Non-Verbal Child and Character M&Gs

[Angel Ariel]

I posted this on the disABILITIES board as well, but I wanted to post it here because I thought maybe there were some "friends" of characters..or friends of friends..that may have some thoughts / insight. I hope that's OK, mods!

I know characters are really great with non-verbal communication (they were wonderful with DD last year!), but DD is starting to show interest in initiating communication which is a big step for her. I usually do communicate for her in daily life as needed, and can certainly do that at Disney too, but she's wanting more independence overall and I want to help her with that. She really enjoyed trick or treating last night, and her SLP and I think that Disney could be even more reinforcing for her in terms of initiating communication with the characters.

We're definitely not going to "work" hard on vacation..we all need the break! But I thought this might be something simple and enjoyable for her.

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My daughter, age 4, has Childhood Apraxia of Speech and is still pretty much non-verbal...she has some approximations, but is not intelligible to the general public. She does not yet have an AAC device (her preschool is in the process of getting her an iPad w/Proloquo2Go that she can take back and forth from school), and she does not fully understand the PECS cards/system. Our trip is also in a little over a week, and her SLP agrees that that isn't enough time for her to learn how to use something like that (we've been working on it for a while, and it's slow going).

Last night we used a simple PECS card for Trick or Treat, and that worked out very well - we handed one to each person who answered the door. It was very reinforcing for her, and it helped the adults understand that they couldn't ask her to say trick or treat. Leading up to Halloween, I saw quite a few suggestions in various FB groups of using cards like these:

(inserting Apraxia in place of Autism, etc)

Anyway, it led me to think that maybe I could design a card like the one pictured that we could show characters when we go up for meet and greets (handing it directly to the face characters, and maybe handing to the handler for the fur characters?) We have a character breakfast at the Plaza...not sure how that would work there since there aren't usually handlers nearby (at least there weren't last year) - would the fur characters be able to read them?

I'm having trouble coming up with wording for Disney though...I don't necessarily want it to be awareness driven (like the "for more information" part)..I want it to be something to help initiate interaction with the character (beyond just a hi, picture, autograph and leave as much as possible) while also telling the character she won't be able to talk back.

If anyone has any suggestions or examples, they would be greatly appreciated!

 

[5forMickey]

Good for her for wanting her independence (I know, hard for Mother). IDK cause I'm not really familiar with her issue, but If I were the character and unaware that she had a little issue I would like to see something a little descriptive so I understood or was alerted to communicate different with her..... How about "Hi I'm ....... and I really love Disney Characters"? Hopefully from there they would take the cue and engage with her.

On our last trip my I emailed Disney about my Father's oxygen tank (it kind of looks like a bomb) because I was worried he would get stopped and they would question him every morning, obviously he is sensitive to his disability and I didn't want anymore attention to it than needed. They asked me to send a picture, said they would make their CM's aware and we never had an issue.

 

[Malcon10t]

One thing to note, some of the characters would have issues reading the card. Perhaps for these, you could have her hand it to the character handler.

 

[Angel Ariel]

One thing to note, some of the characters would have issues reading the card. Perhaps for these, you could have her hand it to the character handler.

Yes, I was thinking that the non-face characters would have that problem....there can't be a whole lot of visibility in some of those costumes (especially the ones where they have to balance the autograph books on their noses!). We'll definitely keep that in mind.

 

[MomofSandT]

I think you'll find that the card isn't even necessary. The people that play the characters are so intuitive (either naturally or through intensive training) that they figure it out super quickly. My son is non-verbal due to a rare genetic disorder, and we went to WDW 4 years ago. He didn't want to use his talker with the characters (he also uses Proloquo2Go), but when he saw the characters, he just wanted to hug them. It wasn't even a thing. Have fun!

 

[VandVsmama]

I think that you should just say something directly to the character and his/her 'handler' (if the character is not a face character like Peter Pan or a princess).

 

[Angel Ariel]

I think you'll find that the card isn't even necessary. The people that play the characters are so intuitive (either naturally or through intensive training) that they figure it out super quickly. My son is non-verbal due to a rare genetic disorder, and we went to WDW 4 years ago. He didn't want to use his talker with the characters (he also uses Proloquo2Go), but when he saw the characters, he just wanted to hug them. It wasn't even a thing. Have fun!

I'm not looking at the card for necessity's sake. We were there last year with her, and I know the characters will be fantastic with her! I thought about it just because she is just now starting to show interest in initiating communication, and I thought that Disney would be a very motivating opportunity to encourage that interest, as she loves so many of the characters

 

[Malcon10t]

I think the cards would be a great ice breaker so she can initiate contact herself You can always tell her that the handler takes the card and shows it to Mickey/Pluto/etc....

 

[Angel Ariel]

Thank you, everyone! I came up with something last night, and I think it'll work out well. If not, well then we don't have to use them DD's Speech therapist suggested adding her favorites, to give the face characters something to ask her about if they'd like to. Of course we'll have to help with communication beyond the initial contact, but I think this is a good step for her I appreciate the support!

 

[Luv Bunnies]

Character interactions can tend to be a bit overwhelming at first, especially for kids who don't have the words to express their feelings. Even with a lot of preparation beforehand, kids can clam up when they're face-to-face with the characters. Do you think your DD would be willing to hand the card to the character, or is she likely to need encouragement to get close enough? If the card is going to add an extra step that might induce stress, then I would rethink it.

My older son who has autism was never interested in interacting with the characters, while his younger brother loved them. When they approached our table at a character meal, I would quickly say, "This guy is a little shy." The characters would just wave to him and then turn their attention to my younger son. It was easy and kept my son's anxiety in check.

I think for your DD's situation, I would just say, "She is still learning how to talk but she's been looking forward to meeting you." Then let DD interact and communicate in her own way. The face characters might ask her simple yes/no questions that she can answer verbally or with gestures. The masked characters will probably just hug her and act silly. It's great that she's learning to manage her own social interactions, but I also think it's fine for mom to initiate them at this point.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Character interactions can tend to be a bit overwhelming at first, especially for kids who don't have the words to express their feelings. Even with a lot of preparation beforehand, kids can clam up when they're face-to-face with the characters. Do you think your DD would be willing to hand the card to the character, or is she likely to need encouragement to get close enough? If the card is going to add an extra step that might induce stress, then I would rethink it.

Based on Halloween where she was also handing cards to strangers, and she was totally comfortable, I think she'll be fine handing them to the face characters. We aren't going to use them with the fur characters. If she seems stressed, we won't push her obviously, but DD (even when she is shy) isn't usually stressed at all. She very clearly vocalizes (with sounds) her stress, so we'll of course never push her to do it if it is stressing her. I'd rather have thought of this, made it and brought it with us and not end up using it, then not have it at all and wish we did