Anxiety

[Zingylemontart]

Hi

My son has anxiety. He ticks all the boxes on the NHS "anxiety in children" page. GP doesn't want to know, said school would have to refer him. They have, and he's now waiting for counselling.

Anyway, I'll get to the point... he's never even been in an airport before, never mind flown, so we have no idea how he'll react. I was wondering if it's worth requesting a sunflower lanyard, if only to show that he might need a bit more explaining about what's about to happen?

By the same token, we have no idea how he'll be with the crowds/queues. (He is currently showing a definite preference to be at home rather than out and about, but we're trying not to let him stay home too much). If we've been at Disney a day or so and he's having problems in queues, would we be ok asking about a DAS pass, or would we be better requesting it to begin with?

Thanks

[Ridersmom]

I am adult who suffered from anxiety after a 3month hospitalization. I left the hospital on handfuls of medication so I did not want to treat my anxiety with more meds. I did 4 years of therapy (I am American so I paid and was reimbursed by insurance) BUT the biggest help to me was doing midfulness training. There are lots of videos on line and some specifically for children.

While you are waiting for counseling, it may be worth it to look at some videos (there are also lots of books).

I know if is hard to deal with a person with anxiety, but it is much harder being the sufferer. As far as the airport is concerned, take hom for a trip to explore the airport and get used to the people and noises.

I hope you child gets the help he needs.

[chrisxal]

Sorry I can't offer any advice on anxiety but I would highly recommend taking him to the airport for a visit to have a good look around, have lunch or tea and if it is not busy you can let him chat to checkin staff etc. We are closer to Gatwick where they have the monorail between the terminals, my grand daughters love to go back and forth, I think our record is about 16 round trips without getting off.

[buryboy]

Sorry to hear this - how old is your son ?

[Doowop]

I’m not sure about the sunflower lanyard but I think you need proof of a disability to get a DAS pass, my daughter is autistic, we will have to show her DLA letter, we will be asking for the lanyard but not bothering with DAS

[Tottenham]

Originally Posted by Doowop

I’m not sure about the sunflower lanyard but I think you need proof of a disability to get a DAS pass, my daughter is autistic, we will have to show her DLA letter, we will be asking for the lanyard but not bothering with DAS

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Disney are not allowed to ask for proof.

[gismo1554]

Originally Posted by Doowop

I’m not sure about the sunflower lanyard but I think you need proof of a disability to get a DAS pass, my daughter is autistic, we will have to show her DLA letter, we will be asking for the lanyard but not bothering with DAS

See more...

Yeah no proof is needed or legally allowed to be asked for. You need to be able to explain what your requirements are in order for them to decide if it is appropriate. You definitely do not need a DLA letter at all - not sure where you got this information. Just go speak to someone in guest services and explain her needs and you should be fine.

The sunflower lanyard is a great option

[Doowop]

Originally Posted by gismo1554

Yeah no proof is needed or legally allowed to be asked for. You need to be able to explain what your requirements are in order for them to decide if it is appropriate. You definitely do not need a DLA letter at all - not sure where you got this information. Just go speak to someone in guest services and explain her needs and you should be fine.

The sunflower lanyard is a great option

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Only place i’ve ever read about these things is on here so it must have been on here at some point.

Seems a bit odd to not have to prove really otherwise everyone will just be out to get them to make it easier?

[gismo1554]

Originally Posted by Doowop

Only place i’ve ever read about these things is on here so it must have been on here at some point.

Seems a bit odd to not have to prove really otherwise everyone will just be out to get them to make it easier?

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Its a little odd I agree. By US law Disney can't ask for proof. Its discriminatory. Definitely been given the wrong info somewhere on here so hopefully not too many people have seen this. And I agree I'd happily provide proof but they wouldn't even look at my certificate of impairment the only time I've tried to show it as they said they could get into trouble (don't ask me what lol). US has lots of laws around this type of thing which do protect disabled people but also leave systems like this open to abuse. They used to have a different system (still no proof required) but this was abused so much they changed to the new DAS where you can only get one ride queue at a time. Old system allowed you to get ride times for every ride in the park at one go so had a lot more appeal for abuse. This new system I think is less tempting for people who don't need it (although that may just be because I've never thought of using it to abuse the system like some people would).

[Zingylemontart]

He's 10.