Son with autism and cruise??'s

[connie254]

My son is 25 and has autism. It will be my husband, my son and myself on a cruise. I know they have activities for "normal" kids and he's too old for that stuff. Any experiences with autism on a Disney cruise? What kind of activities would he be able to tag along with us on? Just trying to have rough ideas. Also I get motion sickness easily. Other than Dramamine any other suggestions?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

My son is 25 and has autism. It will be my husband, my son and myself on a cruise. I know they have activities for "normal" kids and he's too old for that stuff. Any experiences with autism on a Disney cruise? What kind of activities would he be able to tag along with us on? Just trying to have rough ideas. Also I get motion sickness easily. Other than Dramamine any other suggestions?

As a 25 year old, he can go to any of the Adult, as well as Family, activities/locations. And, you all can go to the kid's clubs anytime there's an Open House.

I'd suggest you head over to the DISabilities board for further research. Most of it has to do with WDW, but there are some people there with DCL knowledge.

http://www.disboards.com/forums/disabilities.20/

For motion sickness, I'd suggest talking to your doctor. There are many remedies (from herbal to prescription) available.

 

[iivye]

There are a lot of family activities that include game show type activities, crafts and trivia (all ages are welcome). Some of the crafts we have done in the past include origami, drink coasters and ornaments. Family trivia I've done included Disney songs and general Disney knowledge. The kids clubs also have open houses where the three of you can attend and try out a few things. There is also shuffleboard, foosball, ping pong and mini golf. If you are on the Fantasy or Dream there is the Midship Detective Agency game which is an interactive game around the ship that you could do together. I think the three of you would find plenty of things to do. No one in my family gets motion sickness so I can't help you there.

 

[hanscarlet]

My daughter is on the spectrum and we have found DCL's special needs line to be really helpful: https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/guest-services/guests-with-disabilities/

Depending on your son's limitations will dictate what he can and cannot do. As a 25 year old he can do all of the activities you can do technically... but things like if he doesn't like loud noises - he may not enjoy the pirate show with the fireworks for example... does he like music? He may love the live broadway-like shows.... you can also have your serving team get him his favorite foods... we feed my daughter in the stateroom ahead of time because she's extremely picky and takes her time... and then when we get to dinner, the servers always know to start with the bowl or strawberries and then french fries... I found Disney to be very accomodating used to working with SN kids... have fun on your cruise!

 

[Momof2inCT]

I'd like to second all of the emails above; there are so many wonderful family activities that kids of all ages (up to 100+!) can engage in. Our daughter doesn't have autism, but she does have her own special needs (both physical and mental) so we were nervous at first, but now we pretty much just do Disney cruises for our vacation. I'd suggest bringing headphones for loud noises. There are quiet areas to go if you guys get overwhelmed. Your son is old enough to go to the coffee shop (Cove) and they used to have board games and stuff there you can borrow/play. We LOVE the family trivia events and the arts and crafts sessions.

 

[Momof2inCT]

Oh also - we have seen many adults with special needs in the splash zones as well.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Oh also - we have seen many adults with special needs in the splash zones as well.

Well, I'll just point out that the Splash Zones on the Dream class ships are for kids only. From the DCL website:
For Nemo's Reef: Good For Kids Exclusive, Preschoolers, Kids

 

[lanejudy]

What your son can participate in will be driven much by his interests and abilities.

• shows in the theater
• pool (and other water areas depending on which ship)
• mid-ship detective agency on some ships
• usually one of the lounges has board games available during the day
• movies in the theater or pool deck
• sports simulator
• spa and fitness center
• various workshops that might include topics such as towel folding, cooking, crafts, drawing, etc.
• bingo
• trivia
• tastings (usually involves alcohol)
• comedians, magic, various other artists/entertainment
• Open House at the kids clubs
• and probably others that I missed here

I'd recommend that you take a look at past Navigators to get an idea of what activities are offered for either All Ages or Adults. Here is a link: http://disneycruiselineblog.com/personal-navigators/

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[Quellman]

Well, I'll just point out that the Splash Zones on the Dream class ships are for kids only. From the DCL website:
For Nemo's Reef: Good For Kids Exclusive, Preschoolers, Kids

Nemo's Reef yes. but the Aqualab on the Fantasy is available for anyone potty trained, not in swim diapers. I haven't been on the Magic since the reimagination, but I suspect that the water features are also freely available to just about anyone, except for maybe the slide and the Nephew's Splash Zone. It can be more tricky since everything is mingled at the rear of the second funnel, where that is not the case on the Fantasy.

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

I'm a 21 year old with autism so I can help. I have cruised at ages 11, 14, 16, 17, 19, and almost 20. Everyone is correct, there are lots of things for adults (I, myself being one the last two cruises). If he can't do noises, I would recommend bringing ear plugs or if he has an iPod, he could bring it. Depending on how long your cruise is, there may be adult only time in the kids areas (I LOVED this). For the safety drill, BRING EAR PLUGS!! The alarm is very loud

 

[Steelers0854]

Also I get motion sickness easily. Other than Dramamine any other suggestions?

