Trip with DS9 - concerned

[shaylyn]

Dh and I have a son, who will be 9 in October, who is intellectually disabled (among other issues).

We are worried about bringing him on our trip in September, but have no other resources (family, friends, $$ to bring a nanny), so he will be coming with us.

He uses a Maclaren Major when we go out walking for more than 20 minutes because he has very low muscle tone. He can do stairs, but no more than 10 or so before it wears on him and he starts struggling.

A major issue is that he does not want to get on rides. He will start to freak out when he gets on a ride, but once it starts and he realizes it's not going to hurt him, he's okay. We have been told more than once (at Disneyland) that he can't ride because he was too scared. Nevermind that we are his parents and know how he will react the CM's at Disneyland actually made us get off rides (before they started) because he was crying. Anyone have experience with this? He will cry and tell us he does not want to ride, no getting around it.

We use a GAC at Disneyland (stroller as a wheelchair) so that he can stay in his "safe" place as long as possible and not wear out physically. Should we not do that? Perhaps if he has to stand through the line, he will want to get on the ride so he can get back to his chair?

We are bringing our twin girls, who will be 17 months, so there are rides he will need to go on with us. Otherwise we can do baby-swap for the other rides.

He does like rides that are out in the open. Dumbo was a favorite of his Editing to add, would he be allowed on rides with a small pair of headphones if it were on the GAC? Perhaps earplugs instead? (desperate for ideas, lol)

Any words of hope?

 

[Que_Sarah_Sarah]

Your best bet is to talk to guest services. They will be your best resource once you get to the parks.

As far as earplugs or headphones, I see no reason to worry about them. A CM might warn you to hold on to headphones or earbuds, but it would be like being responsible for your own hat. It's yours to deal with.

Only you know your DS. If you think keeping him out of his chair would encourage him to ride, then go for it, but you're the only person who can make that call.

Also, I would see if it helps either showing him the loading area in advance (on rides where you can see ahead in the lines) or taking him to the exit to see people leaving the ride. If he sees people getting off happy, he might be more apt to ride.

Good luck!

 

[Que_Sarah_Sarah]

Also, forgot to mention, CMs and CPs are instructed to disallow children from riding if they are too upset, regardless of parent urging. This is to discourage traumatization from parents who want to ride in spite of their children's safety and happiness. Regardless of your knowledge, they cannot go against that instruction. This is where I would talk to guest services. They may be able to get around this with a GAC or something similar.

 

[Bete]

I think for the sake of the the twins, you should consider doing more baby swaps if your son continues to have these upsetting outbursts. I would go as far as to say if your son acts up it may scare or terrify your twins. The twins will have nothing but horrible memories of Disney if your son continues to act up. If it's really bad I would consider alternating days with your husband and just take your twins to the park. The other parent can stay in the room and have some quality time with your son. Bring games or whatever he likes to entertain him. If you all go to the park and your son can't handle it, then do other things with him (visit a gift shop or have a treat) while your twins enjoy the rides you can do with them. Also, you can try shorter days in the parks or do breaks mid day for your son to process it all better. I would not overdo it.

Obviously, you can try out a ride and see what happens with your son and if he doesn't over react then you continue to do more rides. There's not a GAC in the world that can make your son not have an outburst. Actually, you may want to use the GAC and see how it works with alternate ride queues and you may if he's not doing well that way then try the regular ride queues and see what happens. I think I would use all the positive reinforcement you can muster up everytime he does well with a ride. Give him a kiss or a hug for a job well done and praise him verbally. This should be done by both parents. To a point I would reward him with something he likes, too. It can be a piece of candy or a toy or whatever. Then, when he goes on rides he'll feel much better about them because he's getting positive reinforcement. Also, try and see if you can get him to communicate with you what he doesn't like about doing rides. I know you stated he thinks he's going to get hurt, but he has done it; so, he should be over that aspect; unless, he can't remember moment to moment. There may be rides he likes better than others; so, this may be worth pursuing so you can find out which rides he likes more and do them more so. You can do rides more than once; so, if he's doing better with one ride over another then just do the same ride over again. One time my hubby and I did It's a Small World 6X; because, I wanted to video it from all different views. We were lucky enough to stay in the boat the whole time without even getting off and on. It will depend on how busy it is as to whether or not the CM will allow you to ride more than once on a ride.

I wasn't sure if you are going to Disneyland this time or doing Disney World this time. Either way show him the vacation DVD of either place; so, he can start remembering going on rides. If it's Disney World, there's a lot more to see there and you'll have to prepare him for those experiences. If you are doing Disney World you may want to think about doing less rides and more shows and such. There's a lot more going on at Disney World. Your son may do better that way.

I know your son is probably medicated enough, but it may do some good to talk to your doctor and explain it all very thoroughly about what happens in this instance. There may be a drug that can be administered that would calm him down some just for vacation purposes. I have an Alzheimer's mother that we take on trips and she has some issues, too. We have given her anti-anxiety pills on ocassion, but we tend to not give her too many of these type of pills, but once in a while it has helped her in the worse situations. I'm not a believer of these pills, but it can help.

I would also try to take some pictures of your son on rides especially if you can catch him with a smile on his face. This way the next time you do it you can show him that he did it and it may calm him down for future trips. I would go as far as having the pictures with me for the rides; so, he can see them right then and there.

I'm not sure if you have a kiddyland or something equivalent to do ahead of time with him to get him conditioned for a Disney trip. Some zoos have kiddy rides. Some amusement parks have a kiddy section; so, you can practice before you go.

Our prayers are with you; God bless.

 

[LisaBi]

I had a similar issue with my son on SpaceM. The first trip, he was too short and was crushed that he couldn't ride. The next trip, he wanted to go, but then got scared. (He has Down Syndrome, and was probably 11 at the time). The CM's were just about ready to send us out the "chicken exit" when I decided it was bribe time. He LOVES Reeses candy. So I told him that I promised he'd like the ride and if he didn't, I would buy him THREE Reese's. His attitude immediately changed to "let's go!"

Now the down side is that ALL he wants to do at MK is ride SpaceM. I truly believe he'd be happy to get on it first thing in the morning and just stay and ride over and over and over.......

 

[kirstenb1]

One of the biggest things that helped our dd was watching You Tube videos of the rides. We also loaded teh videos on her MP 3 player so she had something to look at in the car on the way down.

 

[shaylyn]

Thanks everyone for the thoughts and tips I'm going to try the local amusement park this week and try some bribery with candy, and if that does not work, his Gameboy

I'm also going to call his psychiatrist today. His anxiety is so bad now that he doesn't want to leave the house. Nothing makes him happy--even going to his (former) favorite place, Chuck E Cheese. Instead of playing the games like he use to, he now sits at the table and asks over and over, "Can we go home now?" Sigh. It's making life so difficult.