Disney Cruise with ASD 8 year old?

[tinkerbell728]

We are thinking of trying the Disney Cruise for next year. DS, Dh and I . DS is Autistic and we are worried about how much fun it will be for him. We don't leave him with other people much. He is verable but has some socialization issues.Has anyone done this with an ASD child? Please let us know any info you have.

 

[MomOf2DisneyKids]

I'll be looking forward to reading any responses to this.... I'd love to do a cruise with my family. DS7 has ASD, and I just don't know if I'm brave enough to try it!!

 

[pcparamedics01]

I'll be looking forward to reading any responses to this.... I'd love to do a cruise with my family. DS7 has ASD, and I just don't know if I'm brave enough to try it!!

.

He will be fine like with any other trip. Just go with go the flow a nd allow him to go with it! That is what I do with something that is unknown to him. I have as ASD son 9. Do not alter a dream that you are unsure about! I have done that and found he adventually ended up loving the experience! Get all the info you can about the activities, get pictures and write a social story about the cruise to prepare for it. He will be fine!! Be brave !!!!!!

 

[squirrelgirl]

I would be happy to answer any questions about it from our perspective. We took ds at 5 y.o. on DCL. It was wonderful! He loved it so much! In fact, it was a major turning point for our child developmentally (his teachers joked about having a cruise included in his IEP ). We went again a year later. Just like each child on the spectrum is different, experiences will likely be different. Not everything was super easy, but there was no question it was a huge, memorable experience our family has treasured. We learned a lot, made a few mistakes, took lots of chances and pushed boundaries as a family as well watching ds do the same. Ask any questions or PM me if you wish.

 

[tinkerbell728]

[QUOTE=squirrelgirl;I would be happy to answer any questions about it from our perspective.

Thanks Squirrelgirl. I have been waiting to see if someone had some answers. I was wondering how the children's activites were for a child on the spectrum.I was watching the DCL on the travel channel and it seemed like the children spent a lot of time seperated from the adults.I would love for my son to have "some" free time but,he would need someone to shadow him. I don't want him to stand out because he is the only child that has an adult close by.How are the Cm with children on the spectrum? My son won't join in unless prompted to do so. It is funny what you said about the IEP. My son's teacher joked that I bought them back a different child because he has matured so much over his Disney World vacations.His cubmaster has even decided to do a Pack trip in April.Looking forward to hearing from you.

 

[melomouse]

Hi - DS, now 15 was dx'd with Asperger's at 8. He has been on a total of 5 cruises, none on Disney yet.

Up until the last one, at 13 - he did great in the kids programs, and he did "okay" that time. This past summer, I cancelled our booked cruise and went to WDW instead, because I was afraid some of his social issues would create uncomforatbility for me, for him and for other guests.

Adolescence is a challenge!! Some of it is just .....adolescence!!

Ds still goes on our ferry and asks where his cabin is. He loves formal nights and all the cruise rituals, and the next one we take will be DCL - I hope!!

 

[squirrelgirl]

Hi Tinkerbell 728!

What your teacher's said about WDW's impact on your ds is exactly what they said to us about the DCL! You know your ds' strengths & weaknesses best, so I hope that this might help. There is an on-line form to complete to preregister a child. I filled this out and highlighted the important things to know about my son. When we got to the program, we asked to speak to the manager/supervisor to explain our son's diagnosis. They asked all the right questions in return - "If he gets overwhelmed or overstimulated, what makes him happy/calm? Some computer time?", etc. We emphasized that he responds best when someone speaks directly to him maintaining eye contact. Otherwise he will tune people out...stuff like that. They were concerned with aggressive behavior (understandably), which was not an issue for our ds. At the time, my ds was a bit of a runner, so were extremely cautious about this and made sure we picked very contained activities. They honored a request to keep him with an age group that was one level younger (due to his limited communication, my ds appears to be a bit younger developmentally). We kept him in the club very limited hours - we wanted the cast members to know that we could be trusted too. At first we stayed with him, then we stayed away for a half hour, then an hour. We picked times that were less crowded. We avoided having him there during transitions to other rooms/areas of the ship, mealtime, or games/activites that we knew he might have more difficulty doing. So for us, free time, physical play/games, character interaction and some crafts were good. We always came to pick up our son when we said we would, returned immediately if we ever were paged, and hung our for a bit to talk with the Cast Members each time to ask how they were doing..and in turn how he was doing, etc. Our only negative was the children's show at the end of the cruise...he just was overwhelmed participating in this. Overall, it was amazing! Does this help?
Squirrelgirl

 

[tinkerbell728]

Thanks so much This does make us want to try the DCL. I am all for new learning experiences for DS and myself. Each trip to WDW he learned new things and we learned new things about him. Just to know that the CMs have knowledge about ASD makes me a lot more comfortable. Best of luck to you and your family.

