Taking kids alone?(who are on the spectrum).

[Pixiedust5]

Possibly the wrong forum to ask on so apologises in advance. Has anybody taken kids on their own who are on the spectrum? I will have 3 kids, 10, 8 and 5, the two younger ones have autism so I worry how I and they will cope without a second adult? My ex is coming this year as it was booked and paid for but next year will be different.

Is it doable? How do you manage?

[jndt]

My youngest son has ASD and he went at 5 and 7 and is going this summer age 9. I'm lucky that my older two are 5 and 7 years older than him so they are great help.

I would take my 3 on my own but I only have one child with SEN.

I would wait until you have been this year to decide as you don't know how they will react. My son always wants to go to the parks and after one ride wants to go back to the safety of the room at the hotel. It can be overwhelming even if they are having fun.

[chapea]

hi ive been taking my two both ASD since 6 and 8 on my own (now 17 and 18) most years.

as they are all different one loves to plan and for the last 5/6 years has booked all fast passes as soon as they are out and a lot of the ADRs and this works well for her. the other only wants to know on the morning and has many times had meltdowns refusing to leave room. with her i have found we build in a time allowance and if there is a kick off i give her a timeslot when we’ll go out leaving time to calm down.

sometimes we have had hours in the room but has got less over time and found the less stressed i get about missing fastpasses or meals the easier it got (hard at first when you are thinking you should be doing this that or the other).

everyone is different so you can only go with what works best for you and it makes a difference how busy the parks are if its manic we get a snack or ice cream and find a seat or wall to sit out of the way to the stress levels decrease for them.

[DisneyBride08]

I admire anyone who is able to do this. My son, 8, has autism and my daughter is 4 and can sometimes be more of a handful than him! I can just about leave the house with both of them for the school run let alone a theme park. I think you will be able to judge more after your trip this year. I hope it works out well for you x

[Peko]

Originally Posted by chapea

sometimes we have had hours in the room but has got less over time and found the less stressed i get about missing fastpasses or meals the easier it got (hard at first when you are thinking you should be doing this that or the other).

everyone is different so you can only go with what works best for you and it makes a difference how busy the parks are if its manic we get a snack or ice cream and find a seat or wall to sit out of the way to the stress levels decrease for them.

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This. Obviously it can vary widely from child to child, depending on how the ASD manifests and where on the spectrum the child is, but once you get over the feeling that they are missing out due to the downtime, it feels like everyone has a better time.

Of course, balance is necessary, two weeks in the room probably wouldn’t be so great

OP - really depends on how your ASD children react to the different stimuli, but you do have a good opportunity for a trial run on your upcoming trip. Assuming a reasonable relationship with your ex, maybe you could do a few one-parent activities without making it obvious to the kids, and see how it goes for you.

[mandco]

I've take my kids on my own. Once all together before we knew ds was autistic and I have also taken ds alone.
Both trips were great despite the challenges though I did find going alone with ds easier as when travelling with others is harder I found as you are constantly trying to keep everyone happy.

It does depend on your child's particular needs/responses some asd kids will find it harder than others - with ds I found his behaviour was actually better than at home even when we all want together.Yes he had meltdowns on occasion but not as many as I expected.
Last time I saw a real improvement though I do think a lot of it was down to the fact that for the most part the holiday was on his terms as I had no one else to think about. We took things at his pace, did later starts, took down time if he needed it even if that meant missing fast passes, rode the same thing over & over if that is what he needed to do.
I would say a big trigger with ds is forcing/rushing him so I always allow far longer than needed between activities/needing to be places so we can go at his pace. If your constantly saying hurry up we need to be xyz or we will miss xyz everyone is going to end up miserable and stressed out.

You know your kids and your upcoming trip will help you pin point what areas may/do cause a problem and what things work well for you.

for example We took ear defenders, sensory toys, fleecy blankets as these all work to help calm ds - we watched fireworks for the rear of the park/further out - not so crowded/less waiting. Planned fast passes for the afternoons/evenings so we had more relaxed mornings/he could wake naturally meaning we're more likely to have a better day. Yes you do have times when you feel like your missing out on things or you could be doing more but relaxed happy kids are more important than trying to do it all. I tend to pick 2-4 things I'd really like to get done in a park and try to do those anything more is a bonus. On a good day you might do loads but on the difficult days the fact you achieved your main goals means you don't feel so disappointed.

Hopefully after your upcoming trip and some time to work out an action plan you'll feel a lot more confident about going alone.

Having multiple children is going to be more difficult but it is def doable just needs a little extra planning