Trip to Florida with autistic son

[JohnnySharp2]

Hi,

This August we are taking another vacation from the UK to Florida.

Our son Joshua is autistic, non speaking and has learning difficulties. He also has an Epilepsy condition, we have a drug we administer by shringe twice daily and generally have no problems.
Unfortunatley the last attack he had was on our last vacation in 2006, whilst we were on the plane to Orlando.

We have taken every precaution to ensure things are more comfortable this time including upgrading to bigger more comfortable seats, setting off an hour later to the airport so Joshua can have some breakfast before we go, have a portable DVD player with enough batteries for the day to keep him entertained.

Problem is he doesn't eat or drink much in strange surroundings, we may even have to resort to given him juice through a shringe (his medicine is administered this way) just to get some liquid down him.

He is fully mobile and has no physical diaABILITIES.

Obviously he is now 2 years older and has had no further seizures, but until the flight we just don't know what his reaction will be, despite our worries he has been about 5 times now to Florida, but does find the flight very tiring (as we all do!).

Has anyone had any similar problems, worries?

 

[1stluvispooh]

I too have an autistic child. I think the worrying how they are going to react unfortunately just goes with the territory. You just never know. We had a taken the kids last weekend to Cedar Point and just asking DD who she wanted to ride with was stressing her out! Now the last time we went to an amusement park it was WDW and she had no trouble telling us. But as DH pointed out she would just say whoever you said first. ie do you want to ride with mommy or daddy. Mommy. Do you want to ride with daddy or mommy. Daddy. This time we got the old "I don't know" As for the sleep issue DD as well as most ASD children have trouble sleeping. We have found using 1mg of melatonin works great. It will at least get her to sleep not necessarily keep her asleep. The only piece of advice I have is to plan for the worse, hope for the best and have a good time.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Thanks for the response.

It's just a shame because Joshua doesn't understand so much of what goes on around him, we cannot explain to him that he is going on holiday so there is no buzz of excitement for him at all.

We know when we arrive at the villa he will be happy, have comforts of home and enjoy playing in the pool.
We also know he will have a good time at the theme parks and that there is a comfort and familiarity about it as he has been a few times before.

Just seems as he gets a little older it becomes harder for him and us.

 

[1stluvispooh]

I know it's hard when you are planning something that a child should be excited for an you get no responds. The only thing I can say is that the older my daughter is the more she is able to express her excitement for something. He actually might show you he is excited in another way. I remember when DD was 3 and non-verbal I was going to take her and her brother to the zoo. I had drug out the backpack which I put her in at the zoo to see the animals better and had gone into the other room to get something and she had pushed it across the floor to the garage door to put it in the car. I am sure that Joshua is more excited than he seems unfortunately he can't express it.

 

[Bill_Lin]

You might find some helpful information from folks on the Home Page for Wish Trippers link in my signature.

Many kids with similar concerns have gone on Wish Granting Trips.

Bill

 

[toodycat]

Perhaps something in the last trip triggered the seizure and you can prevent it this time. I used to have seizures when I was a kid and they were usually due to fatigue, forgetting my meds and/or not eating. If you can feed him before you leave and have him rest on the plane and not plunge straight into touring once you arrive, you may not have a problem. Also, some kids outgrow seizure disorders so what was happening 2 years ago may not happen now. I agree that melatonin is great for sleep, but I would definitely try it out a few times before giving it to him on a plane. For some kids, it causes intense dreams and others wake up very abruptly which might be uncomfortable.

Good luck and have a great vacation.

Jane, mom of an ASD son