Autism...any suggetions?

[Tawnya]

My sister-in-law will be travelling with her two small children and also with her aunt who has a 9 year old autistic son. I suggested that she contact WDW guest services to see if they have any suggestions. He is not severe but does have problems waiting and with new situations. He adores movies and will probably do well with any situation with a movie screen.
I have always been so pleased with WDW and have observed and read about so many ways a trip can be made special.
Any suggestions?

 

[SueM in MN]

You will find that there are a lot of postings on this board from people who have traveled to WDW with a child with autism.
Here's a link to a thread about overstimulation that might be helpful. And here's a link to travel with a child on the autism spectrum.
I'm sure you will also get some good info from other posters.

 

[Poohnatic]

Tawnya,

I have a 6yo son with Asperger's Syndrome, a form of autism. After a trip that was torture a little over a year ago, I found out about the DIS and got lots of advice here. The trip we took in June was great, we only had one major meltdown out of my son the whole week. That's saying a lot for my DS, he normally has 1-2 major and 4-6 minor meltdowns a day.

The best advice I got from here was the Guest Assistance Card (GAC). It allows the child accommodations based on his needs. My son has difficulty with waiting, so ours was phrased "Please allow this party to utilize the entrance for Guests with disabilities. In case of mainstream access, allow party to use ALTERNATE ENTRANCE. At attractions offering Disney's FASTPASS, please allow Guests to utilize FASTPASS RETURN QUEUE'. (I keep it on the fridge so I can get it for the next trip, I did NOT memorize it, LOL). We got ours in City Hall at MK, but you can get them at Guest Services at all the parks.

Following his lead is the biggest piece of advice I can give. We had to give up the 'commando mode' of traveling. A daily break can help, but we had two 'non park' mornings where we just hung out at the pool (or the whale at ASMo). I think that this was the biggest contributor to the lack of meltdowns.

I have a trip report on MousePlanet that covered all aspects of our trip, but recounts some of the Asperger's related events. If you're interested, just go to http://www.mouseplanet.com/dtp/trip.rpt/report_files/wdwtr02/reardon-mulhall02jn.htm

Feel free to PM if you have any questions. I'll be happy to help!

Suzanne

 

[s&k'smom]

Hi Tawnya, just wanted to say Hi and I agree with all the suggestions the others made. We just came back last Oct with our two kids one who is diagnosed with PDD. Anyway what worked for us was taking pool breaks in the afternoon and making lots of PS for our meals even if we didn't end up using them. We also really just took the week as it came. A few things I wanted to do and we couldn't (like fireworks) but on the other hand the trip went much better then we hoped. We did a alot of prep work before going like talking about the plane, showing him picturs of the pool area (his favorite) talking about Mickey Mouse etc. It really paid off. We also made sure we had some of his favorite things and snacks. I hope your family enjoys your trip and remember WDW is a wonderful place but can be overwhelming for kids of any age or description. Post any questions.

 

[SueM in MN]

If you want some pictures to help with planning, do a search on google.com. There is an image section of the search that has lots of picture links. You can also find links to pictures of the resorts on the Resort Board and on the DIS main page (www.wdwinfo.com)
I just wanted to mention that the GAC is not meant (and usually won't) give you access without a wait, but it can make the difference between being able to be in the parks and being able to do anything in the parks. Fastpass is also a big help. You may find that you seldom need to use the GAC (even during Easter time, we sometimes don't need to use our DD's more than once a day). Just knowing you have it to use if needed gives a lot of peace of mind.