One thing that can help is for the parents to contact the child's school program (if there is one) and see what they do there. I would hope that they would be working on teaching skills for waiting. Social stories, watching
YouTube videos, practicing by increasing wait time before reward, etc - there are so many ways to help someone learn to wait.
I agree. When we started going to Disney World and use the GAC, we could not have made a full day without it. Being able to use the fast pass lines made a trip entirely possible. We worked on line waiting as a life skill for my son for years. It's not an overnight learning process, it takes a long time. I purposely pick the longest line at the grocery store or department stores. Even if I didn't think he understood what I was saying, I would always count for him, five more people then our turn, four more people, etc. We would bring his iPod touch with just a few of his favorite apps on it. We also put a few of his favorite little music Videos and he had access to YouTube. My husband also took him to local amusement parks and the local waterpark each summer. They would wait on lines a little bit longer each time. My son has learned now that if there something desirable at the end you have to wait on the line. He does still get a little antsy and a little frustrated, but we are able to talk him through it. I think we've hit the point where my husband and I get more frustrated and annoyed at being in line than he does. I know plenty of other families with children with special needs, and I have seen this skill develop in many children. Like I said it is a long process, and it's a lot of work and involves a lot of meltdowns and can be frustrating. You just have to be willing to put in the time and effort, and the benefits at the end are so worthwhile. Our lives everywhere we go are so much easier now On our last two trips to Disney World, we got the
DAS, and didn't even need to use it. Just being able to have a fast pass plus, and using the app to see wait times and using a little planning has made all the difference in the world. We do still get a DAS just in case, but it's not necessary now. The first time we left Disney World with a blank DAS was our December trip, and it felt like such an accomplishment. I hated turning it in when we went in May to get another one, but we scanned it front and back to save it. We really wanted to keep it has a trophy. We are going again at the end of this month, and will get a DAS this time just to see how he does. It is a longer trip than we usually take and the crowds should be a little higher than usual. If we don't use it this time, it will be the last time we get it done. This is something we been hoping for since 2007 had our first trip. Our goal was always to be able to enjoy
Disneyland or Disney World like a typical family,. Thanks to the GAC and the DAS over the past years that is been entirely possible. We are hoping from now on it'll be entirely possible because of my son's development and the efforts we put in.
I also wanted to add that we always had a "use it don't abuse it" attitude with the GAC or the DAS. Especially the GAC. If my son wanted to repeat lot a ride, he had to wait. So if we went on Space Mountain and the standby mine was 60 minutes, we would go do something else and then come back 60 minutes later. That way everyone who was in the standby line since our first ride has gotten on and then we would use the GAC again. We felt that was only fair and right, and that's basically the way that DAD works now
Thanks!!
