flights etc). I was so worried that she was going to get a bladder infection from "holding it" so long. Anyway, we survived, and ended up back "home" in Germany with the "normal" (to her) potties. Last year we moved back to the states. To this day, she will not flush toilets (the rising of the water and "stuff" before going down terrifies her). And auto toilets just don't happen. If she doesn't see a flushing mechanism, she refuses to sit.

We will definitely try the post it thing at the mall here, which is the only place that I can think of locally that has autopotties. Hopefully, this will convince her that it is ok, because holding it all day just isn't an option, and my husband is disabled (he had a "close encounter" with a mortar in Iraq...and will be in a wheelchair) so excessive walking (like back to the hotel) just isn't logical either.

I wish the best of luck to everyone else who also has potty woes. I know they use these for cleanliness reasons, but I can't help but hope that technology picks up in them soon...with better sensors and more quiet flushes. If I were an engineer, I'd be on it...there would probably be tons of money to be made selling childfriendly autopots! LOL

 

[Ambassador]

For several years, the sound of flushing toilets was too much for our oldest Little Delegate. We endured many accidents for this reason. Somehow, perhaps as a benefit of OT and maturity, it doesn't bother them anymore.

 

[cancer_survivor_06]

I didn't completely read through the post but Japan has a regular restroom. It us the stairs on the left by Yakatori House (the CS). I particularly remember this because as I was leaving a couple was outside trying to convince there little boy to come he so that he didn't have an accident. best of luck and at least this is one in one park.