Wearing Eye Patch at Disney

[hellokittiemama]

Looking anyone who has experience with taking a child who has to wear an Eye Patch (for Amblyopia, Strabismus, etc) to Disney?

Tips?

Accomodations?

Difficulties/challenges?

Thanks!

 

[OneLittleSpark]

Hi there! I've not had any experience with doing Disney with an eye-patch myself, but I'll give you what advice I can think of.

Hopefully it shouldn't pose you too many problems, as long as his / her vision is all right in the other eye. I'm guessing depth perception will be an issue, so you might want to take a little extra care in lines and tight crowds. Also, keep everyone together when the lighting is low (e.g. during Illuminations at EPCOT), to make sure you don't get separated in a crowd (fairly sensible advice for anyone travelling with kids, really).

If they tend to miss their footing when walking or tackling steps, you might want to look in to getting a Guest Assistance Card, to allow you to use a stroller as a wheelchair (I'm not sure how old they are, obviously if they're too big for a stroller, you could look in to getting a wheelchair). This would allow you to take the stroller in to lines and pavillions where you couldn't normally. For more information, see the FAQ page.

3D shows won't have the 3D effect, but they will work like a normal movie, as long as they're wearing the glasses (without them, you get that weird double image effect).

I'm sure more people will be along to offer help soon, and if you have any specific questions, do feel free to ask them!

Hope you guys have a great trip!

 

[hellokittiemama]

Thanks -


DD4 has a neurological impairment and isn't using her left eye at all. Her right eye is not great either but with glasses it is all she is using. Now, Our Ped. Opthalmologist is prescribing the use of a patch on her right (good) eye to hope to "turn on" the vision in her left eye. So as to what vision she has while patched - not a whole lot at this time, but we hope for more in the future.

"interestingly" she also has a hearing deficit on her left side.

Since she is tiny - she is fine in a stroller but I'm worried about the shows, lines, and dark rides etc

 

[OneLittleSpark]

OK, there are a number of things you can do to make the trip easier and more fun for all of you. The first thing to do, would be to look into the stroller-as-a-wheelchair Guest Assistance Card (GAC) on the FAQ thread. This will allow you to take her stroller everywhere you would be able to take a wheelchair, including into lines and pavillion buildings. You can also get a stamp on the card to allow you to sit up the front of shows where possible, if this would help her.

When she feels like walking, obviously keep her close, and make sure she can't wander off. It may help you to use a child harness, just make sure she can't get far enough away for it to be a trip rope!

Disney does now offer an audio-commentary device for rides, but it may not be suitable for a 4 year-old (we've not really had much information on it yet, as it's fairly new). It might be easier to just describe anything she'd miss, otherwise. However, a lot of the rides and shows that you'd be doing with a 4 year old will be fairly bright anyway.

She should be all right with fireworks and night shows, as the contrast will help her pick things out. For parades, you can use the GAC to sit in the wheelchair viewing areas, so she is closer and has a clear view. You'll need to arrive fairly early, as these can fill up reasonable quickly.

Hope this helps!

 

[OneLittleSpark]

Ooh, I just saw, you're going to be at the World in September too! When are you going?

 

[hellokittiemama]

We are going 9/21-28 Also her older brother has Autism so we are fairly familiar with the GAC but never used one for her. I do think she needs one this time as her needs are different than her brothers and my husband and I will be splitting up with the kids and doing different attractions.

In '07 she was in a stroller (and 2) and this was all undiscovered but we were under her brother's GAC. In Feb '09 I went just with her for a short girls trip 4 1/2 days and it was manage-able bu she wasn't patched and so she had the vision of her other eye "on her side".

This time will be another story but we are going to make the best of it and enjoy it. She loves PRINCESSES

Ooh, I just saw, you're going to be at the World in September too! When are you going?

 

[OneLittleSpark]

Ah, it seems like you already have a good idea of the 'alternative Disney' that those of us with disabilities visit; still just as magical and wonderful (if not even more so) but a bit slower and a bit different to that that 'normies' visit .

I think you guys should do just fine on your trip. Get a GAC for each of your kids, take things slow, use the stroller as much as you and she need and have a great time! It may well be more tiring for her to rely on her weaker eye, so be prepared for a few more breaks, naps and quiet times than you might otherwise.

