Child With ASD and Scheduling WDW Vacations/Missing School

[Disneylvr]

I tried posting a related question on the Theme Parks board and before I could explained my intentions I was raked over the coals for "looking down my nose" at other parents that take their children out of school for vacations. I know now I should have explained everything about our situation in my first post and/or started it on this board instead.

Sometimes I feel like the only parent that doesn't take my child out of school for more than 2 or 3 days for our family vacations. Some of you already know me, but those that don't...I have an 8 year old daughter with ASD. She is non-verbal and is probably what many would describe as lower functioning on the spectrum. When she misses school she also misses her services (OT, PT, MT, ABA, Speech...) I know during winter break and especially summer vacation (although she attends school 4 weeks longer than the typical student) she does regress sometimes, especially with her behaviors. That is the reason I have not pulled her out of school since K (for more than 2-3 days) but then that restricts us to vacationing during the most crowded times of year, most expensive etc..... I am curious as to how other parents schedule their much needed vacation time (believe me I need the WDW vacations as much as my daughter!) without sacrificing educationally? Is there a better way I could be doing this? For example we are squeezing in a trip during MLK weekend since DD has that Friday and Monday off already. We are taking her out of school on Thursday and Tuesday and that makes us eligible for free dining for the very first time, but I am already feeling the guilt for taking her out of school so soon after winter break.

One happy note is that she started a new school this year and what I assumed was going to be a long and difficult transition time was not. She did a fantastic job! I guess that is why I thought taking her out for two days in January might be okay.

I am just curious as what other parents in similar situations do and feel about WDW vacations and missing school. Really and truly I am not trying to start a debate, I just want opinions and advice. Madelyn is my only child and I hope and pray I am making good decisions for her and our little family of 3. Thank you!

 

[buffettgirl]

I think you need to weigh what the pros and cons are for your family. I've always been "no missing school for vacation" person, yet we did it last summer and it was the right decision for us at the time. It made sense to us for lots of reasons and medically it was better for my son. On the other hand, your daughter needs to be at school to get her services and that adds another layer. My son has no educational issues, in fact, missed zero, so I didn't have that to deal with really.

and that said, we've gone plenty of times in July and with a good touring plan we've had very good vacations with little worry from the crowds. I actually like Disney in the summer because that's what I'm so used to now.

Just do what feels right for your family and your daughter . I think it's hard for people who don't have different challenges with their kids to understand the huge amount of logistics it takes to get a vacation off the ground. There isn't a lot of spur of the moment crap happening for most of us, regardless of diagnosis. So thinking it through, playing out the scenarios just seems normal. I don't think you're going to get any 'bashing' here.

 

[Owl's Friend]

I am generally a I don't pull the kids out kind of parent. Last month we did pull the kids out of school (end of first week) and it was so worth it. Lower crowds, not too much homework to make up and it was still warm (my only issue, had to be warm enough for shorts).

 

[Disneylvr]

Thanks buffetgirl. I guess this January trip will be sort of a trial. Last year and in 2009 we went during spring break. It was extremely busy, airfare very high but thankfully we had the GAC and that helped tremendously. That was also when Disney offered that awesome 4/3 deal. Our plan was to go during spring break next year too but my work responsibilities are going to make that impossible next year. We shortened next year's trip from our usual 7 or 8 nights to 6 with a late night arrival our first day (picking DD up from school at 3pm and heading to the airport) and will taking her out for just 2 days. We'll see what happens and then base our future vacation dates on that. She loves Disney so much and I want to make sure we have these family trips together whenever possible.

 

[Disneylvr]

I am generally a I don't pull the kids out kind of parent. Last month we did pull the kids out of school (end of first week) and it was so worth it. Lower crowds, not too much homework to make up and it was still warm (my only issue, had to be warm enough for shorts).

I do worry about January and cold temps... DH and I went years ago, before DD was born, in January and I remember wearing coats some mornings/evenings. My DD and I are both very sensitive to heat & humidity so in a way maybe January will be great. But I will miss wearing shorts and swimming! Hopefully lower crowds will make up for it.

 

[clanmcculloch]

I hate those threads. So many on both sides of the arguement act as though there's a one size fits all answer but there isn't. Every family needs to evaluate just what is best for the family as a whole as well as for each individual within the family.

