Disney Cruise for an incontinent child

[lesley227]

Hi, we are planning to go on the Magic in March. My 8 year old daughter has Kearns Sayre Syndrome, a form of mitochondrial cytosis. She uses a walker, hearing aids, glasses, and uses an insulin pump. We were confident that Disney could handle all of this, until I read in Passporters that Disney will not accept a child in the Oceaneer's Club with pullups. Kate has kidney damage from the mitochondrial disease that causes her to have occasionally bladder incontinence. She might do OK, but maybe not, so she generally wears a an incontinence pad or pullups. She can go all day and no one would ever know. Does anyone know if Disney will make any accommodations for this? I understand if she has an accident, she could be banned from the center.

If not, I suppose we can go to the children's center every couple of hours and remind her to go to the bathroom, or we could try to cut down the pull ups so that no one could tell she had them on (I read that counselors cannot help children with any toileting, so they shouldn't ever see them).

 

[bopper]

I have absolutely no idea what I am talking about, but:

Can she deal with her toileting herself? If she was incontinent, could she change her own pad/pullup? I imagine the main issue is that the workers don't want to have to do diaper/pullup changing. But if she can take care of it herself, why should it be an issue?

 

[SueM in MN]

I can't do a lot of checking right now ( at work) but if the club care is licensed as a US daycare, they are subject to the ADA. I believe (but am not sure) that they are subject to the ADA because they are leaving from a US port.
According to the ADA, child care centers CAN say thst children without disabilities MUST be toilet trained and out of diapers and/or able to toilet themselves without assistance. If the reason the child is incontinent is related to a disability, they can't just say no and must come up with some reasonable accommodations. In the resort kid's clubs, accommodations have included reminders to the child, having the parent come at specified intervals to help the child with toileting.
The main concern for the staff is potential contact with body fluids, especially for staff who would also be handling food. If your DDis able to toilet herself with reminders or prompting, there us no potential for contact, so should be no problem. I would not try to hide the pullup - cutting or folding it may make it leak and if they find out aboutthe pullup by accident, they will not look upon it kindly and would not be willing to work with you.
If it will totally contain any urineand she can change it herself, you don't have a concern. If you are concerned about leakage, there are some other things I can suggest (I do know pullups and other incontinence products very well).

 

[dclfun]

The youth program staff will work with you to figure out a solution. A disabled child being in pullups or diapers is different from a nondisabled child who isn't potty trained. They do take the children to the toilet on a scheduled basis, you can come in to do a reminder if needed, or they can page you if she has an accident. All you need to do is discuss this on your first day. You can also ask that she join the younger group if you feel she'd be more comfortable with the activities there-they are flexible with this too.---Kathy

 

[lesley227]

Thanks everyone for your help. It really should not be a problem for the staff at all, she doesn't have leaks or odors or anything, and it's not a daily problem. I'll talk to them and look into the ADA thing also.

 

[lesley227]

Found this online:
Must cruise ships comply with the American with Disabilities Act?

Many cruise ships in use today were not designed for passengers with disabilities-especially if they were built before the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed. In fact, a passenger with a disability should carefully investigate any ship that's more than 8 years old. Many of the cruise lines with older ships are now making an effort to upgrade cabins to accommodate disabled passengers.

Newer ships must comply with the American with Disabilities Act and offer cabins designed specifically for disabled passengers. Be sure that it is wheelchair accessible, that bathrooms have no barriers, that there are elevators and that there is room for your wheelchair in the cabin. There are not many of these cabins per ship, so book early.

As of 2004, foreign cruise lines sailing in U.S. waters must comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, which requires access to passengers in wheelchairs. Disabled individuals who board cruise ships while docked in U.S. waters need to be given access to ship pools, restaurants and emergency equipment.

 

[Mason7AK]

Hi, just wanted to tell you our experience on the Disney Wonder! We sailed with three children with DISabilities and the staff at the kid's clubs could not have been more wonderful!! Our son, who was five at the time, was in diapers (he is Spina Bifida and paraplegic) and he enjoyed ALL his days in at the clubs! The staff gave us a pager and simply paged us if he had an accident or needed to be changed. Not a problem at all!!! We also had our 8 year old daughter with us, who is severely disabled. Every time we dropped DS at the club, they practically begged us to leave DD for a while too. I never left her, as I am just not comfortable leaving her anywhere without me! But I certainly could have, and I do feel she would have been fine there - I am just a paranoid mom when it comes to her! LOL Our other DD, who was only 18 months at the time, also spent time in the nursery - she loved it!
Have fun and just explain your child's needs and the cruise staff will bend over backwards to make sure your DD is accomodated and has fun!!
Angela

 

[lesley227]

THANK YOU SO MUCH! That made me feel so much better!!! I've been worried about it.

And bless you too, you certainly have a lot of challenges, but I'm sure you just rise to them all like we all have to. The thing that keeps me going is seeing all the other people who do what I do and much much more, with perseverance and love (and occasional breakdowns and screaming fits!).

 

[Mtopher4]

Thank you sooooo Much for asking that question We are doing a MAW cruise and my DD (5) with Apert Syndrome isn't pottytrained either and I haveno prolem with them paging me to come change her

 

[OrthoDad]

Just another great report with our experience. We have been on the Magic twice with our son with cerebral palsy who doesn't have full bladder control and is in a wheelchair. The first time, we were very afraid that he couldn't participate in the kids clubs, due to what we had read.

Well, like the other posters, the CM's were great! We would check on him frequently, and they would page us if he felt that he needed to go, or if we needed to change him.

Really, our worries were for nothing! He loved the club, it worked out perfectly, and the CM's were great.

Have a great trip!
W