people visiting with disabled children...

[scampbunny]

hi all
now i know there are a few ppl who can help (ukstitch is one i hope)!

now, we are still going thru all the visits and appointments for my youngest, for possible autism/speach & language delay, and there is no sign of any forthcoming formal diagnosis (definately not before our visit).

we dont hugely need priorities, but it would be useful for very occassional use - as ds2 doesnt have any concept of danger, queueing, waiting, generally being still. we obviously make good use of emh to do most of the rides that they want to do, but we would also like to do btm, potc & pm, which i know will involve queueing and will nearly be impossible as ds2 will get stressed, and then tends to lash out around him - and as he gets bigger, its harder to restrain him. now is there any priority that we can get at all - as i know that there is this disabled pass - but what would we need to be accepted for this, as with no formal diagnosis, we dont get dla and hes not 'visably' disabled. i can of course speak to our paediatrician who is assessing him to see if we can get a letter, if that would be the sort of information required?? ds2 has good days and bad days, and he will be quite 'hyper' being in disney again!!!

pls no one suggest queuing and take him in a pushchair, as that is not an option - as he hates being restrained, and screams and kicks out and has been know to tip our pushchair back!! we use reins on him, as it gives him a bit of freedom, and keeps him a bit calmer (and us a lil less stressed!!!)

so - any suggestions as to if we could get any help, and how to go about it?? we dont want major priority as there are ppl alot worse off than ds2, but obviously we dont want to be completely stressed trying to restrain ds2 in a queue for, say, mickey, as he will make everyones lives miserable with screaming..... we also have a feeling this might be our last visit for a while, or til at least we have ds2 diagnosed and know what were dealing with, so we want to try and make it enjoyable - espec for ds1, who does miss out on alot as things have to be tailored to ds2.

thanks in advance...

 

[Samf1971]

Hi, this will be our first visit with our DS (3) he has a diagnosis of Autism and has no speech. I'm sure a letter from you paed is sufficient, the "guests with special needs" area of the disneyland Paris website states that you can provide a letter which I think has to be within the last 3 months.

We're taking our son's blue badge with us as this is also accepted. I think this allows you to use the exits for some rides, and I'm hoping a special area for the parade might be sectioned off so that we don't have to wait and wait as he won't be able to cope with this. We will be taking DS in a special needs buggy as he's ok in one of these as he has problems in walking as he just doesn't walk, goes a few yards then lays on the floor for eternity inspecting the dust

I know it's O/T but just in case you didn't already know, you are able to claim dla even without a diagnosis. Good luck with everything

 

[scampbunny]

sam - thanks for that - ds2 doesnt talk much at all - but we did for the 1st time last night get eeyore, tigger, piglet & roo (roo is his fav and easy to say lol). theyre not perfect words, but enuf for me to understand!!!

he walks fine, or shud i say runs..... as i say, has no concept of danger, so just runs where he wants, whether its a road or a huge line of ppl!!!

might try n speak with paed - she did go to his preschool last tuesd to assess him, so she might be able to write sumthin.... as for dla - have heard how hard it is to fill in the forms, let alone have any chance to get it, so i guess i am waiting to know for sure his probs before we apply (if we can) but know we wudnt get anythin for mobility as he walks/runs fine, wud just be if they think hes a danger.....

thanks again - am wafflin as usual!

 

[ukstitch]

Hello Scampbunny (and any others that this is of interest to).

Your best bet is to speak to your paediatrician for a letter, then present this at City Hall. If you make sure that you explain the situation to them, then you should be able to secure a black mickey stamp on your disabled access pass.

The standard card allows you to board most rides through the exit (with no or minimal queue), but only in the main Disneyland Park. The exceptions are as follows:

BTM - you go to the entrance, get a time (a bit like fastpass), then go to the exit at your alotted time.
Buzz - you enter through the fastpass exit.

If you are able to get hold of a black Mickey head stamp, then the card also becomes valid in the studios (again by going through the exit with minimal or no queue). The black Mickey head stamp also allows you to go through the exit of Buzz. The time restriction for BTM still applies though.

I don't know much about the character queues though I'm afraid. DB is happy to sit in a large special needs pushchair and the characters / minders in the scrums seem to help make space for us. As such, we tend to avoid the long character queues.

Generally speaking, Disney are very accomodating towards autism and similar disabilities, although you do have to be prepared to explain the situation more than would be required with a physical disability. In the summer, we even managed to persuade every buffet we ate in to not charge us for DB as he doesn't eat anything there anyway.

 

[lilo68]

Hi, we have taken ds2 to dlrp every year since he was 4, he is now 10. The first year we went we didn't know about the gac and it was a nightmare with the tantrums in the queues, after that trip with heard about the passes and they made life a lot easier in the main park. We still had problems in the studios but got by, but this year they introduced the mickey stamp and I have to admit it was a godsend in the summer. Yes people do stare, but I have now finally reached the stage where I don't care. We shouldn't have to explain our children's behaviour to strangers ( unless they get caught in the firing line of a tantrum of course). Ukstitch has covered everything to do with the passes I think. Not sure if he mentioned that there are 3 special roped off areas where you can watch the parade from, you just show them your pass, we usually watch the parades from mainstreet.

 

[Samf1971]

Nikki, I totally understand and agree with you on the DLA, the forms are a nightmare. Luckily we got the care component relatively straightforward even without a diagnosis so good luck for you when you fill the forms in, I found the help on the NAS website and also Cerebra were very helpful.

Thanks very much for the information UKStitch, I now understand what I have to ask for when we go - didn't know about the Mickey Stamp so that's very useful, did I read correctly that with Buzz, you go in the exit but are allocated a time slot like fastpass or did that just apply to BTM (which I think DS is a little young for still) I've asked for a ground floor room at the hotel (they only have 2 storey buildings I think at the Cheyenne) not really for his mobility needs, but he is a terrible sleeper and I'd hate to be in the room underneath us when he wakes at 3am and starts bouncing around the room!

Thank you also for that info about the parades lilo68, do you know if that's for both the fantillusion parade and the Once Upon .... parade. That will be a fantastic help as I'm certain DS won't wait - may also be helpful if the parade freaks him out we may be able to escape a little easier

 

[lilo68]

Sam, if the parades may freak him out I wouldn't reccomend the special needs areas as they are on the roundabouts 1 at the top of main street, 2 by the stage outside the castle the 3rd spot is down by small world. if you watch from spots 1 or 2 and ds freaks there is no way of getting out until the parade has passed. We prefer to sit by the parade gate near the kodak camera shop, it's fairly quiet and you can make a quick exit either out of the park or you can take ds into discovery arcade until the parade passes.

OT I'm attending a talk by cerebra on thursday.

 

[scampbunny]

thanks for all that!!!
good to hear disneys policy - i just hope that we can get the paed to write the letter for us!!

sam - ur at cheyenne nearly the same time as us - we go on 8th and leave late on 11th!!!!! am gonna phone them up in a couple of weeks to request our block - we had annie oakley and the room was fab - ground floor, and not too far from bus/car park & breakfast!!!!

we are also going to try the character queues in studios, as heard they are quieter (pls let that be so!!) so will go in one morning, and hope that we can get mickey, minnie, daisy & donald (all ds1 wants to see!!) with little queuing, and then ds1 & i will just do the scrums for the character express - as ds2 cant cope really with the pushing (then again, what little child can???)

both boys are tall, hence thinking of btm for ds2 (hes already 1m tall now - thats barefoot, so with shoes should get to height!!) and he loves scary things (apart from fireworks - seems to hate the lights rather than the bangs!?!?!?!)

love this board - such lovely ppl always ready to help............