Sensory Processing issues and captioning?

[dawnball]

My seven-year-old daughter has a sensory processing disorder. At home, we accommodate it without thinking about it (probably because I have a similar, but less severe issue). There's minimal background noise and distracting sounds and sights are stopped when conversation is going on.

It hadn't occurred to me until recently that it might be connected to why she refuses to watch shows at WDW. In the last week or so I've been trying to tease out what the issue is, and it seems to be two-fold. 1) She can't understand the words. 2) She gets pretty severe anticipation anxiety - she can't predict what might come next in the show, and that drives too much anxiety for her to cope with the usual sensory load.

Sitting closer to the front might help her understand the words, because the more clearly she can see the face of the person talking, the easier she finds it to make out the words. I think that in the bigger shows like FotLK, there isn't any "good" place to sit for that, though. And with animatronic actors, the mouths don't move accurately enough to help her. I know that WDW offers some kinds of assistive captioning. Is the quantity of devices significantly limited? Do they work well? Is the mismatch between the audio and the text severe? Are there other considerations that might make this a bad answer for her? Will we need a GAC to sit close to the front at any of the shows/attractions, or is just getting there early likely to be good enough?

I'm realizing (belatedly, of course) that a lot of her issues with WDW rides are anticipation anxiety and not being able to make out the words. Not knowing what's going to happen, and having so much to take in and sort out is overwhelming her. The new interactive queues may only make that worse. We leave in a few days, and I think I'll spend the time in the car on the way down doing over each attraction and strategizing ways to make it more manageable for her.

 

[bookwormde]

I am sure Sue will be along to give you the most accurate devices information.

If the nature of the lines inhibit her ability to have equal access due to generated anxiety a GAC for alternate waiting areas may help on some attractions.

For ride anxiety, utube videos can help a lot, as can repetition of other vidio souces if she does not get bored,

If you look at her Auditory processing evauation (not the hearing test) recomondations they should give some effective suggestions.

bookwormde

 

[SueM in MN]

I only have a few minutes before I get ready for work, but wanted to point you toward a couple of resources in the disABILITIES FAQs thread.
That thread is near the top of this board or you can follow the link in my signature.
Post #3 has a link to a great interactive video tour. It actually simulates a trip to WDW, including walking from attraction to attraction and a little discussion of each attraction you come to. At that point, there is a decision point for the video - you can choose to not go in, which continues the walk to the next attraction. Or you can go in, which takes you out to a video of the attraction. The cool thing is it shows the queue, so you can get an idea of all the sensory input in the line. Then it takes you to boarding and on the attraction. He does show most attractions - there are some he couldn't show. Many of them are thrill rides, but some others were also not able to be filmed. He does at least give a taste of each attraction.
Two things to be aware of - all the Toontown attractions are gone now and some queues have been changed. The 2 big ones to change were Winnie the Pooh and Hanted Mansion.

As for captioning, I'll post more later, but look in post 3 of the FAQs thread for services for the deaf. There are some links from WDW's website, but also further down in that post. My concern with s 7 yr old would be reading - is able to read fast and fluidly enough that she does not have to use all her energy on reading. If she can, it might be helpful, but captioning has the potential to just be more sensory 'noise'.
You can try her at home with closed captioning on your TV. All TVs are required to have it in the past 5-10 years. Just be aware that captioning varies in quality - even videos you buy where you think they would take the time to spell all the words correctly.

You can also find scripts for many attractions on the Internet and WDW at least used to have scripts available. That may or may not work better for your DD. The moving words on the captioning are too much for some people and you can't review the captioning ahead of time since it appears on the screen when the words are said. Also to be aware - some people reported that the words don't always appear at the right time or (even worse) the captioning script is different than the current attraction script.

I'll post more later about front of theater, but I will say now that people have posted variable results with a GAC for front row seating and some felt it was easier to just get there early and get a spot in the front.

 

[dawnball]

I've been vacillating about asking if she'd qualify for an alternate waiting area GAC. One one hand, it would let her access more rides before she's done for the day. On the other hand, waiting in as normal of a situation as she can tolerate is theoretically "good for her". It's hard to know how much to push her. On our last trip, where we waited in minimal lines for anything - she had reached her endurance levels by around noon on most days.

We have been watching youtube videos, but the rides that bother her most are the ones it's hardest to get good video on. They tend to be dark and chaotic or just have a lot going on. Pirates, Jungle Cruise, the Safari at AK, backlot tour, etc. We'll keep watching them, though, and if she choses not to go on them, and wants to ride BTMRR over and over and over again - she can do that.

She'll have earplugs or earmuff-style noise reduction, which helps, as well as an adult to properly direct her attention. The DS lite helps, but using it in the queues would be problematic and I worry that we'll lose it/drop it/get it wet. I'm looking for something on my smartphone that would be enthralling enough for her to retreat into it, and not so enthralling that she can't mind the line at the same time.

I'm still working through this with new technology solutions.

 

[KPeveler]

I found that rather than watching videos, listening to audio recording helped me process what was happening - I only have to process one thing at a time. Live365 has several disney stations. Two of them - NoLines Radio and DMagic radio have actual tours of the park. You go from ride to ride and listen to complete attractions. They even give background music, so you can get her used to that too.

I used to have problems understanding what was being said too, but i listened to this over and over and now I know all the lines for everything!

