Taking My DD w/ASD Out of School For Disney Trip?

[Disneylvr]

My husband is against it but I am tired of being restricted to going to WDW during spring break, long holiday weekends or the hot summer months. I want to go when it is less crowded and less hot, say late April/early May or early November. But this means taking our DD out of school for a week. DH is against it because not only will she miss school days but she also misses the services she gets in her IEP (ABA, MT, OT, PT, Speech...) In my opinion, a Disney trip is some much needed therapy for the entire family! Do all of you take your children out of school for Disney trips? I need input for when to plan next year's trip!

 

[clanmcculloch]

I have, but DD13 is academically VERY strong and can handle that part of it. She actually qualified for our district's equivalent of a gifted program but as a team we decided she didn't need the added academic pressure when she's already dealing with difficulty just being in a classroom and all the social, sensory and obsessive compulsive issues she's dealing with at school. My point wasn't to brag but to demonstrate that she really can handle the academic aspect of missing some school. Getting away from the school environment which is stressful for her does her good so missing the therapies for the week in no way hurt her. She's also the kind of kid who an learn from doing the worksheets. She doesn't need somebody explaining work to her and can catch up with only a bit of guidance from me on new material. She's very much a visual learner and kind of tunes out oral instruction so classroom instruction isn't really sinking in anyway. It's actually in her IEP that all assignments must be given in writing because if it's not written down somewhere she just doesn't know it's happened. Classroom instruction isn't that important for her.

DD10 on the other hand struggles more academically. We took them out of school for 3 days before a school vacation in February and I'm not sure we can have her miss school any longer. She also deals with some social, sensory and obsessive compulsive issues (beginning the process of having her evaluated right now for NVLD) but because of the nature of her academic difficulties I think it's much harder for her to catch up and miss the actual classroom instruction. I know DH and I are going to have words over this in the future because he doesn't see the problem with her missing some school but he's also not the one who has to help her catch up when she misses a few days (I've banned him from helping them with homework; long story but the short version is I end up having to unteach then what he teaches and then start at the beginning teaching the material) so he doesn't see the struggles. She needs the oral explainations as she has visual processing difficulties. She can not absorb material that's presented only in written form. When she reads, she reads out loud so that she can hear the story and therefore process what's in writing. Classroom instruction is very important for her.

I think you really need to know your child's strengths and weaknesses and take an honest look at what happens when your child misses a few days due to illness. Determine just how much of a struggle there is to catch up when this happens and then realize that for each additional day of missed school the struggles compound because the material all builds on the previous day so it's that much harder to just step back into the classroom because the child is that much more behind. Some kids (like my DD13) can handle this no problem. Some kids (like my DD10) simply can't.

 

[Disneylvr]

Thanks for the advice. We are also worried because next year DD will be going to a brand new school as she ages out of her current one. At this time we don't know how well she is going to adjust etc... DD is way behind her typical peers academically and is in a cross categorical class now and she will be at her new school. She is currently 8 years old. As it stands, the school year 2011/2012 will end on May 24th. We could go down to WDW Memorial Day week which we have done before. It is hot and crowded but not as crowded as spring break weeks which we did in 2009 and 2010 thanks to the 4/3 offer. We have lots of time to plan, but I am one that likes to think ahead.

 

[Diegosmom]

Does your school take any other weird breaks? I know some schools take a few days in Nov. and also a lot of schools have random teacher work days. You could plan your trip around these days so she missed less school.

 

[clanmcculloch]

I know this isn't what you want to hear, but I agree with your DH. There will simply be too much new stuff to get adjusted to (building, all the various staff, schedule, etc) so disrupting her school year will be rough on her. In addition, she's already behind academically and she's in a lot of therapies. It doesn't sound like taking her out this upcoming school year would be a good thing for her.

Once she's used to the school and you can see what kind of growth she experiences and what her struggles are I think you'll be in a better position to make a clearer decision, but with what you know now, I really wouldn't recommend pulling her out of school next year.

You live in MO. If you can handle the summers there then you can handle May in FL. I lived in MO (Kansas City) for 7 years and those summers were IMO oppressively hot (I'm a northerner so my definition of hot may differ from yours). Summers are hotter in FL than summers in MO but May in FL is cooler than summers in MO. Go for May. By the end of the school year, she will likely need that break and celebration of all she's achieved in the school year.

 

[minkydog]

I know this isn't what you want to hear, but I agree with your DH. There will simply be too much new stuff to get adjusted to (building, all the various staff, schedule, etc) so disrupting her school year will be rough on her. In addition, she's already behind academically and she's in a lot of therapies. It doesn't sound like taking her out this upcoming school year would be a good thing for her.

Once she's used to the school and you can see what kind of growth she experiences and what her struggles are I think you'll be in a better position to make a clearer decision, but with what you know now, I really wouldn't recommend pulling her out of school next year.

I agree with this. There is going to be a LOT going on in her life next year, a lot of adjustments she's going to have to make. I think I'd take a pass on Disney during the school year in your DDs case. I have a child with severe ADHD and LDs--there was no way we could have taken him out of school for a vacation during the school year. Too must time lost. I like the idea of going in late May. We did that one year and yeah, it was hot. But you know what? Anywhere in FL is hot in May. Drink plenty of water, wear sunscreen, and take swim breaks during the day. You'll be all right.

