Autistic Child

[coruth4]

I am going to Disney for the first time with my three kids in July. My middle son is borderline high functioning autistic and my daughter has a yet undiagnosed metobolic disorder. Any suggestions from anyone else who has gone with children with similar disorders?
I am not concerned - but looking for some handy tips that will make the experience even better for my kids (all three)!
Thanks!

 

[Figment1964]

I am going to Disney for the first time with my three kids in July. My middle son is borderline high functioning autistic and my daughter has a yet undiagnosed metobolic disorder. Any suggestions from anyone else who has gone with children with similar disorders?
I am not concerned - but looking for some handy tips that will make the experience even better for my kids (all three)!
Thanks!

How old are your children? My son is 11½ with Asperger's Syndrome and we've gone numerous times. What kinds of things are you wanting to know about? I'd be happy to share my experiences!

 

[CarolDel]

My lads are 11, 12 & 13 - (my eldest is aspergic) - what we found was the best thing we did was having a visual schedule which they each had a copy of - with places we were doing each day - ( with a disclaimer that it did not mean that it was set in stone for reach day) & I had the names of the main attractions for each park & colour coded it so they could see if it was say a 3d, coaster, simulater ride etc. -

Then when we were driving to the park or wherever we were going for the day on the drive there I would do a little like tour guide talk of what the park had & a bit of a reminder.

This worked really well for us & took a lot of the anxiety away and meant that the only thing my aspie lad really worried about was if the characters were going to come anywhere near him so he could run a mile in the opposite direction

hth - I know it may sound like a bit of work - but it really paid off in spades

Carol

 

[riu girl]

The only advice I can offer is:

1. Get to the parks at opening if possible (and avoid EMH mornings). We were there the week before Christmas and the first couple of hours were pretty quiet.
2. Also, have a general basic knowledge of the layout of the parks. It makes a big difference getting around. IMHO, the parks are very nicely laid out and easy to get around.

Have a Wonderful holiday.
Suzy V.

 

[SueM in MN]

Here's a good website with information for sensitive kids or people on the autism spectrum.
Also, if you are either looking for or want to avoid the characters, you may be able to get a schedule from Guest Services telling where they will be appearing and when.

 

[Nik's Mom]

Welcome! You came to the right place. We have a nice group of Parents of ASD children here. My 6 year old ds has high functioning autism. I agree with riu girl. Get to the parks early, and I'd head back to the hotel for an afternoon break. I'd also avoid fireworks if your child is sensitive to loud noises. If you child is young enough, be sure to use a stroller. It's a great little hide-away when they need their own sanctuary from the crowd.
We prepared our ds for the day by letting him know what we were going to do, and gave plenty of warning when we were going to leave the park. This helped avoid meltdowns. Have a great trip!

 

[CarolDel]

what we found about getting to the parks early was that because of the sensory overload - my aspie lad needed a bit of time each morning before we went to "prepare" himself - he did cope when we got there - but we found that we had to go at his pace & sometimes this meant not setting off till a bit later - so where it is good to get to the parks early - it's not always possible ( well for us anyway) - I think the key thing is to be relaxed and just go with the flow

i don't know what age your middle son is - maybe this has something to do with ot getting to the parks early - ( or maybe it was just us )

hth

Carol

 

[coruth4]

Thanks everyone for responding! My son is 9yrs old, my daughter is 7 1/2 yrs old and my oldet will be 11 yrs old while we are there. I have made a calendar for my middle one to show him where we are each day. We are driving down from NH, so it will take a coupl eof days. I know he is going to think that once we get in the car we are going straight there.
And since I booked this trip a year ago - he has been studying the park maps for a whole year. He watches the planning videos that you can order and already is pretty aware of the ride options. I also put together an activity book for each of them and included lots and lots of pictures of the things he will be seeing since he has never been there.
My plan is to get to the parks at opening (avoiding EMH) and taking afternoon breaks to nap and/or pool. He isn't too affected by fireworks - but we have a Wishes cruise booked that I am hoping will reduce some of the louder noises? Course I have never been to Disney myself - so it will be a learning experience for all of us.
My biggest goal to relax! Not push anyone to make sure we see everything! I have a feeling that slowing myself down will be the hardest thing! I don't think I have been ever more excited about something than I am about being able to bring my kids to Disney!

