In six weeks we are leaving for Disney World. We are leaving Tiny with my parents (bye, Tiny) and are just taking the older two boys. We have a (evil) genius plan. On Thursday morning I am going to drop the boys off at my parents house for a playdate while I go home and pack up the car. When Stormy gets off work, we will get in the car, pick up the older two boys, and start the drive to Florida. But the boys won't know where we are going. The whole thing is a secret.
I just bought them new duffel bags with their names embroidered on them which I will pack full of their clothes and things for the trip. I have small packs for them to take to the parks that we can fill with snacks and souvenirs and a new water bottle that I bought for each of them. They each have a DS and a handful of games, and we also have a dual-screen dvd player in the car, so I will also pack the car with a couple of movies.
We are really excited to take them to Disney, and also excited that they have no idea that we are going. I didn't realize that Disney offered any special services for those with ASD until I started hearing about it on the news and how angry certain families were over the new regulations. I'll be honest, I have no idea about this. I never considered looking into whether there were any special services for J at Disney. It never crossed my mind. Perhaps that is rather naive of me, but I usually don't seek out special services outside of his school.
I think I have a certain amount of guilt when looking for services. I wonder, does he really need it? Am I exploiting his disorder? Do other people need this service more than we do? I get an odd feeling whenever I use the ASD as a reason or excuse for something. I don't know why.
So I looked up Disney's disability services and bean reading through their brochure about Disney and ASD. It was definitely interesting. They broke down the attractions into different sets of senses for those who have sensory issues. Touch. Smell. Noise. Flashing Lights. Restraints. Etc. It was great and very relieving! J has been to Six Flags and he likes a certain number of the roller coasters. He doesn't like not knowing when he is going to go upside down, but he is surprisingly okay with that part. He would rather sit in a normal seat than ride something where the straps come over his shoulders. All of those rides are outside, too, and he sometimes has issues with lights, but mostly just has issues with sound.
In the mornings when we make coffee, he closes his ears so he doesn't have to listen to the grinder. When I used to make baby food for Tiny, he would close his ears whenever I used the blender. At school, he cringes when the bell rings, but he does okay with it because he knows it's coming. I'm not sure how he is going to do with some of the rides that might have loud noises. My husband brought up the Lilo & Stitch ride. I haven't been to Disney since that ride came about, so I can't even begin to assess how J will do. Luckily, we can look through the list of rides and get a better idea of ones we need to help prepare him for.
He has done fine with the lines at Six Flags, so I think he'll do all right with the lines at Disney, but my concern is I don't want to force him to wait in a line for a ride that I'm not sure he'll enjoy. That's where I think we will use the disability services. I would rather have him be able to ride as many rides as we know he'll enjoy and perhaps that will offset the rides he won't. I hope that the rides that will be fun will help his overall mood and lessen any potential problems we have for meltdowns or etc.
This year is a big year for me. I joined an autism parent support group. I signed up for an autism walk to raise awareness. I signed up for the autism day at the aquarium, which comes along with free admission for families with a child with autism. And then now, going to Disney and using their services. I've never been a fan of doing things like this. It's never been out of embarrassment, but perhaps more out of just wanting to make sure those who are worse off than J can have access to these things before us. But we deal with autism every single day. And even the days that are great, we are still dealing in some aspect with autism. It never fully goes away. It is never cured. Because of these reasons, I think I decided that I needed to start using more services to my advantage. Be more aware and more comfortable with it.
Either way, we are going to Disney and we are going to meet Mickey Mouse!
I just bought them new duffel bags with their names embroidered on them which I will pack full of their clothes and things for the trip. I have small packs for them to take to the parks that we can fill with snacks and souvenirs and a new water bottle that I bought for each of them. They each have a DS and a handful of games, and we also have a dual-screen dvd player in the car, so I will also pack the car with a couple of movies.
We are really excited to take them to Disney, and also excited that they have no idea that we are going. I didn't realize that Disney offered any special services for those with ASD until I started hearing about it on the news and how angry certain families were over the new regulations. I'll be honest, I have no idea about this. I never considered looking into whether there were any special services for J at Disney. It never crossed my mind. Perhaps that is rather naive of me, but I usually don't seek out special services outside of his school.
I think I have a certain amount of guilt when looking for services. I wonder, does he really need it? Am I exploiting his disorder? Do other people need this service more than we do? I get an odd feeling whenever I use the ASD as a reason or excuse for something. I don't know why.
So I looked up Disney's disability services and bean reading through their brochure about Disney and ASD. It was definitely interesting. They broke down the attractions into different sets of senses for those who have sensory issues. Touch. Smell. Noise. Flashing Lights. Restraints. Etc. It was great and very relieving! J has been to Six Flags and he likes a certain number of the roller coasters. He doesn't like not knowing when he is going to go upside down, but he is surprisingly okay with that part. He would rather sit in a normal seat than ride something where the straps come over his shoulders. All of those rides are outside, too, and he sometimes has issues with lights, but mostly just has issues with sound.
In the mornings when we make coffee, he closes his ears so he doesn't have to listen to the grinder. When I used to make baby food for Tiny, he would close his ears whenever I used the blender. At school, he cringes when the bell rings, but he does okay with it because he knows it's coming. I'm not sure how he is going to do with some of the rides that might have loud noises. My husband brought up the Lilo & Stitch ride. I haven't been to Disney since that ride came about, so I can't even begin to assess how J will do. Luckily, we can look through the list of rides and get a better idea of ones we need to help prepare him for.
He has done fine with the lines at Six Flags, so I think he'll do all right with the lines at Disney, but my concern is I don't want to force him to wait in a line for a ride that I'm not sure he'll enjoy. That's where I think we will use the disability services. I would rather have him be able to ride as many rides as we know he'll enjoy and perhaps that will offset the rides he won't. I hope that the rides that will be fun will help his overall mood and lessen any potential problems we have for meltdowns or etc.
This year is a big year for me. I joined an autism parent support group. I signed up for an autism walk to raise awareness. I signed up for the autism day at the aquarium, which comes along with free admission for families with a child with autism. And then now, going to Disney and using their services. I've never been a fan of doing things like this. It's never been out of embarrassment, but perhaps more out of just wanting to make sure those who are worse off than J can have access to these things before us. But we deal with autism every single day. And even the days that are great, we are still dealing in some aspect with autism. It never fully goes away. It is never cured. Because of these reasons, I think I decided that I needed to start using more services to my advantage. Be more aware and more comfortable with it.
Either way, we are going to Disney and we are going to meet Mickey Mouse!
First, my parents surprised us with every Disney trip we ever took (about 6 or 7) growing up. Second, because of an accident my mom had several years ago (the back of her foot was torn off ) she often needs to get a special assistant pass. I agree that you do feel strange using it but it is there to help. You are not taking advantage of anything. J has a need and this is there to help him. So use it and enjoy what services that they offer you.
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