Autistic children wearing autism awareness clothing..

[christymarie]

I found a great website with a ton of Autism awareness t-shirts, buttons, and stickers. I'm considering getting some of them for our upcoming trips to WDW. My younger son is more severely autistic and uses a special needs wheelchair for containment or a service dog so most of the time people get that there are issues there. My older son , 8, is more high functioning but does not handle sensory issues well at all and tends to accidentally run into or bump people with his constant motion.

We have never put them in any kind of autism awareness type t-shirt and I'm wondering if any of you have, and if so what has been the response? Do you think it helped? I hate making it all about their autism, but if it would help us all to be more comfortable while at the parks I'm definitely open to it.

Thanks for any input,

 

[ireland_nicole]

We started wearing awareness clothing and had a button on our stroller this trip. It did seem like we got less rude comments and looks then in the two previous trips. But it may have been that I was a little less self conscious as well; I think for me it was partly about the ability to educate a little without having to say anything; in small part it was about being more open about the challenges my awesome kids face, and celebrating who they are; the disigns I used are on another thread here; in the end, I chose to use autism awareness ribbons, and the adults t-shirts were autism awareness, but the kids shirts had celebrate neurodiversity on them. I also chose to put the kids designs on their backs; partly so it would be less likely someone would be staring at their face/front, partly so it would be more comfortable to wear, partly because when the kids are melting down, what people would see is their back as we move "code red" to get to a quiet place/car/etc. To be honest, I think it's like a lot of things for our families; what's right for us may not be the best choice for someone else and vice versa. I say go with your gut on this, and you'll be fine either way.

here's the link w/ the disigns we used:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2259761
and here's a pic of my kiddos wearing them at AK:

HTH!

 

[christymarie]

It helps a lot. You guys sound a lot like us and I really like how you parceled out who wore what kind of t-shirt and why. I was reading some MAW posts and realized they wear buttons on their hats showing they are from MAW. I was thinking about that for character interactions and my boys. If a character approaches them hopefully they will see the button on their hat and realize they may not be as appreciative of their advances. I always feel bad for the character when my younger son ignores them or pushes them away and I can't always explain why.

I think for me it's about that line we walk concerning having our kids be treated as normally as possible while at the same time realizing that being treated normally can mean more meltdowns.

Thank you for posting.

 

[chaoscent]

I have also wondered this myself as I am not a parent (I am an educator) and wasn't sure how parents would feel. If you go to the Creative DISigns thread there are so very talented people who make some very cool autism shirts. All you need to do is post that you are looking for DISigns and people will send you to the links. Penny

 

[christymarie]

I have also wondered this myself as I am not a parent (I am an educator) and wasn't sure how parents would feel. If you go to the Creative DISigns thread there are so very talented people who make some very cool autism shirts. All you need to do is post that you are looking for DISigns and people will send you to the links. Penny

Thanks Penny!

 

[CoriCW]

I've been wondering about this. DS5 is not autistic, but has been diagnosed with attachment issues, PTSD, probably fetal alcohol syndrome and prenatal drug exposure as well as other issues, which all manifests itself in behaviors where he can just lose it (aggressiveness/violence towards self/others). Our family already sticks out as we are a multi-racial family through adoption.

Actually all 3 of our kids have different diagnoses, but our youngest has the most severe issues.

I've wondered about some sort of t-shirts for the kids (I like the neurodiversity ones!). At one point when we've taken the kids on vacation in the past, I was convinced the police would be called while I was physically restraining our youngest. It's gotten better since then, but this will be such a stimulating environment, and he doesn't always do well with that much stimulation. He may be fine, but it would be nice not to have to explain it all the time...

I don't think neurodiversity captures our real issues, but it would be a quicker answer than explaining our son's (heartbreaking) history through the foster care system. I wonder if anyone has seen something like this for something other than for autism?

Thanks...

 

[martinpaul12]

Hi christymarie,

Well,It isn't necessarily easy to identify autistic children. It's not something that you're likely to do on your own either.If you're a teacher or assist families in any way, then you may wish you had a quick check-list that you could provide parents for those times that you suspect that a child may be autistic. OK,this idea is not a bad idea regarding awareness among Autistic children's.

Thanks

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

It helps a lot. You guys sound a lot like us and I really like how you parceled out who wore what kind of t-shirt and why. I was reading some MAW posts and realized they wear buttons on their hats showing they are from MAW. I was thinking about that for character interactions and my boys. If a character approaches them hopefully they will see the button on their hat and realize they may not be as appreciative of their advances. I always feel bad for the character when my younger son ignores them or pushes them away and I can't always explain why.

I think for me it's about that line we walk concerning having our kids be treated as normally as possible while at the same time realizing that being treated normally can mean more meltdowns.

Thank you for posting.

Please verbally let that character know. I used to be a performer. I had worked with kids with autism, so I knew how to approach them. But many people have not and may not know the best way to approach. I always appreciated it when parents would let me know in advance to watch their hands, etc. just so I knew how to keep myself safe and not overwhelm the child.

As both an attractions CM and an Entertainment CM I liked them. We see so many rude/disruptive guests every day. It becomes really easy sometime to judge people, and seeing that makes you take a step back and return your focus to the guest and not the behavior.

One thing I will say: If I weren't in special ed I don't know that I would automatically know what "neurodiversity" meant or the puzzle pieces. Maybe the puzzle pieces, but certainly not neurodiversity. You may want to be more blatant. the shirts I always saw had the word Autism right there on them.

 

[christymarie]

Please verbally let that character know. I used to be a performer. I had worked with kids with autism, so I knew how to approach them. But many people have not and may not know the best way to approach. I always appreciated it when parents would let me know in advance to watch their hands, etc. just so I knew how to keep myself safe and not overwhelm the child.

As both an attractions CM and an Entertainment CM I liked them. We see so many rude/disruptive guests every day. It becomes really easy sometime to judge people, and seeing that makes you take a step back and return your focus to the guest and not the behavior.

One thing I will say: If I weren't in special ed I don't know that I would automatically know what "neurodiversity" meant or the puzzle pieces. Maybe the puzzle pieces, but certainly not neurodiversity. You may want to be more blatant. the shirts I always saw had the word Autism right there on them.

Thank you, that does make sense. I will make a point of letting the characters know the kids have autism.