Oh, and if she's a fan of princesses, you should try the princess breakfast in Norway, EPCOT - I've not done it myself, but I've heard it's wonderful for all princesses in training. Maybe you could ask her doctor whether it would be OK to make a cover for her eye-patch, that way you could make it pink and sparkly, so she could show it off to all the lovely princesses

 

[Earstou]

I didn't take my ds to WDW while he was wearing his patch, but will say that he got tired of the "pirate" comments he heard when we were out and about locally. Could imagine getting those comments at Disney with the popularity of POC. Hopefully by September, your DD will be used to comments, but you might prepare her for them just in case. My ds (autistic) was 3 or 4 at the time, and got so that he would walk away, or growl, when he heard eyepatch comments!

 

[hellokittiemama]

We are absolutely doing the princess breakfast - we did it in '07 and she loved it even though I thought the food was wierd (we did lunch) yet my husband loved the Norway food. This time we are also doing CRT and hopefully BBB before-hand. In 2/09 we did BBB and then 1900PF since I couldn't get into CRT and we didn't have hoppers so we weren't doing epcot that day. On top of this - I also have to work around my son's gluten and casein free diet!!! My husband thinks I am nuts planning this all out months in advance but someone needs to and it sure as heck isn't going to be him!!!

And yep!! We've got princess eye patches ready to go - thanks to a few friends who sew. It is the only way I can get her to keep the patch on. I want to keep as close to 'normal' on our patch schedule with 8 hours a day but for some of the "special" pictures I think we'll remove it.

Oh, and if she's a fan of princesses, you should try the princess breakfast in Norway, EPCOT - I've not done it myself, but I've heard it's wonderful for all princesses in training. Maybe you could ask her doctor whether it would be OK to make a cover for her eye-patch, that way you could make it pink and sparkly, so she could show it off to all the lovely princesses

 

[hellokittiemama]

The pirate and other comments people make are ridiculous!!

First, my daughter isn't into pirates at all. And when she learned she needed a patch she was really upset because "she isn't a scary pirate". Ugh. And people make comments in an insensitive manner.

Like they will ask "what happened to her eye?" "Did she have surgery". Or the worst that I got last week, "She is so pretty, it is too bad she has to wear THAT patch on her eye, it covers half of her face".

She may have poor vision and poor hearing (one side) but the other is completely functional and she hears it.

She doesn't mind however when people say nice things about her patch or even ask HER why she is wearing it. She will tell them that "She had a little problem with (this/pointing to it) eye and so she needs to wear the patch on (this/point to it) eye to help make her eye stronger.". She'll even tell people (Who are nice and polite to her). That even if she can't see so good, she is very beautiful!

Its the more rude/negative/nosy stuff that is hard to deal with for her. Heck, it is hard to deal with FOR ME, let alone someone who is 4!!!!

Today when we went to Target she HID in the shopping cart FACE DOWN where you'd put your groceries after someone made a comment.

That is such a good point that we absolutely do need to start working on a better way to react/respond. It stinks that her self esteem is taking such a big hit.

I didn't take my ds to WDW while he was wearing his patch, but will say that he got tired of the "pirate" comments he heard when we were out and about locally. Could imagine getting those comments at Disney with the popularity of POC. Hopefully by September, your DD will be used to comments, but you might prepare her for them just in case. My ds (autistic) was 3 or 4 at the time, and got so that he would walk away, or growl, when he heard eyepatch comments!

 

[MSSANDRA]

We patched for YEARS with DS. It took forever but his eye did improve alot.

Now,,,just for thought..I would not patch for WDW. There will not be a huge loss of ground for that short period of time and she will enjoy being able to see things so much better. DS also tended to trip and fall more patched which might be a issue.

Also September is still HOT and you may have real issues with a rash from the patch. Also consider patching just at the resort and not in the parks if you do not want to avoid it competly.

Hang in there. We patched from 6 mo to about 6 or 7 years. For 1 or 2 year we patched pretty much full time but always took it off for really specail trips or such. DS was a 24 weeker with ROP.

 

[simplybusy]

Not much advice, just wanted to wish you goodluck.

We will be at WDW 6 days from today and my daughter (although younger than yours - she'll turn 3 while we're there) has complete vision loss in her left eye... which causes some depth perception issues more than anything else at this point. And she has some hearing loss in both ears and has just started wearing hearing aids, although a bit more on her right side (which is opposite of what we expected). The vision issues we've known about since we adopted her (a year ago), but the hearing issues have been slowly surfacing over the past 8 months or so!

I just wanted to jump in here and say Hi, if nothing else. And add that I think it's perfect that you've found some princess eye patches! How awesome is that?!

 

[OneLittleSpark]

My husband thinks I am nuts planning this all out months in advance but someone needs to and it sure as heck isn't going to be him!!!

