Disney Dream's Vibe and special needs child

[tngal]

I have asked this on the Disney Cruise Board, but thought i'd ask on here as well I was looking for info. on the vibe lounge for teens onboard the disney dream. My oldest dd is high functioning autistic and has very mild mental retardation. To meet her at first, you would never even guess that there is anything "wrong". She will 14 at the time of our cruise, but is currently around 2 yrs or so "behind" on maturity. I also don't like the idea of her being able to leave on her own free will. any ideas/experiences/suggestions? Thanks!

Lisa

 

[OrthoDad]

Well, we don't have experience with the teen room, but we have taken our special needs kids to the "tween" kids club on the Magic.

When we first were looking into the DCL for special needs kids, we were worried about all the "restrictions" DCL publishes for what a kid needs to do to be a part of the club. While our boys are very high functioning, we were worried.

For us, it worked out great. The CM's at the kids club were VERY accomodating....much more than what is printed in the DCL literature on the kids club. I don't know how many CM's are at the teen room, but when you're waiting to board the boat, they have some guest services out there, working to sign up kids for the kids clubs. You could always talk to one of them to see how your situation would apply.

Good luck, and report back to us!
Wade