 

[cathydisneynut]

We are thinking of trying the Disney Cruise for next year. DS, Dh and I . DS is Autistic and we are worried about how much fun it will be for him. We don't leave him with other people much. He is verable but has some socialization issues.Has anyone done this with an ASD child? Please let us know any info you have.

Our family is also doing the cruise next year, me, DH, DD18, DD15 and DS12 who is ASD. About the only thing I can suggest is preparation, talking about the holiday, finding out what he would be most interested in doing, etc. We have always done this and it has worked extremely well.

The preregistration form also sounds like a terrific idea!

 

[judisohn]

My daughter has high functioning autism. We do leave her in kid programs at Disney and she loves it. No, she doesn't socialize with the other kids but they have enough solo activities and things with screens that she is happy and relaxed the entire time and that's all that counts. On every trip, she begs for a night at the kid's club. For her, it's a vacation from the vacation.

We went on the Disney Cruise when she was 3 years old. It was shortly after she was diagnosed, and she was still mostly nonverbal (my daughter is now a poster child for early intervention). And she was still in pull-ups. I had a note from her doctor explaining her issues. The kid program supervisor came out and we talked about it. It was clear that my daughter wouldn't be a behavior challenge for them, and that she did understand language well even if she didn't talk much.

We talked about it with the supervisor, and we agreed that we could leave her for no more than an hour at a time (because of the pull-ups) and that we couldn't leave the ship. With the beeper, they knew we'd come back quickly if needed. It was great. They never had to use the beeper to call us back. We'd pick her up, go for a change and some family time, and then she'd have more time in the club for a stretch later in the afternoon. She loved it. As a matter of fact, the only problem we had with her that trip is that she woke at 11 pm one night and wanted to go back to the club and couldn't understand why it wasn't possible.

 

[MomOf2DisneyKids]

bumping up this old thread!

anyone else done a cruise with a child w/ASD and if so, would you please chime in??

 

[skoi]

No advice, just want to say thanks for the thread and replies. We have a largely non-verbal almost 4 year old (delay NOS at this point due to cleft palate issues and recent adoption from China) who I hope will be able to spend some time in the clubs. Nice to hear the cast members will be willing to work with us.

Julie

 

[toodycat]

My ASD son has done 8 cruises, 4 Disney so far and 4 others. We are planning to do DCL again next summer. He started when he was 6 on the "Magic" and had the time of his life. Keep in mind that for ASD kids the calming motion of the ship may have positive vestibular effects.It really is "cruise therapy." My son tells me that he loves that sensation. In terms of the DCL kids' program, as long as the activities were not too loud for his sensory issues, he was fine with making flubber and having a slumber party with Goofy. He loved the computer lab and video games and on one of the trips became a sort of "Donkey Kong Bongo" maven to the other kids. Giving them advice was a great social piece for him. The staff were kind and understanding. They also said that if Jake wanted to use the computers even when his age group was doing something else, he was welcome to. I let Jake have sign in and sign out privileges; the kids' staff will call you and tell you when your kid has signed out and is on the way back to the stateroom so you know when to expect them. If they are younger or need to be dropped off and picked up, security is excellent and there is a code word you have to provide before your child will be released to you. I would definitely recommend DCL. On some cruises, they have over 900 kids on board, so yours will be far from the first or last ASD child they work with. They definitely have some familiarity with the condition.

More recently, we sailed Princess (not as nice overall) and he played Rock Band with some other kids on the Movies Under the Stars screen. I think the kids' programs on ships in general are great for ASD kids because it's not a clique. Just being a passenger entitles you to be part of the group, so the "legwork" that a kid usually does socially is kind of minimized. Your family will have a wonderful time.

 

[lucigo]

My ASD son is 5, and we have taken him on 8 cruises, all with Carnival. We would like to eventually try Disney but we have had such good luck with Carnival that for now we are sticking with them. There are companies that do special autism group cruises if you are interested in something like that, I think the one in FL is called Autism on the Seas. Our local autism group is trying to put together a group cruise also, you might try to find something like that. It would just give you a little support from other parents who are also dealing with the same types of things.

As for the cruise itself, DS really does well with the routine of dinner in the same place/same time every evening, he loves the shows, and he does well in the play area - especially if he can play video games. You do have to be vigilant and watch them, make them hold your hand, make sure they don't leave the cabin when you are in the bathroom, etc. and I'm sure its not as relaxing as say..an adult only cruise - but thats not our life is it? LOL I do expect it to get harder as he gets older and more is expected from him, but we as with life we will take it as it comes.