I don't think it's nuts at all, I think it's very sensible! Anyway, even if you didn't have such special kids to plan for, I wouldn't think it odd you planning this far ahead; we'll be there a couple of weeks before you, and I'm already planning thing ! Sounds like you're well on top of all this, and I'm sure this planning will pay off, with a magical trip for everyone!

And yep!! We've got princess eye patches ready to go - thanks to a few friends who sew. It is the only way I can get her to keep the patch on. I want to keep as close to 'normal' on our patch schedule with 8 hours a day but for some of the "special" pictures I think we'll remove it.

Yay! I'm so glad you've got pretty eye patches for her. I decorate up my wheelchair for Disney trips, and it earns me a lot more positive comments than negative or stupid ones. Just because we need to use these things, doesn't mean they have to be dull! You'll have to show us some pictures of her patch, so we can see what a patch fit for a princess looks like.

The pirate and other comments people make are ridiculous!!

First, my daughter isn't into pirates at all. And when she learned she needed a patch she was really upset because "she isn't a scary pirate". Ugh. And people make comments in an insensitive manner.

Like they will ask "what happened to her eye?" "Did she have surgery". Or the worst that I got last week, "She is so pretty, it is too bad she has to wear THAT patch on her eye, it covers half of her face".

She may have poor vision and poor hearing (one side) but the other is completely functional and she hears it.

She doesn't mind however when people say nice things about her patch or even ask HER why she is wearing it. She will tell them that "She had a little problem with (this/pointing to it) eye and so she needs to wear the patch on (this/point to it) eye to help make her eye stronger.". She'll even tell people (Who are nice and polite to her). That even if she can't see so good, she is very beautiful!

Its the more rude/negative/nosy stuff that is hard to deal with for her. Heck, it is hard to deal with FOR ME, let alone someone who is 4!!!!

Today when we went to Target she HID in the shopping cart FACE DOWN where you'd put your groceries after someone made a comment.

That is such a good point that we absolutely do need to start working on a better way to react/respond. It stinks that her self esteem is taking such a big hit.

Grrr to all of the stupid, insensitive people . I'm guessing that's her in your profile picture. If so, tell her from me that she is a very pretty little princess, and that no eye-patch would ever be able to hide that!

Some role-playing before the trip, might help her to learn how to deal with these people better. If she had some lines to fire back at them (nothing rude, just to put them in their place a little), she might feel a little more confident.

Hugs to you and your special bunch, I'm sure you guys will have a great time of it!

 

[TillyMarigold]

My little sister had one the first time my family went to WDW (she was 4) and I can't remember any accommodations that were made and I also can't think of any that were needed except the regular care that needs to be taken when wearing one (like not moving abruptly towards the blind side without checking first). I don't remember anyone ever saying anything to her or my parents about it while at Disney.

She'll need to wear the glasses in the 3D movies anyway, it will look more or less like a regular movie that way (instead of being blurry). I think my sister removed her eyepatch for those so she would get the effects (my parents figured 15 minutes one time over our vacation wouldn't hurt, Muppets was the only one we did as Captain EO didn't appeal and the other 2 weren't there yet), but YMMV and she'll still get a lot of the effects with the glasses even with monovision.

I agree that if the patch causes a rash due to heat, you should probably just skip it (ask your doctor first of course). The patch didn't lessen my sister's enjoyment at all so I wouldn't worry about that, but a rash would be a real pain, literally and figuratively.

Good luck--I'm amblyopic myself and it was caught too late--although my sister's was caught in time and she has almost perfect vision now (age 25). So good luck!!

 

[misled3]

We have taken our DS for 5 trips to Disney and have not patched while there it is only for a short time and honestly as long as before and after you are doing the time required for patching that short time period should not hurt the progress we have always asked our eye doctor and they have always not to worry about doing it. People always ask my son "What happened" he always replies my eye is getting some exercise to be stronger. But I do agree with some of the others that because it will be hot and humid rashes could be a issue. Most of all enjoy the time with the kids.

 

[sailorgirl922]

I'm wondering how your trip went? My niece is 7 and mature for her age, but has only recently begun to wear the patch. Because we didn't catch it until so late (long story involving transfer of custody, medical power of attorney fueds, insurance battles, and many, many tears), she MUST wear it 12 hours a day, and her doctor has strictly instructed her not to "cheat" when we visit WDW, even for the 3D shows. She also wears rather thick glasses on top of the patch (but plano on the "good eye"), because her "bad eye" is legally blind, and she must wear these to have any kind of vision. She has been teased a bit at school, but she's my tough girl most of the time and will sass those who cross her right back. We're trying to plan around it, so later shows, etc, but I was wondering if the GAC would let her sit up front for some of the ones we would go to in the middle of the day. Even if just one of the adults (our party will be 7 total, including her younger brother) could take her so she could see properly, it would be such a blessing, the rest of us wouldn't mind being crammed somewhere else as long as she can see what's going on. We're FL residents, and this will be her 3rd trip, but the first with the patch, so I don't want it to be a huge letdown to her after all the excitement has built up. We're also APholders, but renewing them soon depends on how this trip goes. Let me know if there was anything special that made a difference to your DD!

