taking dgd with autism out of school to go to Disneyworld

[thumpersfriend]

Hi all, last time I took dgd to DW she was 4 years old. Planning a trip next April but want to get the regular rates instead of holiday rates, plus it is less crowded. Want to go the last of April. Is is wrong to take her out of school, she is in Kindergarten special ed right now and I expect she will be in a similar class next spring. She is doing great though! How do teachers feel about this and will it hurt her as far as schooling goes? Thanks everyone.

 

[pilgrimr]

My son is also in the special needs class for kindergarten. We took him out for a week in December and we are going to take him out for a week in May. His teacher has been very surportive about it. We always ask what work can we do at there to help him. Also, he has not missed a day of school other than to take him to WDW so we don't feel to bad. I would tell the teacher that you are taking your dgd and see how they feel about it.

 

[christymarie]

We're taking our boys out of school this month for WDW. We have told the teachers so they can make other arrangements for the boy's one on one aides. So far they have indicated that the boys are young enough, 6 and 8 that it's not a bit deal. We are even having my younger sons teachers make us some PECS for our trip so we can have specific ways for him to communicate to us.

Definitely keep open communication with teachers!

Christy

 

[thumpersfriend]

Thanks for your comments, that was what I wanted to hear!

 

[daisyduck123]

Hi!
1st grade public school teacher here

I say "take her out". A week of missed time in elementary school is not going to make or break ANYBODY.

I do it every year with my own DD14 & DS11 for about 5 or 6 school days. In 2006, I pulled them out for 11 school days because we went to WDW twice.

I even pull myself out.

 

[LMC]

I think spring break season goes thru the end of April so you might want to consider going the 1st week of May.

 

[MousekeMommy]

Mixed feelings here--
Public school teacher since 1995 . . . I have always accomodated those making vacations during the year. I agree that it won't make or break a student. And chances are, the students "on the bubble" usually aren't the ones taking a vacation . . .
But that being said, I have to fairly tell you that I have never/would never take my own children out for a vacation for something other than something with obvious "chance of a life-time" or school-experience correlation, such as Washington D.C. with planned visits to the capitol and Smithsonian, for example??? Too much of a "work ethic" principle for me, perhaps??? In our neck-of-the-woods, we have a 10 week summer break to accomodate vacations, a 1 week Christmas break, and a 1 week spring break. (And, yes, I do have a "touch and go" special needs child . . . everyday is a special, chance-of-a-lifetime, in some instances. We take life pretty much one day at a time . . .) But I do want to instill a responsibility/work ethic sense in my children regardless of our special needs.
But I certainly agree, if you decide to go, work it out with the child's teacher ahead of time for the best possible situation. Most (including me are very understanding and appreciative of a parent's decision based upon their individual circumstances.
Good luck in your decision!

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

I don't know how her school would feel about it, but my cousin took her son out in Dec 2008 for our trip and his teachers thought it was a great idea, it would give him some learning time outside of the classroom and he had a wonderful time. He was 6 then. I think it did him a world of good. When he is older it might not be so feasible, but now it is.

Suzanne

 

[Kim68]

I am the parent of a 6 year old with Asperger's Syndrome. He was in a public special ed pre-K last year and I took him out of school. They were fully supportive and even prepared social stories for him to deal with the airplane, rides, etc. He is a regular ed Kindergarten now. I am pulling him out again next month for our trip. He is so far ahead of the game academically (they wanted to put in right into first grade in October). But...it depends on the child. Some kids are able to have a break and go right back into the swing of things. Some kids thrive on schedules and structure that getting back into a routine may be difficult.

I am also a behavior therapist that works with kids with autism. When the kids that I work with don't have their therapy for a week or so, they generally do pretty well getting back to a schedule.

I don't know if that is at all helpful, but seeing as your grand-daughter (correct?) is still in Kindergarten and as you mentioned doing well, I would say go for it. If you do try to go, I would try to keep her to a schedule as much as possible. Maybe use some of the tools and strategies that are used in her classroom (ie. picture schedules, reinforcements, etc).

 

[bookwormde]

Most schools are supportive, however in most cases it will not be an “excused” absence so just keep track if your state has a maximum unexcused days to move to the next grade without summer school.

Well-informed clinicians and educators understand the exceptional clinical and therapeutic value of a well-planned trip to WDW and the significance of the non-academic progress that can occur, which is for most of our children is their primary need. They also understand that crowded times make this much more difficult and in some cases may make WDW just not practical.