 

[mrstbalt]

We are traveling with our 4.5yr old and our 3.5yr old, whom has PDD. We picked up an unofficial guide to Disney and also sent an email to customer service about special needs. You can get a written note from your childs doctor..the example said to mention what the child has been diagnosed with and explain a little like if there are sensory issues and please ask to make any accomodations to help this child and family. Take it to guest relations and request a Guest Assistance Card. The book is called the Unofficial Guide to WDW 2005 by Bob Sehlinger. If not go to waltdisneyworld web site and email customer service about this. I found it to be helpful, I hope it will work. We are going in September. Hope all goes well

Has anyone out there received a Guest Assistance card and if so how was it?

 

[Cheshire Figment]

You can get a written note from your childs doctor..the example said to mention what the child has been diagnosed with and explain a little like if there are sensory issues and please ask to make any accomodations to help this child and family.

As you said, you got this from an unofficial guide. That information is totally wrong!

First of all, a note is not required and many CMs don't even want to look at a doctor's note.

Second, a diagnoses does not say what the needs are. Different people with the same diagnoses (such as "high functioning autism") probably will have different needs.

Third, again asking to make any accomodation is vague und useless.

If you review many of the other threads concerning GACs You will find that you have to let Guest Services know what the needs are. I will not attempt to cover that here, but suggest you read several of the threads in this forum concerning autism and GACs; they should be able to answer most of your questions.

 

[mrstbalt]

I also got an email from WDW concering this issue and they pretty much said the same thing about how to obtain the pass. Unless I missed it, I have not read about anyone that has obtained the pass. I am going by what I have read and what Guest Relations/Customer Service emailed me!!

 

[Figment1964]

I also got an email from WDW concering this issue and they pretty much said the same thing about how to obtain the pass. Unless I missed it, I have not read about anyone that has obtained the pass. I am going by what I have read and what Guest Relations/Customer Service emailed me!!

There are lots of us on here that have used the GAC's many times and lots of threads about them. If a search of "Guest Assistance Card" doesn't bring them up, you can always search with "GAC". That should do it for you.

We've gotten a GAC numerous times and have never used, or needed or been asked for, a doctors note. The ADA makes it so they cannot require one and like a previous poster mentioned people with the same diagnosis can have very different needs so it really isn't that helpful to a CM anyway.

What you'll need to do is to be able to explain to the CM at Guest Relations what your child's needs are. You must have your child with you when you make the request.

We use the pass as needed, more like insurance should he need it. It has been tremendously helpful for our son, who has Asperger's Syndrome. I won't go into the accomodations given to him here since there have been people who've used info on this site to request GAC's when they didn't need them.

I hope that helps! Have a great trip. Feel free to PM me if you have other questions, or post here and lots of us can probably give you an answer!

 

[s&k'smom]

We too got a GAC but never used it the last trip, it helped the DS wouldn't go on any rides but it was nice to have. We too had a schedule and took at least two hour breaks if not longer in the afternoon. The pool was a great motivator, like after lunch we can go swimming then we go out again. We also let our plans bend when we needed to especially if we found something he liked and went back to it instead of "sticking" to the schedule. Yeah we had a melt down or two but that happens to all kinds of kids there. Have a great trip.

 

[SueM in MN]

The unofficial guide and allearsnet.com have the same information, but it isn't correct. The example letter that they give doesn't really have any information in it that will be helpful to let the CMs at Guest Services know what the needs are. I have actually been at Guest Services behind people who presented those sorts of letters to the CMs and then were upset when the CM asked questions about their needs. Usually (as was already mentioned), the CMs don't even want to read them. When they do look at them, the guest still needs to explain what sorts of accomidations would be helpful - for example, what sorts of sensory issues does the person have?
Is the issue with crowds or closeness and maybe you need a quieter place or is there a problem with noise and so you want to be seated far from the stage for shows that might be noisy?

