Back from trip - about my dd Autism

[sleepingbeautymama]

We just returned from our WDW trip. This was the first time for our 4 year old daughter. She has sensory issues and we think Autism, although still undiagnosed. I really didn't know what to expect with my daughter but it was more difficult than I thought it would be. A lot of the time she was either getting upset and having horrible meltdowns or she was shutting down and in her own little world. The character meals didn't go as well as I hoped. She couldn't eat anything. I think it was too loud and overwhelming for her, and too many other children. She did want to see the characters but didn't really interact with them very well. I kind of wonder what they thought. I hope they understood. She did love Minnie Mouse though and we saw her 3 different times. She also did really great on the rides and especially loved Goofy's rollercoaster and Soarin'. The thing that makes me sad though is not seeing the excitement in her eyes like I saw with the other children. There were a couple times when we were at MK that I started tearing up, once during Mickey's Philharmagic and during the fireworks. I just felt overwhelmed and sad that she was having a difficult time. I thought if she can't be happy at WDW, where will she be happy. Overall though I had a good time and I know my dd liked being there. Actually by the last day she didn't want to leave so I know she had a good time even though she didn't always show it. I just hope one of these days I'll see that sparkle in her eyes.

 

[Dina]

I do know how you feel. My son has aspergers, and we had a really tough time with him in WDW last month (our worst trip with him). He had lots of meltdowns, and refused to go on most rides, then flipped out at the Little Einsteins meal that we booked for his little brother (people would not stop staring at us-- it was terrible). I cried a few times at night during that trip. We have had better trips with him. I actually think the heat made this trip much worse for him-- he really had a hard time with the heat. We're going back in January, so we'll see if that's different for him.

 

[cindy17]

I know how both of you feel. Our last trip to WDW in August of 2005 was really difficult for our ASD 12 son. It probably was a combination of the very high heat, humidity, crowds and possibly boredom because we had been there just a year before. I thought I was the only one who cried on a WDW vacation. I would see all these happy, well behaved children and feel really crummy! But we never know what goes on behind closed doors, right?

Hang in there!

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Our son is 9 and autistic, we have been to Florida 14 times, the last 7 (or is it 8?) with Joshua.

He really struggled with the heat this August , especially around the theme parks and on many occassions just wasn't interested in a lot of the rides he has enjoyed so much over the years.

We rarely eat out at restaurants back home and although we have managed to eat at buffet style one's in Orlando in the past, this year he just wasn't interested and we cancelled all our ADR bookings.
We did plan on trying to see if he would go in some off-site restuarants but he got so upset as we drove up we reckoned it wasn't worth the worry.

In addition he has epilepsy, and despite the fact we have no problems for nearly three years he had a minor seizure on the flight from the UK, naturally this was very stressful and does make you wonder (despite all the fantastic holidays we have had) whether it is worth putting him through any inconvenience?

All in all and the fact that generally the holiday was not as enjoyable as many we have had, it has made us think again about going to Florida.
The problem is the obvious time for us to go, especially with my wife being a teacher is the UK Summer holidays in July & August - probably the worst time to go in view of the high temperatures.

Joshua is a lovely, playful, happy boy and the best part of the holiday for him was playing in the pool at the villa.

 

[TinkTatoo]

We have two children with autism and when they first went to WDW they were 2 & 3 and the trip was a disaster. We didn't realise at the time that they had autism and it sounds like it was with your DD. DS had sensory overload which resulted in lots of major tantrums and we only visited MK twice and stayed for about 3 hours each time. We had such high expectations of how the trip would be and the magic that our children would experience but this of course didn't happen and the trip was a complete disaster for all of us.

We went back 3 years later knowing about the autism and with revised expectations. We kept our park visits short and concentrated on the things we knew the kids would like. We have been back every year since and make sure we build in lots of chilling days for the kids and are prepared to alter our schedule when one or both of them are showing signs of sensory overload.

Even now there are days when we wonder why we bother going but these are few and far between and mostly we have a fantastic time. Our children have their own magical moments there which make it all worth while.

Hopefully it will get better for your DD

 

[Gillian]

My son is going through some issues at school, and I often find myself teary. We want to protect our kids, and for them to be happy, but it's hard sometimes! Hang in there.

 

[SueM in MN]

One thing to keep in mind is that with each trip you take (to WDW or somewhere else), you learn a little more about what works with your child and what will help her to enjoy herself.
4 year olds are sometimes difficult people to deal with, even if they don't have any special needs. I've read plenty posts from people with small kids where the parents of kids without special needs have planned all sorts of special activities (character meals, etc) and the high points of the child's trip were eating at Mcdonald's at the airport and doing the activities at the Kidcot spots at Epcot.
So, hang in there, things will be better.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

I think one of the problems we have found, in going every year, is that we are in some ways restricted in how we can vary the holiday.
Orlando is so familiar to us now, a week at a beach resort would have to be considered for whenever we go again.

The upside to that , especially staying at a villa, is that we get the chance to relax - especially as Joshua loves playing in the pool, for him that is the highlight of the holiday.

We don't push ourselves around the parks too much, and just often tend to have the odd 2 hour visit 1st thing in the morning - we were just surprised that many of Josh's favourite attractions had little or no appeal this year, we can only put that down to the weather.

His Epilepsy is a mild form and he just wants to sleep afterwards, and as I said earlier until August had not had any attack of any kind for nearly 3 years.
He is only vulnerable when extremely tired, so to risk that happening again is naturally putting us off.

I am sure your child will enjoy WDW in the future, like all our children have done.