Opinions of the Special Needs Book on WDW?

[mumto2]

DD has mild cp. She wears out quickly and uses a special needs stroller (Maclaren - LOVE IT!!!). I knew about the Guest Assistance Card from the Disney website, and have used it on previous trips.

I picked up the Passporter at B&N and flipped through it and saw nothing else that really applied to us. In fact, I was suprised at how little info there was for parents of children. It really seemed to be more geared to the adult visitor with special needs.

I applaud the authors effort, but like so many aspects of all our lives, until you have walked a mile in our (individual) shoes... Lofty goal, but fell short of the mark, IMHO

As for the definition of special needs, while I don't take offense, I do have concerns that the general trend to use this term to cover more and more needs may begin to minimize the needs of everyone.

 

[tiggerUK]

thanks mike,

i'll have to pop into your site. sorry keto wasn't the magic bullet for you son that it was for ella.

 

[LindsayDunn228]

I'm almost 28 years old and am a paraplegic. If you call me special needs, you are going to see the biggest eyeroll in history.

 

[rhiannonwales]

I was also dissapointed in the book.I think i was most dissapointed by the fact that in an attempt to encompass many "special needs" they really didnt go into any detail about many of them at all.It was very surprising to me because I know that Deb Wills worked for many years with various groups of people with assorted needs.Its also frustrating as a regular passporter user, because the special needs version has no passpockets and no way to fit into a passporter, so now you end up with 2 books to lug around.I guess i just expected more - i expected comparisons on accessable rooms in the resorts, and i just felt that the whole booke was like reading disabilities for dummies or something.I am only glad that i bought the book at a discount for having a regular passporter.

 

[Haley Whippet]

Gotta say I was on the "review board" and thought for a general Disney book with some "special" info in was good.
It would be impossible to cover everything for everyone, But it had good general info..
Deb

 

[rhiannonwales]

Thats where i have to disagree with you Haley.If it had been markets as a general Disney book with some special info in it, i'd have no complaint.But it wasnt.It was marketed as a book with comprehensive info for people who need it.
Quote:
"Comprehensive information of Disney resort hotels to help you choose the best lodging and accessable rooms.Super detailed descriptions of every Disney ride and attraction with a special needs focus."
I find this to not be true.The resort guide is often limited to 1-2 pages of info that is a lot of reitieration of info in the original passporter.There are no measurements of the space between a bed and a table or wall.No description of the differences in "accessable" rooms.Most people dont realise that some wdw HA rooms have a tub instead of a roll in shower.Not all wdw accessable rooms are created equal. The attractions guide is limited to a bunch of letter codes next to a title sometimes there is a single sentance describing the reason, but not always.Sometimes they say it may be scary but not why.For my DS with sensory issues, if i can tell him WHAT to expect, its a lot easier to handle, imagine me telling him, " oh its just scary" In some cases the attraction info is MORE descriptive in the regular passporter.And therein lies the problem i guess.The design is intended so as to make you buy both books, and really you should be buying one or the other.
If they want to create a guide like this then imho, it needs to be all or nothing.

 

[BillSears]

If they want to create a guide like this then imho, it needs to be all or nothing.

I can agree with this one. If I'm going to buy a book I want photos of every ride car with advice on how to make transfers. I want photos of each hotels accessible room, the tub and roll in shower version with many views of the bathroom area since that's the area that can be harder to use in some hotels. I want measurements of hotel rooms showing just what I might have problems with. I want maps of each resort showing the location and types of accessible rooms. I want a list of where the tough hills are in each park with grade information. I want to get someting I can't find by making a phone call or doing a little research on the web.

From what I've heard this book really wouldn't offer me much information. It was a good try but it tries to cover too many disabilities and therefore doesn't cover any one of them as deep as we'd like.

 

[SueM in MN]

From what I've heard this book really wouldn't offer me much information. It was a good try but it tries to cover too many disabilities and therefore doesn't cover any one of them as deep as we'd like.

I don't know what sorts of changes they will make with future editions, but one of the biggest problems with trying to cover too many subjects is that none of them get covered well.
Also, the things the authors knew the most about (my guesses are 'People of Size' and Touring with an ECV) were covered with the most detail. There were some things that I know they didn't really understand what I was trying to tell them and why that was important information. One example is they were going to put in the number of handicapped rooms into the resort listing. I said that was not helpful information because (first of all) the numbers didn't sound correct given what I knew about ADA requirements (some were way higher than the ADA grid, some way lower). The second reason was that HA rooms come in many types - from just grab bars to roll in showers and that knowing someplace had 26 HA rooms didn't tell a reader anything about whether or not that room would be appropriate for them.

I think it's a very well meaning book, but tried to cover way too much.

The attractions guide is limited to a bunch of letter codes next to a title sometimes there is a single sentance describing the reason, but not always.Sometimes they say it may be scary but not why.For my DS with sensory issues, if i can tell him WHAT to expect, its a lot easier to handle, imagine me telling him, " oh its just scary"

Interestingly, when I reviewed the book I thought the format was just their 'rough format' and would be changed before publishing. I found all the letters to be difficult to use; especially when you have a person or persons with multiple needs in the same party.
Personally, I would have used a standard format to describe each attraction and not used the letters at all (if I ever get the time to do what I want with the disABILITIES FAQs thread, you will see it).

