Kid club-Edge n special needs

[Scrufsmom]

Im trying to get information about about the kids club-Edge for tweens. I'm considering a future booking with my nephews and one of them is Autistic. He is 13 yo, never cruised and trying to figure out if he will be comfortable and also,the Disney counselors will be helpful with someone like him. I want him to have fun and guess I'm pretty nervous as well as to whether we will be ok. Can he leave the area whenever he wants or do I have to sign him out? This has me worried cause he still requires some type of supervision. What would I have to do as for as enrolling him in the club? Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated for some who is new to cruising with kids but new to cruising all together. Thank you

 

[ChristineNJ]

We've been on 5 Disney cruises with my autistic DD. She was 9 on our first cruise and 13 on our latest. She's never been a huge fan of the clubs. She'd rather meet Princesses, see movies & shows, or take walks for ice cream. But on every cruise we do make a point to go and check out the clubs. The counselors have always been incredibly welcoming to her and tried to encourage her to come hang out, but like I said, not really her thing.

In Edge the kids can come and go as they please. Would he be comfortable using one of the WAVE phones? Or asking the counselor to call you when he wants to leave? While DD doesn't spend time in the clubs, she's more then happy to hang in our room watching movies and will call us on the WAVE if she needs us.

I know it's stressful, but I have to say, on all our cruises, everyone went out of their way to help her have a good trip.

 

[bbel]

I can try and give you a little information: As for him being comfortable, that can change drastically with any child, regardless of needs. There are many videos online that you can watch and see what you think, or show him so he knows what to expect. When you first get onboard it will be in open house so you can all go together, look around, have a mini tour and see what there is to do together and get a feel for it which would give you all the best idea of him liking it or not. What does he like or not like?
Counsellors are well aware of a variety of different issues (medical or otherwise) that children come into the space with, but things like autism can vary so much from child to child. And what worked for one kid last cruise might do the opposite for the next kid regardless of needs or not.
The issue with Edge is that there are only required for two counselors to be there are any one time, although there are usually more, so supervision of the tweens is different to the club.
Yes, all kids in Edge can come and go as much as they like, there is no sign in or out process and no immediate way of knowing who's there (no computer programme like the club) other than calling out.
As for the club, at 13 he would only be able to use it in open house which would only give you the same issues as Edge as regard to supervision, he can't register for it for secured programming (the system won't even bring him up so there is no way for him to get a band to get registered)
You can come and go from Edge or call as much as you like to check in, you can ask the counselors to work with you as much as possible e.g., encouraging him to stay until someone comes, however, they cannot force him to stay. Talk to the counsellors and managers once onboard and they can give you the most up to date and relevant information. Tell them everything about him. Dont keep anything back, they dont deny any children as long as they can come into the space by themselves. If you're travelling with others, would there be any other kids in Edge too?

 

[danicaw]

My DS is 14, high functioning Autistic and is about to go on his 5th DCL cruise.
His first was at 23 months.. before the diagnosis.
He has ALWAYS had a hard time with the clubs. He loves the ship and traveling in general. This will be our first cruise with him at Edge or Vibe (14 seem to be able to go to both?).
On previous trips he has gone to the clubs at least twice for a set amount of time (ie. while hubby and I are at Palo or in Rainforest Room) and he has always been waiting by the check out area when we come to get him. Counselors are kind and really try to get him to participate - we have always put a lot of information on his sign up sheet... everything about him.

We plan to take him to Edge and Vibe during the open houses on the first day. He can go with a cousin (all girls) to the Edge or Vibe... will have one in each, and I think I will ask the girls to send me a message if my DS shows up... or leaves, just for another set of eyes - for the non-open house times.
But if he goes will completely depend on what they are doing in the clubs each day... if they show a movie he likes, he might go, if they do a project he is interested in he might go. My current expectation is he will go when hubby or I take him to an open house.
On other cruises, he has become very invested in a series of events... and wanted to go ONLY for those... I think it was a mystery... "Get the Hook", he wanted to know how it ended, but wouldn't go early and asked them to call us if we were late picking him up. Being our first time with Edge/Vibe age kiddo, this will be new to me.

I can post our experiences when we get back, if you are interested.
For our kiddo, the more information he has to start the better he does... we watch a lot of ship tour videos on youtube etc. So he had some framework going in.
Good Luck. I hope your family trip is wonderful!