I took my DS out of school for 4 days (combined with 2 teacher in service days) when he was in 1st grade to go to WDW, the benefits were well worth the missed time. We are actually going to miss 2 days at the end of the year (4th grade) (not much academic learning goes on these days anyway) because of the addition of snow days for a birthday/grand gathering WDW trip. With his familiarity with WDW and his general improved skills we are able to go in the summer now, which would have been difficult on the first trip.

bookwormde

 

[byejou]

Both ofo ur sons have some form of ASD, DS-7 has Aspbergers and DS-5 PDD-NOS. We have to take trip on off season where crowds are decreased. The parks themselves are overstimulating for both of them and with added crowds things get worse. The teachers are supportive and I actually have them prepare the weeks homework to be taken with us for our older child. We do the work on the plane or in our room when we take breaks from the parks.

Also, we have cruised with DCL multiple times and they are awesome with our children. They treat them very appropriately and we feel very comfortable leaving them in kids programs as long as they want. They kids get Disney and the parents get some free time alone.

We are doing a land & sea end of Sept. 09 and a 7 night Magical Cruise in Oct 10.

FYI, has anyone ever gotten passes for children with disabilities. We did it in 2005 but people were very ignorant toward us so we felt bad using it. I have to say we only used it for really long lines. If the rides had a 2-3 ride wait we stood in regular line. Has anyone had trouble with guest?

 

[toodycat]

I think WDW can lead to some wonderful strides for autistic kids. My own son always showed some progress after a trip to Disneyworld. I also think taking a first grader out of school is not the same as taking a high school junior out. However, even if her teacher is cooperative, it is possible that the school district might interpret this as your not being 100% committed to her special ed services. Where I teach, it could not qualify as a legal absence.I would want make sure that the district won't use it as an excuse to cut anything down the road. Just something to think about...

have a great time.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

I'm of mixed feelings about this. At that age there is probably not anything critical that he would be missing. However, as a teacher I hate it when my students miss for non critical reasons. One of the reading interventions I use requires the students to be there, they cannot make the work up at home. If they miss a week or more it will put them really behind. For my student with autism it would not be as big of a deal. It really depends on the curriculum and what types of interventions are being used.

You said that she is your granddaughter. Have you talked to her parents about this? They will have a better idea of whether or not it is okay for her to miss.

 

[ireland_nicole]

We now only take our kids out of school to go to Disney (if you ever have time, ask me about the gilligan's islandesque saga of Mommy's bad planning spring break trip, EEEEKKK the horror)

The kid's school is pretty supportive of vacations anyway, and the Neurologist wrote a letter for them explaining that WDW was therapeutic for them and that they required the accomodation of being able to visit during a lower crowd season. That being said, we worked with the school. District testing starts in January, and so we worked with them to determine the best time and agreed on early Sept. The crowds are low, the dinings free, they're not missing any new material, we're all happy campers

That's our plan for the next two years as well. As soon as we came back last year we asked for feedback, and they said they would prefer if we went a week earlier. No problem, we just modified our bounceback reservation. Now, once DD starts middle school... I have a feeling it will get a little more complicated, to say the least

 

[Mskanga]

I have a daughter who is in high school , she was diagnosed with cancer 1.5 years ago. Today I went to see one of her classmates who is dying from brain cancer and she is 16. Next time I plan a vacation I will pull my daughters out of school wether the school likes it or not. OP life is too short ,go and have a great time !!

 

[ireland_nicole]

I have a daughter who is in high school , she was diagnosed with cancer 1.5 years ago. Today I went to see one of her classmates who is dying from brain cancer and she is 16. Next time I plan a vacation I will pull my daughters out of school wether the school likes it or not. OP life is too short ,go and have a great time !!

 

[kmjmom]

Have a great trip!! Special Education teacher here who believes the gift of a trip to WDW should be celebrated. Like another poster, life is too short to worry about missing 1 week of school. I've just missed 3 weeks due to a surgery. I've had too many loved ones who were waiting to do special things "when they retired, had the money, had the time..." and of course...they never got to them. Enjoy a special trip and hopefully you'll encounter sensible teachers who can understand that school is not the only place where children learn.

 

[carrie6466]

We took DD 5 out of her Special Ed K class for 4 days in Nov/Dec. The teacher, principal and school nurse were all aware of it and had no problem with it. All any of them said was to make sure she had fun.

 

[sharadoc]

My ASD son has "community based instruction" as part of his IEP - learning how to go to restaurants, shopping, just basically handling being in public. Although our school district has no problem taking kids out of school, I made sure I said that the trip would be great for his CBI. He had to do a quick diary, but generally they didn't mind.

We're lucky - our district has a form to fill out and submit to the principal for information, NOT approval. They are permitted 10 school days per year for family trips. The only requirement is discussing it with the teacher at least 2 weeks ahead of time and either doing an assignment on the trip, or making up the work later. My DD had a great time doing her journal and she read it in class.

So many of DDs classmates have been going, that DD (2nd grade) sets up a "Disney World Information Booth" at her desk during indoor recess.

My DS did very well and was VERY communicative on the trip. He asks at least weekly to go back to Disney World. Hence our August trip!