The GAC is not a PASS, it is a Guest Assistance Card, which is a tool to let CMs know what sorts/types of assistance is needed.
The GAC is not given based on the diagnosis, it's based on the needs that you explain to the CMs at Guest Services. People with the same diagnosis can have very different needs and their GACs will be different, based on those needs. I'll use my DD's main diagnosis, Cerebral Palsy (CP), and different people we know with CP as an example.

• Person 1 with CP might have weakness in one side that makes going up/down stairs difficult and might have difficulty with the moving walkways, but they may not need to use a wheelchair. They might need accomidation of being able to avoid stairs and be able to use the wheelchair entrance (which often doesn't make the wait any shorter) so that the moving walkway can be slowed or stopped for them or they can have more time for boarding.
• Person 2 with CP has a power wheelchair and just needs to use the accessible lines because that's all that is needed. Person 2 would not need a GAC.
• Person 3 with CP uses a power wheelchair and has ADD, seizures and other disabilities that make waiting in line with other people difficult. They would need different accomidations (like a quieter place to wait).
• Person 4 with CP uses a power wheelchair and drives it with a head control, which makes it difficult to to make sharp turns that are found in some queues. She also has a lot of uncontrolled movements when she is excited that make her arms swing out from her body. She could be hurt by hitting the rails separating the line or hurt others when her arms swing.
  
  If they all brought a letter from the doctor saying they have CP and to "make any accomidations to help this family", the CMs will have no idea what they need.
  What you do need to do is go with the person with a disability to Guest Services in any of the parks and explain what needs there are. They can't require proof of a disability according to the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act). Some people DO feel more confident asking for accomidations if they have a letter, especially with invisible disabilities. Even if WDW said this was correct in an email to you, the CMs that deal with email are not the same ones who give out GACs in the parks, so their information is not necessarily correct.
  The current GACs, that are specific based on needs started being used in about 1999. Before that, a lot of attractions had separate wheelchair/special needs entrances and the Special Assistance Pass was used for giving people without wheelchairs access to those entrances. The information about doctor's letters is probably "left over" from how people got the Special Assistance Passes (which were discontinued in about 1999).

 

[SueM in MN]

PS.
We have been getting Guest Assistance Cards since 1999 for DD. The last one we got was in April 2005.
We use it sparingly, sort of like insurance.

 

[Nik's Mom]

PS.
We have been getting Guest Assistance Cards since 1999 for DD. The last one we got was in April 2005.
We use it sparingly, sort of like insurance.

As usual, SueM is right on the money! We have been very fortunate that ds handled WDW pretty well and we only had to use the GAC once on each of our last 2 trips! Having the GAC is not always needed. You might be pleasantly surprised at how well your child does at WDW. I know many of us have returned from our trips, raving about how our children seemed to improve while at WDW.
I say get the GAC, but here's hoping that your family does well and doesn't even need to use it. Have a great trip!

 

[Princess Mommy]

I don't have any autistic children of my own, but I have been working with them for the past decade mostly as a behavior specialist.

My first suggestion is the GAC- VERY important, especially in the summer season. Grab a zillion park maps and schedules and familiarize yourself as best as you can with the parks. If you can use Tour Guide Mike to help navigate the parks and plan before you go that would helps tons as well.

Have a MAGICAL vacation!

 

[busykate]

What's tour guide Mike?

 

[SueM in MN]

What's tour guide Mike?

It's kind of a "hint" service for getting the most done at WDW. Tourguide Mike was a WDW CM (Cast Member) who did VIP and individual tours.
Here's a
link to his website.
You can find out more at the Theme Parks Board. If there aren't any threads about him on the first page, just go back a ways or do a search.

 

[Princess Mommy]

Tour Guide Mike info:
http://www.magicalmemoriestravel.com/TourGuideMIKE.html

We have used his tips and thankfully if we follow them, we have minimal wait times for rides, etc... he has saved us a ton of time & worry! And in cases of traveling with children or adults with autism, your AVP contains a comprehensive collection of photo tours of the resorts, restaurants and parks -which can help familiarize the child or adult with what her or she can expect when they are there.