One of the problems with the ratings was the survey they used didn't allow any 'gray areas'. I think I filled out 4 or 5 individual surveys for different conditions and there was no place for "yes, but...." answers that I like to give. it was just a blanket rating for the entire attraction.
They took all that info and came up with a single 'Reader's Rating' for each attraction. Someone with a child with autism is going to rate attractions much differently than a thrill seeking paraplegic or an elderly person using an ECV. Even for my DD, some of the attractions that are the best from a tranfer status are not the best from a content status. And some of the hard transfers are attractions she really likes, so we put up with the hard transfer.
There was also a place on the survey to indicate it was your 'worst' attraction, but not why. The 'Worst' was all put together and you will see some attractions listed under the description as "Readers Worst" for U which I had to go back to the code in the front to see was autism. But, that tells me nothing about why people rated it as worst - was it noise levels, that it's a long show, all the activity, sitting to closee to people, the wait before the show.......
All I know is that it's 'worst' (although I know some DIS board readers who have said their children with ASD really like it).

A very hard task.

 

[SueM in MN]

I can agree with this one. If I'm going to buy a book I want photos of every ride car with advice on how to make transfers.

On our last trip, I tried to get pictures of a lot of ride cars, or have others in my group get pictures of me transferring DD.
I haven't sorted thru all of them yet, but ended up with a lot of pictures that showed my butt (and nothing useful).
Our next trip won't be until next April, so probably no pictures until then.
Measurements are harder.

 

[kaytieeldr]

BTW: My wife prefers Diet Coke to Diet Pepsi does anyone know if her special need is covered in the diet section of the book (haha).

Well, no, of course not - Disney only sells Coke products, so your wife's need isn't "special"

From what I have heard/seen the book is virtually useless for most guests who are trying to find a specific answer to a specific concern. There are no measurements of heights of beds,

Now, THAT'S information I could have used before my stay at OKW last year. I ended up having to move to an accessible room the next day because the only way I could get into bed was to sprawl across it and pull myself on. My next stay was at Pop, and the CMs thought my Travel Agent was silly asking about the bed heights - but it mattered to ME.

I picked up the Passporter at B&N and flipped through it and saw nothing else that really applied to us. In fact, I was suprised at how little info there was for parents of children. It really seemed to be more geared to the adult visitor with special needs.

Now, that surprises me. While I realize "special needs" really just means "needs [something] special", I'd have thought the book in question addressed autism in some detail - but it doesn't seem from what I've read here that this is so?

 

[bumpysheep]

My mom got this book when it came out. We have no use for it and it was a waste of money. These boards are better sources towards various special needs than that book. It's the only Disney guidebook we have that I don't obess with. Save your money for something better.

 

[LindsayDunn228]

I can agree with this one. If I'm going to buy a book I want photos of every ride car with advice on how to make transfers. I want photos of each hotels accessible room, the tub and roll in shower version with many views of the bathroom area since that's the area that can be harder to use in some hotels. I want measurements of hotel rooms showing just what I might have problems with. I want maps of each resort showing the location and types of accessible rooms. I want a list of where the tough hills are in each park with grade information. I want to get someting I can't find by making a phone call or doing a little research on the web.

From what I've heard this book really wouldn't offer me much information. It was a good try but it tries to cover too many disabilities and therefore doesn't cover any one of them as deep as we'd like.

Great post!

 

[PammyPoppins]

Broc was on the Keto for about 2 years and while it did help with the intesity of his seizures it didn't reduce the number. Broc was actually on the diet during our last trip to WDW.

Mike

I thought i was the only person who ran the ketogenic diet while in Disneyworld!! I had a hand mixer in my purse when I went through security, I know you know it was for the whipping cream!!!! My daughter had encephalitis and she has been left with intractable Epilepsy. She is not on the diet any longer. Have you tried Sabril form Canada?, my daughter was on that for about a year, it helped a bit.
Pam and KIm

 

[welovedis]

I bought the book and had it right after it came out, skimmed it and really didn't think it gave me any other info that what I already knew.

BUT, I have already been to WDW a number of times and been a member here where I learned pretty much all I know about SN kids @ WDW.

I passed the book along to another DISer (jennydep) earlier this year as they planned a MAW trip. Perhaps if she's done with it, she'd pass it along to someone else, even if they just wanted to review it and pass it along again. I'll PM her & see if that is something she'd consider.

 

[dclfun]

The spaces inbetween beds, heights of beds, location of transfer bars and outlets, whether you can do a right to left or left to right transfer in either the bathroom or onto the bed...those things are all crucial to me. One thing I now request is a room with the bed "facing" a certain way at the value resorts because I have to transfer from right to left, and the bed facing the wrong wall means I don't have enough space. What bothers me more than the issue with this book is that there is no one at DRC to speak with who knows the answer to these questions and then I have to deal with it when I'm at the resort, wasting hours at the front desk with castmembers who are frustrated with *me* because the room is not appropriate....sigh.---Kathy

 

[SueM in MN]

The spaces inbetween beds, heights of beds, location of transfer bars and outlets, whether you can do a right to left or left to right transfer in either the bathroom or onto the bed...those things are all crucial to me. One thing I now request is a room with the bed "facing" a certain way at the value resorts because I have to transfer from right to left, and the bed facing the wrong wall means I don't have enough space. What bothers me more than the issue with this book is that there is no one at DRC to speak with who knows the answer to these questions and then I have to deal with it when I'm at the resort, wasting hours at the front desk with castmembers who are frustrated with *me* because the room is not appropriate....sigh.---Kathy

I agree totally
The people who should have that information would be the Special Reservations CMs. i've said many times before that I don't understand why they don't have a database with that information availble.
In a book, I'd be afraid to count on what was written because WDW could change it without notice.
What would be nice to have in the book would be just a basic information about size of rooms, general layout, do the buildings all have elevators or just some, etc.