Any Members With An ASD Child?

[Lisa123wm]

Hi there :wavey:

I'm new to this site, and just found this forum.

We are due to go to WDW in December, for the first time as a family.
I have been once myself, back in 1993.

Our children will be 10, 8, and 3. Our eldest child is autistic.
Was wondering if others have ASD children, and how they get on at the parks?

Our children have been to Disneyland Paris lots of times, so already have the Disney bug. Our son has certain rides that he will want to go on repeatedly (and is quite obsessive about). He loves all the white knuckle rides and has been going on them since he was tall enough (he is very tall for his age, so this has been for a few years now).

Just wondering if any of you have any tips for us? WDW is so much bigger than DLP, and there is so much more to see, we are wondering how much to try and do in our time there.
We are only there for 9 days this time, as our childrens schools will not authorise holidays during school term time.

So, any tips would be greatly appreciated. We are staying near Sea World, and will have a hire car for the entire stay.

Thanks in advance. :)

Lisa

[ali-s]

Hi and welcome :) There are plenty of us on here with ASD kids, my 11yr old has Aspergers.Maybe there are so many of us as with autistic kids we are so used to doing alot of preparation and planning, you'll find plenty of tips if you keep browsing the forums.

Just to add, if you ( or your son)know what rides he wants to go on, get to the park EARLY and make good use of fast pass, also riding during the parades or fireworks can cut down on queueing time - so maybe watch them one day, then go back and ride instead of watching the second time.

[Whiskers.merry]

Hi
I'm quite new here, have three children, the eldest is 10 with ASD, and we are going to Florida for the first time in December and staying at the Rodeway inn on I-Drive :)

I posted on here recently, introducing myself and had lots of welcomes and great advice, so It might be worth having a scan through that thread too. :)

Merry xx

[Jedi_Angie]

I have three kids, two of them have ASD. My 12-year-old is high-functioning, my nearly-10-year-old has 'moderate' level classic autism. We first went to Florida in October 2004 and couldn't believe how accomodating the parks were, and how easy a villa holiday was.

There are lots of threads about this - I'd thoroughly recommend trawling through all the threads on the Special Needs board on this topic (although it may take a while!). I also recommend this as a first point of call for info...

http://allearsnet.com/pl/dis_aut.htm

My boys also love the scary rides - the first year we went, the older one was just big enough to ride Kraken (at Seaworld) on his own. I managed to go on twice with him, then left it to him. He went on three more times, one after the other - the park was quiet, so there were no queues. It did him the power of good, as he had to speak to the staff every time, and it helped his confidence. Our youngest is hypo-sensitive, so it takes a lot to motivate him. Disney (and the other parks) have so much going on, he finds lots to talk about. Our first 'proper' conversation with him was in Magic Kingdom. :)

Best of luck with your holiday - I'm sure you'll have a fab time! :grin:

[mazz]

Hi Lisa

welcome onboard, to answer your question i have two ASD children, my oldest child Jo who at 14yrs is now a very scary teen :erm: and my youngest James who is 11, both of my children are very different as they have other complications/diagnosis as well as ASD

the best piece of advice i could give you is to visit guest services at your first disney park and ask how the guest assistance card can help your child and also to quit the parks when you know your child has had enough, pref before meltdown

for "time out/ calm down" space in the parks the medical room staff are always helpful, there have been times when on the verge of a meltdown the medical room and the staff have saved us by allowing my daughter to sit in peace behind their " magic curtain" when it has all been too much for her

it is tempting to try and do everything but if you know your childs pace and allow yourself to be guided by it it can really make or break how much you all enjoy your holiday, don't worry about seeing everything i guarantee after one trip you'll be back ;) and not seeing everything is a great excuse for that next trip :D

any questions ask away, everyone is very friendly and helpful

[sharooki]

Hi :grin:
We got home on 10th Feb after a great 2 weeks. My 2 sons are Autistic. We went to guest services and they gave us an asisstance card. We took it all at a steady pace and had plenty of "chill breaks" getting away from the crowd and finding a quiet corner for 15 mins at a time. The only prob we had was an intolerant woman on the flight home. Hope you have a good time

[kissimmee girl]

hi I also have a daughter who has Asperger's. We have found the Guest assistance card invaluable and probably couldn't do all the rides without it. If it gets to much we just go home and come back later.

[whambar]

hi and welcome :) - I have 3 children, 1 has aspergers syndrome and one is being assessed for the possibility of an asd, there are many lovely dibbers who will help with any questions you have, make yourself comfy as it is highly addictive :)

[Maisie]

Welcome aboard. :wave:

Another big fan of the Guest Assistance Card here!