My wife would get sick riding in cars in any seat other than in the front seat, and you can forget about a small tender boat. She used to take a small dose of meclizine, which is very inexpensive at Costco, and she would be fine on any of the cruises we took. Modern ships have wonderful systems in place that make it very comfortable on board. She spoke with another passenger on a cruise 2 years ago about acupuncture. The other passenger had a treatment for motion sickness and no longer needed medicine for it. My wife gave it a try and after 1 treatment no longer needs medicine whether it be traveling in a car, plane or ship. YMMV.

Also, my wife tried the patches behind the ear on one cruise. After a day she started seeing double and started freaking out. Turns out that it's a possible, albeit rare, side effect of the patch. So just an FYI if you try it and it happens to you just take it off and she started feeling better shortly after. I know many people have success with them and it's great not to have to remember to take a pill.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

I HIGHLY recommend meclizine. We rode out a hurricane on DCL with high swells and did not even get sick at all. My other suggestion is to take it whether you think you need it or not because once you hit the high waves it's too late. It takes awhile for the meclizine to get into your system in that circumstance. Those that had the patch and all the other things like ginger etc did get sick. It is non drowsy and we have zero side effects. My suggestion is to buy it and try it at home first. If you don't have a Costco membership just go to Target and ask the pharmacist for "travel sickness pills". That's exactly what it says on the bottle. You can get 100 for about 5.00. The active ingredient is meclizine. The brand name Bonine is on the shelf and is MUCH more expensive and is the exact same thing.

 

[admepo]

Our son is an autistic teen and has cruised with Disney. He loves all things disney but did not like the clubs - too much noise. Knowing your son's limitations and what he may enjoy then checking out the Navigator's will help you plan events and be prepared for them. Our son has lots of issues with crowds and noise so his headphones and extra earplugs were a MUST to pack and keep with us at all times, especially for the muster drill. Muster drills can be found on YouTube to prepare your son if needed. There are many activities offered not to mention movies, pool time, games, sports deck and more to keep you all occupied together. Wishing you a great cruise together!

 

[hanscarlet]

Also our daughter has had trouble at muster drills, this past one was really horrendous because they had their loud alarm like noise buzzing through the first part (like a constant sound of a continuous fire drill noise)... I wished I had earphones at that point for her, I kept trying to cover her ears... later I discovered that they will do special muster drills for SN and medical needs folks where if you show up at the muster 15 min early, they will check you in and let the SN members and caring adults to exit the muster and return to the stateroom so long as you have a member of your party staying to view the muster instructions... we will be looking into this for our next cruise because we always get stuck on deck 4 in the uncomfortable packed like sardines, loud noises section (by luck/chance)

we used mezcaline/bonine and it saved us this time around... had to give the kids dramamine because I don't think mezcaline is ok for young children...

 

[m3owbox]

The sea bands you wear around your wrist helped me a lot last cruise. They don't make you tired and you can also drink with them because they're not a medication.

 

[bumbershoot]

For the safety drill, BRING EAR PLUGS!! The alarm is very loud

Yes. VERY very loud.

if you show up at the muster 15 min early, they will check you in and let the SN members and caring adults to exit the muster and return to the stateroom so long as you have a member of your party staying to view the muster instructions... we will be looking into this for our next cruise

As long as they aren't sending you back to your room before the alarm goes off. The alarm is loud everywhere you go. It is WORSE when you are inside the stateroom. You can't get away from it. It's absolutely positively horrifyingly loud inside a stateroom.

Guess what mistake we made on our first DCL cruise when we were all inside of one stateroom (9 of us, some visiting the other's room) with my autistic cousin. It was ghastly. So so so so loud.



Put the earplugs on well before the muster drill.

 

[hanscarlet]

Yes. VERY very loud.



As long as they aren't sending you back to your room before the alarm goes off. The alarm is loud everywhere you go. It is WORSE when you are inside the stateroom. You can't get away from it. It's absolutely positively horrifyingly loud inside a stateroom.

Guess what mistake we made on our first DCL cruise when we were all inside of one stateroom (9 of us, some visiting the other's room) with my autistic cousin. It was ghastly. So so so so loud.



Put the earplugs on well before the muster drill.

OK I was wondering if you could hear it inside the stateroom, I'm going to bring ear plugs then, thanks!

 

[SpaceSquirrel]

for motion sickness I strongly recommend bonine (one every night and if you think you need it you can take one in the afternoon too) and sea-bands. I get motion sick at 3D movies, in the backseat of a car etc and I'm fine on cruise ships as long as I have bonine and sea-bands.

I like bonine better than Dramamine because it doesn't make me sleepy, just start taking it a couple days before you board and continue for a couple days after you're back on land

 

[Mitura]

Our son is Autistic. He loves all of the movies in the Theaters. Going and seeing the movies 2 - 3 times for him is a perfect vacation.

As for sea sickness we love the wristbands. You can get them at Walmart really cheap. You can sleep with them, shower and swim with them. And they work perfectly.

Disney is great in their attention to your enjoyment and safety. Just ask around and they will bend over to make sure your have a great time.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[bumbershoot]

OK I was wondering if you could hear it inside the stateroom, I'm going to bring ear plugs then, thanks!

Absolutely. You have to hear it everywhere or, in case of emergency, it wouldn't wake you.