 

[Disneylvr]

Does your school take any other weird breaks? I know some schools take a few days in Nov. and also a lot of schools have random teacher work days. You could plan your trip around these days so she missed less school.

She gets Weds-Fri off Thanksgiving week (we don't want to go then), winter break which starts on December 22 and ends January 3 (again, not the best time to visit WDW), Friday and Monday off MLK weekend and Friday/Monday off Presidents Day weekend. There are several random Fridays off throughout the year for Professional Development Day. And that is it.

The more I think about it, I realize that DH and the rest of you are right. And maybe by some miracle they will offer the 4/3 deal again next year and we can go during spring break. Doubtful, but I can hope. The weather is just perfect in March. Otherwise we will look toward May 2012. Thanks everyone!

 

[SashaFarce]

If I had a child who could handle it academically, I would do it in a heartbeat. For me as a person with special needs and with an autistic/bipolar younger sibling the downtime from the pressures of school, work, etc are valuable and not having as much of a crowd is even more beneficial.

 

[sharadoc]

My ASD son's IEP includes community based instruction once a week. For him, the experience of going to Disney was far, far greater than an OT, PT or Speech appointment. He experienced so many new things and got to practice skills in the real world. He sat in a restaurant, ordered a meal, greeted new people, answered their questions, shook hands.

I was so astounded at how many of the Disney CMs recognized DS's disability and treated him accordingly. Even to the point of the "good job" acknowledgement when he did something positive with them. Even the suit characters would try to interact in ways that I could perceive they knew what they were doing.

Any of you with an ASD child would appreciate this major event - he even was willing to go to the potty at a state rest area!

Everything about a Disney trip is positive for us. Of course, it wasn't perfect and we still had one or two meltdowns per trip, but we dealt with it.

DS will be 16 so it may be why we're more willing to do it. I don't know how long your DD has been in therapy, so it could be more of an issue for you. For us, Disney is the best therapy there is.

 

[sweetdana]

I think you will get votes both directions.. I lie in the middle.

I think a whole week is a lot. ... and I think adding on 2-3 days before or after Memorial Day, or a few days before spring break is very do able. I think the age, the child, the school, the material being taught all could change my answer too. If she was already slow/behind I wouldn't think about it.

Aug got back day before school. she didnt miss any.
dec 2011 I took DD6 on 12-16 missed 1 day of school, flew out on thur night and missed fri.
leaving Wed night dd6 will miss thur and fri from school, and school is off mon.


I do agree my child learn as much if not more while at DW. AND 2 days is the same as a cold.

If you decide to do it, don't beat yourself up. HAVE fun either way!

 

[jmartinez1895]

We try to go in Aprils and the crowds and weather are great. Not to hot and not to cold. As for school, ours counts it as an educational absence if we are going to EPCOT and AK.

 

[bookwormde]

WDW is a major opportunity for therputic and skill development in both sensory and social skills areas, way beyond the weekly regime so that should not be a factor. If there are other reasons that are problematic then they need to be figured in.

bookwormde

 

[LoveMickeyWaffles]

We have never given taking our son out of school for a WDW vacation a second thought!!! In his 10 years, he has been through soooo much physically, mentally and medically - why should all his scheduled time out of school be filled with doctors appoinments, surgeries and hospital stays? He's a kid and needs some fun!!!

 

[dntd]

I would see when the school has an odd friday off then leave the day before, then come home weds(6 nights/7 days). That way there is less time out of school so there is plenty of time to catch up on missed work instead of a whole week shot. Disney can be educational just have to be a bit creative.

 

[jodifla]

I think your DH is wrong.

I just pulled my son out for 6 days. He's on an IEP for a speech and language disability.

By May, he is pretty fried....heck, most kids are burned out by May. We had a FABULOUS time, and now he's rejuvenated for the last 5 weeks of school.

This is the first week I've pulled him out that long...normally, I work with the schools winter break. But they didn't give us one this year. Or I take a week where we are already off a day and go then.

 

[EvangelineG]

I guess it really depends on the child, and the time of year. We will be taking our sons out of school to go to WDW and IoA in early December. I wouldn't pull them out of school in September or October because routines are too new, and I wouldn't want to set them back in the settling in process. By December they should be fairly well settled, and during the time we've chosen the school puts on a big winter concert, which means many afternoons of school spent practising, which my sons find very, very stressful (out of routine, loud etc), so they will be missing less actual academics at this time and avoiding some stress.

It would actually be great to pull them out right now, because by this time of year both of them are really exhausted and "checking out" and a break would probably do them good, but one of them gets very ill in the heat and crowds are obviously a big problem, so it's got to be in the cooler, non-peak times for us...which means having to miss school or not go at all.

 

[My2CrazyGirls]

She is still young and I think by mid to late April she will be ready (and you will be ready) for a nice escape to Disney! This is exactly what we will be doing next spring. We will go late in April when weather and crowds are tolerable. The last thing we need with our child with Asperger's is to go to Disney when it is excessively crowded or hot. Our spring break is the week before Easter so that will not work. We will take her out of school while she is young (will be 7 for the next trip). A week at Disney IS THERAPY. YOU can teach her so much while you are there, more than any OT or ST can (IMHO).