Meeting characters with a child with additional needs?

[bigdreams]

Just wondered what other families do with children with additional needs when meeting the Disney characters regarding awkward character interactions?

Our son has GDD with autistic traits and sensory processing issues. Next year will be his 3rd trip to Disney. When we first took him he was 3 and mainly non verbal, but as he was little I found they didn't expect him to talk back, our best character interaction was with Rapunzel who sat for ages with him while he just cuddled up to her and smiled. We went back at the beginning of this year when he turned 5 and it took him a little while to settle in with the characters, he loves seeing them and cuddling them but is better with fur characters as all the interaction is non verbal. I found with face characters this time round that they asked him a lot more questions and he either couldn't respond or couldn't respond appropriately. For him I think there is so much going on with the surroundings, the different textures of their costumes etc that being asked a lot of questions he cant take it all in as quickly as other children.

When we go next year he will be 6 and a half and im just worried that with him being older the "expectatations" as such will be higher from other people and I don't want the interactions to be awkward for him or the CM's. Should I tell the CM who is with the character that he had additional needs or not, is there a code word they can use with the characters? I don't always like telling people who don't know him as I don't like people making assumptions about my child.

What would you do? or what do you do when you go?

 

[lanejudy]

Characters interact with children and adults at all levels. I have found that the characters are generally very good at "reading" a situation and adjusting the interaction to the guest's level. If you felt they had unnecessarily higher expectations of him interacting verbally and they weren't recognizing his communication style, I might speak up at the beginning of our turn saying something like "look Timmy it's your turn now, see how pretty the princess looks today? Give her a hug and don't forget your autograph book!" or some other relatively innoculous statements that will make it apparent he doesn't respond verbally. If you wish to share more information, you can speak with the handler who will relay the message, but I really have never found it necessary to do so.

Enjoy your vacation!

 

[redberyl]

Rapunzel was our best character too. My daughter wanted to dance with her, and she did the whole elaborate dance from the movie, twice! Best moment of the trip

 

[nikkislaght]

my son is 10 ASD and SPD. He is verbal, but very selective... he will talk to one or two of the characters.. but on the whole he doesnt chat much.. he will give them his book.. get his photo ,, they do tend to pick up on the non verbal cues,, no eye contact.. limited physical contact.. I have to remind him to say thank you.. and he will give a high 5 and be done... they are trained to respect the child's cues.. and not force anything... you are more than likely to get the pushy parents wanting the interaction... you can have a little card made up, and hand it to the handler while waiting.. it can be something as simple as My son has ASD and is no verbal. they will then assist the character how to interact with your child..

Hope you all have a great time.

 

[bigdreams]

Thankyou for your replies. I think I might make up a card nearer the time, just incase, might make me feel less worried too even if we don't use it.

We have overall found all the characters to be good and go with it, for some reason it always seems to be cinderella that is the most akward interaction on both parts. I think I'm just worrying too much about other people, I know I shouldnt, but with him being older in a big park in the hot august weather I just wonder how tolerant people will be.

 

[ashley0139]

Not the same situation, but I was at DLR the other day with a 4 year old who was terrified of Captain Hook, but the group wanted to meet Peter Pan, who he was with. As we got up to them, I told Captain Hook that we had a child who was very scared of him, and he walked away a little bit and tried to "hide" himself. I'm sure he would have picked up on it, but communication is also helpful to let them know what is going on.

 

[CoriM48]

My sister was a "friend" of a princess for a few years and she said that she found it most helpful if the adult either whispered in her ear or introduced the child in some way that clued her in. She said something like "This is George and instead of words he'd like to give you a cuddle to say hello" or "This is Fred, and he's a man of few words but is very excited to give you a high five!" She said that even if she wasn't cued in, they are trained to be able to go into rhetorical talk if it seems like the child isn't going to respond with words.

 

[SmallWorld71]

My sister was a "friend" of a princess for a few years and she said that she found it most helpful if the adult either whispered in her ear or introduced the child in some way that clued her in. She said something like "This is George and instead of words he'd like to give you a cuddle to say hello" or "This is Fred, and he's a man of few words but is very excited to give you a high five!" She said that even if she wasn't cued in, they are trained to be able to go into rhetorical talk if it seems like the child isn't going to respond with words.

I used to do something like this with DS16 as he was painfully shy when he was young. Our best interaction when he was young was with Snow White when he was about 7. She recognized his shyness right away and said he reminded her of one of her best friends - Bashful, of course! - and made him an honorary dwarf without him ever having to say anything. He was so proud!

 

[kandb]

I think you are overthinking it a bit. So what, if they ask him a question and he doesn't answer it. I am sure the characters have met many, many types of kids and if he feels awkward or doesn't answer them, they will just say sweet things to him and pose for pictures. It's not like he will be with them for an extended amount of time. My son always felt awkward with the characters, I don't think he every really spoke with them, unlike my daughter who liked talking to them. Try not to worry, it will all be fine.

 

[thumpie's mom]

My daughter adores the Disney characters, but there are a few she is still scared of. Disney character's tend to be pretty good with guests with disabilities and have always responded when I have indicated she is afraid. They do tend to pick up cues quickly. As one cast member told me, they want the experience to be fun, not scary or awkward. Have a wonderful trip!

 

[Baklava]

We simply told face characters or the handler for fur characters that our daughter was "non-verbal" and they all went from there.

When she was an infant and was terrified of the fur characters we actually had a wonderful character meal at the DLH where Pluto would wander back by every 10 minutes or so and wave from a distance or do a little dance... something to interact with her without her freaking. Poor Pluto. He tried so hard. :rofl:

 

[kerry1379]

We visited Disney World back in 2012. I was truly impressed with the character interactions-particularly Mickey. One of my kids was 8 and nonverbal with several disabilities, and my other child was 4 and rather shy. I introduced my kids to Mickey and said "this one is non verbal and this one is a little shy." Mickey was amazing. He followed both of my kid's lead. He was super gentle and took his time with my 8 year old. And when my 4 year old was hiding behind me, he got on his hands and knees and played hide and go seek. It was the perfect way to fit my kids personalities and they loved it. Now I don't expect the characters to be mind readers and get it right everytime-but when they do-it is magical. So I agree with the others and just let them know a little bit so they can do their best.

If you are afraid your child would be embarressed by you saying something, perhaps write it on a little card you could show them discreetly? Then again, I don't know how well the characters with face masks can see.

 

[tinkerpea]

I can say from experience of being a " face friend" that the characters are very good at reading situations, which is why rapunzel Would have been happy to Sit with your child and just cuddle,
We always wait to see just how the child walks up to us,as to how we proceed with the interaction. Even children of completely typical behaviour can act stressed out or shy at first.

You can by all means tell a Cm, handler before your child goes up, nobody else in line will know what you said. And its never made obvious to the character, infact we have code words and hand gestures that are incredibly subtle, and let us know exactly how we should approach.
If the child seems to do well with what we're doing, we will try and interact even more.
Since children are known for doing out of the norm behaviour when in these
situations.