We've had our kids miss as much as 5 days of school. The year we did that (DD13 was in 3rd grade, DD11 was in 1st grade), I talked to the school before booking and DD13's teachers and support specialists (OT, SLP, etc) all said that it was good for her. They didn't just say it wouldn't hurt, they said it was good. Academically she's very advanced. We've all noticed though that WDW has a wonderful effect on her and she comes out of her shell a bit more and can cope with more during and after being at WDW. WDW is a truely magical place. Now that she's getting older though (she's in grade 8) I know she can't miss that much school simply because there's too much work that's hands on and it's not like she can make up things like lab work. She can learn from reading books and doing worksheets and I'm strong academically as well and also tend to think a lot like her (have I ever mentioned that I'm pretty sure I'm an Aspie as well?) so I can help her catch up on work from a missed day or two.

DD11 on the other hand struggles a lot more to catch up when she misses even a day or two of school. She has visual learning difficulties including visual retention as well as severe tracking issues making it difficult to learn from written material and worksheets. She REALLY needs the oral instruction in the classroom. Unfortuantely, this means that our days of missing even 2 or 3 days of school are over. I figure 1 day we can probably do but no more than that. She just can't handle it.

It really does come down to knowing your kids, knowing your school and working with family schedules as a whole. There is no one size fits all. I suspect that those of us dealing with special needs kids are more open to the idea of every family's situation is unique because we do deal with such unique issues in our families on a daily basis. This is just one more area where we have to put a lot of thought into what seems to others to be a simple decision.

 

[dzorn]

DD is now in 7th grade and this will probably be the last year we take time off from school. Though she does miss school work she needs a less crowded time of year. She is higher functioning but she is far more willing to try new things at WDW than home so even though she is missing some services many of the concepts we need to work on are doable in Disney so we just work on them there.

Denise in MI

 

[EvangelineG]

For our upcoming vacation our two ASD sons will be missing quite a bit of school. I have mixed feelings about it. My sons are high functioning and we don't see any regression when they miss school and therapies for a couple weeks, but they do thrive on routine, and pulling them from the routine will have behavioural consequences, and require a period of settling back in once they're back at school. I also worry about the stress that being behind, even temporarily, on schoolwork will cause them.
But despite these concerns, we felt that we had no choice but a non-holiday time. One of my sons gets ill in the heat, so summer is out of the question, and has horrible seasonal allergies, so spring is a no go as well. I wouldn't even consider Christmas break due to crowd levels. They simply could not cope with it.

We chose the time we did for the cooler weather, the fact that it fit in well with all the adult schedules, and the fact that during the time we will be away is when our school practises and puts on the Winter Holiday Concert. This disrupts all the school routines for several weeks, and takes many, many hours away from academics. My sons absolutely loathe the practises and performances, and each year it is a struggle. So I figured if they were going to miss, they might as well miss during a time that would otherwise be stressful and disrupted anyway.

In the end I agree that there is no one size fits all. For us there was no other way to do it, and I'd rather have my sons miss some school than never have the opportunity to make this trip.

 

[Disneylvr]

Thank you everyone! It sounds like some of you also struggle with pulling your child(ren) out of school or not. It is a difficult decision because school is important but then so are our vacations together, true bonding times. Nothing makes me happier than seeing my daughter laugh and smile on her favorite rides like Test Track, Soarin, Big Thunder...my little thrill ride seeker. Summer is not an option for us because of heat related issues and because I cannot get off very often during the summer. So that leaves us spring break (extremely busy and we have no choice but to make use of the GAC), Christmas break (no way!) or take a few days off and trying to schedule around shorter school holidays like MLK, President's Day, Veteran's Day....

 

[kylmac]

We are heading to WDW and the Disney Dream in early November and my 2 kids are missing 3 days of school. I am a little concerned as my 7th grader (dd) could get a little behind for that many days missed. Ours son (ds9) has autism and will miss his speech and OT from school. He is in a self contained 3-5 autism classroom so academically he is not as challenged as a normal student. I feel like this might be our last trip pulling the kids out of school since I don't want my daughter to get behind in her work. Our son loves Disney so he can't wait! I think if you talk to the school and get any assignments beforehand so your daughter can complete them before going back to school, then you should be okay. We have done Disney in the summer and at Christmas and it is so busy. Get the GAC card as much as you can to help things along.
Hope this helps!
Elizabeth

 

[Disneylvr]