ETA: And I drive my family insane by singing along (whenever it will not bother other guests)

 

[bookwormde]

We started out with ous DS having the GAC when we had done enough "Line tollerance" opportunites, and it was very helpful just in the fact that he knew that if he could not handle the line he could still participate, removed a whole level of anxiety.

bookwormde

 

[dawnball]

Reading fluency won't be a problem for her, but the mismatch of text to audio might be. I think it's likely that she'd just drop the audio completely and focus on the text rather than getting befuddled, though. She's used to watching TV with captions on, because that's the only way I can watch TV. She was hoping for the text to give her advance notice, since one of her listed complaints was "I never know what's going to happen." The scripts would probably be very useful, and I'd missed them as an option on the hearing disabilities page. Thank you so much for pointing that out. Do they let you take/keep the script, or maybe take pictures of the pages with a phone camera? We'll be there for 17 nights, so reviewing them over and over would both satisfy some of her reading obsession and let her work through her anxiety.

We're traveling with her grandparents, cousin and aunt, so having a GAC would also let her have a little more security and comfort-margin if she goes off with someone other than me for a few attractions.

 

[SueM in MN]

Reading fluency won't be a problem for her, but the mismatch of text to audio might be. I think it's likely that she'd just drop the audio completely and focus on the text rather than getting befuddled, though. She's used to watching TV with captions on, because that's the only way I can watch TV. She was hoping for the text to give her advance notice, since one of her listed complaints was "I never know what's going to happen." The scripts would probably be very useful, and I'd missed them as an option on the hearing disabilities page. Thank you so much for pointing that out. Do they let you take/keep the script, or maybe take pictures of the pages with a phone camera? We'll be there for 17 nights, so reviewing them over and over would both satisfy some of her reading obsession and let her work through her anxiety.

We're traveling with her grandparents, cousin and aunt, so having a GAC would also let her have a little more security and comfort-margin if she goes off with someone other than me for a few attractions.

they call them something strange on the page, like 'written aids' and it says to ask at each attraction. The information is kind of mixed in with saying CMs at each attraction have papers and pen.
I would suggest asking at Guest Relations.

I know I have seen scripts on line, but when I did a search just now to try to find the website where I had seen them, all I came up with was broken links.
If you know certain attractions that are likely to be problematic, you might be able to find a script for it by googling the name of that attraction plus script.

That's a good suggestion from KPeveler about the audio recordings though - had not thought about that. if you can't find one there or are not sure it's the current one, you could find the attraction on YouTube and just have her listen rather than watch.

 

[dawnball]

We tried the written aids on Jungle Cruise. Unfortunately, we had a -very- good skipper, and the text was nothing like the spiel. It's a 1.5" 3-ring binder, so was also somewhat cumbersome to use.

At Finding Nemo, we tried the reflective captioning, but she found that it was fine if people's heads were behind the text, but not if she could see any of the stage through the captioning device. If we'd realized, we could have arranged things differently. Nemo was generally too much for her, and that could have played a part as well.

I might try one of the amplification devices the next time we're in a park, to see if it blocks out enough extraneous noise that she can focus on just the relevant signal.

Andoid games seem to be a really big hit for giving her enough to focus on that she can block out the world in lines and crowded places, though. Ideally very simple games like "Abduction" and "Milky Milky", so that performance frustration isn't an issue.

 

[SueM in MN]

We tried the written aids on Jungle Cruise. Unfortunately, we had a -very- good skipper, and the text was nothing like the spiel. It's a 1.5" 3-ring binder, so was also somewhat cumbersome to use.

At Finding Nemo, we tried the reflective captioning, but she found that it was fine if people's heads were behind the text, but not if she could see any of the stage through the captioning device. If we'd realized, we could have arranged things differently. Nemo was generally too much for her, and that could have played a part as well.

I might try one of the amplification devices the next time we're in a park, to see if it blocks out enough extraneous noise that she can focus on just the relevant signal.

Andoid games seem to be a really big hit for giving her enough to focus on that she can block out the world in lines and crowded places, though. Ideally very simple games like "Abduction" and "Milky Milky", so that performance frustration isn't an issue.

Thanks for the report.
The script for the Jungle Cruise has been slightly different each time we've ridden -and we have been on many, many times in the past.
I think the script for that is like the Pirates Code " more like suggestions".

 

[Singledad]

I'm realizing (belatedly, of course) that a lot of her issues with WDW rides are anticipation anxiety and not being able to make out the words. Not knowing what's going to happen, and having so much to take in and sort out is overwhelming her. The new interactive queues may only make that worse. We leave in a few days, and I think I'll spend the time in the car on the way down doing over each attraction and strategizing ways to make it more manageable for her.

grats on nearly being there time wise!

My DD also needs to know what is going to happen. So, we talk and talk and talk and talk every single day about what is going to happen while we are at disney, what the rides are like, how nothing can touch her on the rides and in the shows, how Mickey mouse wouldn't let her get hurt, etc. This has helped ease some of that worry. She even told me what exactly it was that scared her last year at the buzz ride in MK, and we came up with a way for her to ride without seeing that part. (She also has SPD, but she is a seeker more than avoider. she has some avoidance things though too.)

Although we have a hard time finding good video, we do watch every last one we can find, and I talk to her about what else she could be seeing. I guess it helps that I have gone before and already have a good idea of what she could see. We also talk about what she would like to try, and what she doesn't want to try. She said she didn't want to try a lot of the rides just a month ago, but after starting to add into our daily talks (as we drive here and there, or as we get ready for school, not sit down talks, but snippets) how nothing on the rides or in the shows could hurt her. She might feel water from some of the shows, but not enough to hurt... she might feel bubbles, but those don't hurt... nothing will reach out and touch her. Once she got that concept she has been open to even trying a new dark ride this year.. (she said space mountain. which would be awesome, but *I* am scared she would be scared.)