[Lisa123wm]

What a lovely welcome! :)
Thank you all for your replies, I feel at home already, lol!

The guest assistance card sounds like the disability pass that we have always used at DLP. Does it allow you access to the rides at either the fast pass or exits? And a shorter wait away from the main queue?

Merry - wow, what a coincidence! Our ASD children being of a similar age and also going on our first family trip to Florida at the same time!
Three children each too, I think? I will go and read your post as soon as I can, as I'm off out now.

Thanks again everyone, for making me feel so welcome. :)
I'm sure I'll be bending your ears a lot of the next few months, lol!

[Lisa123wm]

Mazz - Thanks for your advice.

Just wondering what's so scarey about your 14 year old? :erm:
I'm dreading the teenage years, though my 7 year old daughter already seems to have reached them, lol! :d:

[TinkTatoo]

Welcome to the Dibb :wavey: I have DS 10 (11 in a few weeks) with autism and DD 9 with aspergers. They both love Florida and the only tip I can give is you'll know when your oldest child has had enough and when that happens leave and go back to your hotel and let him / her chill

[mazz]

Mazz - Thanks for your advice.

Just wondering what's so scarey about your 14 year old? :erm:
I'm dreading the teenage years, though my 7 year old daughter already seems to have reached them, lol! :d:

it's a family joke really she's a raging ball of hormones at the moment add these to the non communication, she can talk just prefers to grunt, yell, slam doors instead :confused2 all the typical teen stuff

throw in periods that are all over the place and her total ignorance of the need for hygiene and you prob get the picture :omg:

she already taller than me so like i said it's scary :erm:

our pet names for her are scary Jo or "TT" aka terrible teen, she prefers "TT"

like you i was dreading the teenage yrs but it's much the same as when she was younger we have good and bad days and when it's a really bad day we try to get through it with humour or if that fails wine usually works :D

[sajo]

Welcome Lisa! :wave: So many dibbers with ASD children. We have been to florida 4 times since christmas 2004. The guest assistance card is GREAT :) we tend to use the fastpass entrance for the big rides, no need to get the fastpass ticket just turn up and show the GAC and the castmembers just wave you through. For other rides just go to the exit. My ASD daughter is 11 and goes to Florida for medical treatment but we always go and see Mickey while we are there.

Good luck :wavey:

Saj

[lotti]

hi there i would have to totally agree with mazz, my ds 6 loves the white nuckle rides too and its a good job he very tall for his age or this would of been a problem last time we went as my dd doesnt like rides we have got a thing going were they have to take it in turns to pick a ride(in there area we are in) that includes mummy and daddy too, as we have done this every time we have gone he seems to acept this(he has his own maps with the area highlighted he can pick from and he looks at it while he waitin for his turn).

:mickeywal :mickeywal :mickeywal :mickeywal

[spider]

I have a 12 year old son called Ben who is ASD and goes to a SLD school.

He loves WDW, he is already getting excited to our 4th visit (it will be his 13th birthday when we are there).

I and alot of other parents on the Dibb think that WDW is one of the best types of holidays for our kids, even though you may have reservations about it being too much stimulation, in my experience it is a holiday that can fulfill nearly all of your families wishes, ASD or not!

Ben loves the structure of a "timetable" or itinery, he knows what he's doing on a particular day. He loves the maps/guides at the entrance of the parks, one is a necessity every visit, so that he knows where we are going, and we can give him an idea what the day will be like for rides.

One thing is a must - Guest Assistance Card (GAC). If these did not exist, we would have to go at the very low season, but seeing as I have an older son at a grammar school, this is never an option (though this will be his last holiday with us as he's 17 now!!!) so July/August holidays definately need a GAC.

Also, we take Ben's portable DVD player to have in the villa (or hotel) so that he can chill back in his bedroom with his favourite DVDs. And also, he is able to tell us when he wants to go back to the villa, so we always try and keep him happy rather than risk a meltdown if he gets too frazzled by it all.

The flight can be very stressy, he is so impatient, I wrap up little presents for him on the flight - only cheapy little books, comics, sticker books, etc. Even though they may only keep him amused for 20 minutes or so, anything is better than nothing!!!

I'd say if they like DLP, they will love WDW, it is a whole different atmosphere to DLP, no offence to DLP!!!!

There are quite a few of us parents of kids with ASD who will always try and answer your questions about your trip, don't be scared to ask!!! :thumbs-up