We are heading to WDW and the Disney Dream in early November and my 2 kids are missing 3 days of school. I am a little concerned as my 7th grader (dd) could get a little behind for that many days missed. Ours son (ds9) has autism and will miss his speech and OT from school. He is in a self contained 3-5 autism classroom so academically he is not as challenged as a normal student. I feel like this might be our last trip pulling the kids out of school since I don't want my daughter to get behind in her work. Our son loves Disney so he can't wait! I think if you talk to the school and get any assignments beforehand so your daughter can complete them before going back to school, then you should be okay. We have done Disney in the summer and at Christmas and it is so busy. Get the GAC card as much as you can to help things along.
Hope this helps!
Elizabeth

My daughter is also in a self contained classroom in a general ed school. She it not academically at the same level as her same age peers. I haven't yet talked to her teacher or the principal but I know parents are allowed to take their children out of school for vacations. My friend pulled her son our for 5 days the 2nd week of school. I am pretty sure we can get her homework in advance and we do many of her assignments on an iPad and that can easily go with us to WDW. Thanks for your advice and yes it does help! I love this forum.

 

[Mama Who]

MY child never suffered from missing school for something I deemed more important. I never suffered from missing school for something my mom deemed more important.

I don't know your kid. If you, as the parent, feel missing school is bad for her, that's your call and I imagine you're just a little better equipped to determine that than I am.

If you are concerned that she'll miss too much, talk to her teacher about work she could do while on the trip or just reschedule the trip for school breaks. I don't think it is bad parenting to recognize that your kid needs their routine. It also won't be the end of the world if you try it and it doesn't work. She's young enough to recover academically, KWIM? At 8 I'd give it a shot and if it's a crashing disaster... then there's still no long term damage.

 

[dennisgirl]

We went on the inaugural TransAtlantic 14 day cruise on DCL. Our DS with ASD was in high school at the time. We had permission from his AS/ADHD charter school to miss the two weeks. They had him do assignments that went along with the cruise theme. Such as, writing reviews for dinner for his home economics class. Report on Barcelona, Cadiz, & Gibraltar for both social studies and English. Euro, pound sterling,and dollar conversions for math. We emailed reports ect to his teachers from the ship.
The cast was great helping him, from the chefs to the activities cast (tour guides).It was an amazing learning experience for him.

We did the same thing the next year for the Panama Canal 15 day cruise.
Just some ideas for older children.
Cheers, Dennisgirl

 

[bookwormde]

While I minimize missing school I we are missing 2 days before Thanksgiving to see the Christmas lights at WDW and will likely miss or so days at the beginning of 2013 for a Hawaii trip.

For all ASD kids the functional curriculum is much more important that the academic curriculum and having these opportunities in an environment where they can benefit (less crowded) is some of the best functional curriculum that exists.
As long as the transition does not through them completely out of kilter then they are way ahead for the experience.

bookwormde

 

[physicalt104]

Only a parent knows their child and family situation best. Trust your instincts- they worked for us every time

In fact, I'd like to share my ASD son's PSA with you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufJ4G6Ry21M

This is the child whose autism school fought me tooth and nail NOT to take to WDW during school time- 4 years running!!!! He was so transformed after every WDW trip, that I think Disney should have been mentioned in the credits....

Spread the word!

 

[sharadoc]

Hi. Just like every kid on the spectrum is different, so is the effect on taking them out of school.

For my DS, it has been the best experience. He handled it beautifully, learned so much and became much more social. He doesn't have intense therapies all the time, though, so he only missed a couple of speech, OT and PT.

Part of his IEP is learning how to order in restaurants, pay for things, etc. - life skills. So Disney World is as much a part of learning for him as anything else, perhaps more.

 

[KEichman]

Our dd is age 10 and has Down syndrome. She is in a general ed 4th grade classroom, with pull out for reading help in a learning support class. 2012 will be the third year that we've pulled her out of school for family vacations. We started planning around school breaks so she would only miss a couple of days.

I've now started planning to take her out for a full week while the school is scheduled for state exams. She takes an alternative assessment, which can be scheduled anytime and takes only a day or so. The rest of the school is involved with test taking for two full weeks, leaving her in a one-on-one situation with whatever staff person is free to hang out with her. Pulling her out for a well-deserved vacation is far more productive than hours upon hours of one-on-one work.

2012 is WDW, and I just scheduled our 2013 trip on DCL!