 

[SueM in MN]

The original post is from over 1 year ago and she has not posted again, so probably won’t answer.

I can give you some resources that might be helpful - look in post #3 of the disABILITIES FAQs thread. There are some links to past threads about touring with visual disabilities in post #3, under the heading of Specific Questions and Concerns.
This is a link to a thread about 3D movies at WDW for guests with vision in one eye that might be helpful to you. Since she has never had vision in both eyes, she will not realize what she is missing, but you might be surprised that she will probably see something that passes pretty well for 3D.

For shows, people with visual disabilities have posted a variety of experiences using a GAC. Since you choose your own seats, many people find it is easier to just not use the GAC at all for close seating. In some cases, being close almost puts you too close because the stage is very large and you don’t get a full view of the stage.
If you have questions about specific attractions, please ask and we can give some opinions of where to sit for those specific things.

 

[mickeyluvsjess]

I took my neice with me when she was 11. She wore a patch when younger but now wears eyeglasses/contacts. She has one of the problems mentioned earlier but I forget which one. We prepared her for not being able to see the 3-d effects but she still wanted the 3D glasses.Turns out she said she actually did see some of the effects. So I guess it never hurts to try. I'm pretty sure her only reason was to look like everyone else but in the end it worked out for the best.

 

[Louiepipbgeeco]

We returned last night from another WDW vacation and DS who also has strabismus(has had 3 surgeries, uses drops and patches) and amblyopia--did not wear the patch at all. We just figured why bother and for that amount of time it was just not worth it. He also has some sensory issues and had enough to try and deal with that way let alone add the vision issues. He wore the glasses for 3D movies but it appeared he did not see the effects. DS hates wearing the patch and it is such a struggle but we have been dealing with patching since age of 4 months!!
I understand your concern and some of the struggles you and your DD endure. We used to hear a lot of comments etc. before my son's surgeries. His alignment was very severe and people stared and commented. It always amazed me how completely insensitive SOME people could be. However, I never minded if they just politely asked out of curiousity or made comments. Recently at a OT session another boy who had not met DS yet was asking him what was wrong with his eyes and he was saying"nothing wrong with my eyes..."" I thought good for you. He has had this issue since birth and so has always learned to cope well with the challenges that can come with it. Best of luck to you and your DD.

 

[sailorgirl922]

The original post is from over 1 year ago and she has not posted again, so probably won’t answer.

I can give you some resources that might be helpful - look in post #3 of the disABILITIES FAQs thread. There are some links to past threads about touring with visual disabilities in post #3, under the heading of Specific Questions and Concerns.
This is a link to a thread about 3D movies at WDW for guests with vision in one eye that might be helpful to you. Since she has never had vision in both eyes, she will not realize what she is missing, but you might be surprised that she will probably see something that passes pretty well for 3D.

For shows, people with visual disabilities have posted a variety of experiences using a GAC. Since you choose your own seats, many people find it is easier to just not use the GAC at all for close seating. In some cases, being close almost puts you too close because the stage is very large and you don’t get a full view of the stage.
If you have questions about specific attractions, please ask and we can give some opinions of where to sit for those specific things.

She has at least a bit of vision in both eyes, and is able to see clearly with her glasses on and the patch off, so she knows exactly what she is missing (and that her younger brother can see plainly which is extra hard for her sometimes), but her "bad eye" is still re-forming connections to her brain so she has to keep the patch on when we go for a week to Disney. We went a few days ago for a day trip and let her take off the patch, but her doctor has specified that it is to stay on for the full 12 hours a day when we go down later this month.

For specific attractions, this is what we learned this weekend: She loves ToT in DHS, would the GAC allow us to sit in the front row for that? We don't mind waiting until the next load of people goes or whatever. She also has never been to Ariel's Grotto, and wants desperately to see that. She was fine on TSM with 3d glasses on over her glasses and no patch, will she be able to see anything with no 3d effects? What other rides / attractions in the other parks are 3D that she won't be able to see?

Thanks so much!