Inevitable Meltdowns...tips on where to go/accommodations?

[mamacate]

My son has special needs that we have not yet fully identified the cause of. A number of people have ruled out the autistic spectrum, but his issues tend to be similar to those of autistic kids and I have gained a lot from reading here and in the Passporter Special Needs book about accommodations for kids on the spectrum and ADHD kids. My son basically has a hard time with transitions and has rather impressive and dramatic meltdowns that can be scary. When these happen we try to isolate him and let him get through them. He usually recovers in about 20 minutes and we can move on.

I will say that we almost didn't go to Disney because of this, but when I read about GACs and the kinds of accommodations Disney does, I actually teared up a little bit, and that sealed the deal to take him to Disney as we'd been hoping to do someday. He has an IEP, but we don't get a lot of accommodations for him because most people think he's just being "bad," and it was just SO WONDERFUL to know that we would get support there.

I have the note from his psychiatrist for the GAC, and basically the "quiet space" to wait for a ride is the main thing we need. I was wondering if anyone has asked for/gotten accommodations from Disney for a quiet space to go if a meltdown does happen. It's rare for us to get through a day without one, and my biggest fear at this point is that he'll be raging through a crowd and I won't be able to get him to a quiet place, he'll keep getting restimulated, and we'll eventually have to try to get him out of the park in that state. We plan to take lots of breaks, but is there any way to get away from the crowds if things go wrong? I think I'm not alone as a mom of a kid with these kinds of issues in hoping for the best but planning for the worst.

My other question is just to confirm that the whole family (including his typically-developing twin sister) can wait together in the "quiet space," and that we won't have to split up to take advantage of the options the GAC gives us. [EDITED TO ADD: Dur, just read the FAQ and found out that the GAC is for our whole party. Sorry for asking a redundant question....but yay about the answer!]

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Cate
H&E, 5-year-old twins
1 week trip planned mid-April to DW/Nick Hotel
My last trip was 25 years ago!

 

[KPeveler]

other people can tell you about the GAC, but i know the first aid areas all have a quiet room with a cot, and its air conditioned. this may be a good "quiet" place if you are walking around.

 

[mamacate]

Thanks K. I'll talk to the CM when we get the GAC to see if that's something we can arrange for if needed.

 

[OneLittleSpark]

Just to warn you, I don't have any kids of my own, so I'm not talking from experience here, but I've picked up a lot hanging around these forums, so here goes. A lot of people who's kids have challenges similar to your son's find the WDW strollers are good to cut down on sensory inputs and reduce the chance of overload. They're big enough to hold kids much older than your two, and you can rent doubles (see here for photos of them: http://www.allearsnet.com/pl/strol_faq.htm ).

How big will your group be? Normally GACs are for groups of 6 or under, but you might be able to get an exception made for a larger group if you asked politely, depending on the circumstances.

The baby care centres also provide a quiet space where he can chill out, and I read somewhere that they show Disney films there too.

Try to make sure he doesn't overheat. Being hot will make anyone cranky, more sensitive and prone to overloads. You can get mini fans and misters from all over the place (they'd be a lot cheaper to buy before your trip, than at the parks), and you can get a free cup of ice from any CS restaurant on demand.

One final bit of advice, which you've probably thought of already, but just in case: don't plan too much in! If you hit the parks early, you can beat a fair bit of the crowd, then head back to your resort for some down time / pool time for the afternoon. And, if you fancy it, you can hit the parks again for some evening entertainment, when it gets cooler.

Have a great trip !

 

[Juliee8]

My ds, who is 6, sounds alot like your son. He has some autistic tendancies, but too few to be diagnosed. He has meltdowns as well, but these are getting to be fewer than they use to be. His OT therapist had told me that massage was a good tool to use to calm him down. When he has his meltdowns, I just rub and push down on his shoulders and neck and head and it seems to help.

 

[cindy17]

When we were last at Disney in August 2005, my DS11 son had a horrendous meltdown in Animal Kingdom. It was hot (big mistake going in August) and crowded. He just had had it. He's a pretty big child buy my husband was able to scoop him up and take him to this "alley way" off to the side. I think we were in the Asia section. There weren't any guests around, but several CMs came to our rescue. They really didn't know what to do to help us. They just let us hold our son on the ground. That's all he wanted to do. Once he finally somewhat calmed down, we knew we wanted to leave the park, but were afraid to go all the way out to the main entrance. It was pretty far and the meltdown was a very aggressive one and we were afraid he would hit someone. So a CM arranged for a van to come to the back of this alley to take us through to the parking lot that way. By the time the van arrived, my son was totally fine as if nothing was wrong. The van driver must've thought we were nuts! It was the longest 10-15 minutes of that trip, but the CMs really came through for us.

 

[MIannie]

I am taking 5 yo grandson to WDW in eighteen days. He is autistic, but not defined. I believe Aspergers. I would love to have t-shirts printed up that say " I'm not a brat, I'm autistic" on the front and back. A lot of people think the autistic child is withdrawn and silent. HAH! DGS has gotten better with fewer rages. Or are we getting better at anticipating the rages, and have learned to head them off? Looking forward to his first trip. Gramma Anne

 

[cindy17]

You can check out the website www.autismspeaks.org. I know they have buttons that say something like "I'm not misbehaving, I have autism. Please be understanding". They may have other gear as well.

Have a great trip!

 

[KPeveler]

if you can afford it, you can also stay at a monorail-resort (GF, contemporary, and poly). That is a quick way to get back to your resort without having to cram into buses.

 

[AJKMOM]

If you have any of the old time Disney movies that have characters represented in the parks, it might be good to let him watch those. My son always loved looking at the Mickey-Minnie-Donald-Daisy-Goofy-, etc. figures walking around. Then, I knew he wouldn't be scared of them; I sure did see some kids screaming, though. Better to be prepared.

 

[casaazul]

Our ds is 12, bipolar and still has issues with crowds etc. We found a few nice places to quiet down. At AK the Cretacious Trail near the Dinosaur ride was great, cool and quiet. Also the aquariums in Epcot, the Seas, were wonderful. Also a nice place to quiet down at Epcot was Morocco, there were walkways to explore and a shop or 2 to visit. Canada has the circle vision movie, that our ds loved. He was anxious prior to going in but settled down and enjoyed the movie!! We also took the ferry boat across the lagoon at Epcot, nice place to catch a few minutes of peace.


Hope this helps some.

 

[mamacate]

Thanks, Debbie, for that very specific information. That's just what I needed. I'm still not sure if we should go back to the hotel midday or just make it a short day, but we'll probably just play it by ear and see how everyone's doing. Sometimes an environment like that is so exciting and fun that he never gets stressed out. Sometimes, well, not so much. Go figure.

KPeveler, thanks for the thought about the first aid stations. When we go to get the GAC, I'm going to ask if we can go to first aid if he's having a meltdown. That would be perfect.

I feel like we're as prepared as we can be. I'm guessing it's going to be a blast. I just have to figure out how many ADRs to make...

 

[casaazul]

We were right by the dance floor and he felt comfortable walking out there and shooting some video with his camera. He also loved the buffets. He could go get what he wanted, when he wanted. That really seemed to work for him.

He also loved Coral Reef. I made sure we had a front row seat and we loved it. DS is in love with Rays, sting, manta and any others. We saw a few, plus the silly snapper fish that adopted us... read more on my trip report, link in my signature.

Hope you have a great time!

 

[JESW]

Does your son have any type of "soother"? My ds12 is an asperger's kid and was known to have MAJOR meltdowns when he was younger. His soother was cloth diapers and he would hold them close and rub them on his face or hands to calm himself down.

Hope you have a fun trip!

Jill