20. Top-Secret Vacation Day Three/Four

The boys, especially J, were super crabby after being out so late at the Magic Kingdom.  So we gave the boys a day off from parks.  They stayed at the hotel and the pool for almost the entire day.  They slept in late (J almost 'til 11am) and just relaxed.  Even swimming all day was less tiring than if they had gone to the parks.

We left the boys at the hotel in the afternoon/evening with my niece so that Stormy and I could go to Epcot and have some adult time.  We ate at a Mexican restaurant, rode some rides, and then headed back to Hollywood Studios once again for our fourth round of Star Tours and second of Tower of Terror.  We love our kids, but it was nice to be able to escape for the evening.  Even at home, we don't get to out on many date nights, so this was so nice for us.  We ended the night eating ice cream (Stormtrooper is obsessed with ice cream) and fell into bed and slept.

Monday we all woke up and went to breakfast and then headed to Universal Studios.  My husband got to geek out at Star Tours and Star Wars weekends, but Universal has the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and that is my thing.  I was so excited.  I loved it.  It was fantastic.  We rode the rides and got some treats from Honeyduke's.  The boys have both read the Harry Potter books and seen the movies, so they were excited about going, too.

J had one meltdown while there, but it was definitely nothing we were upset about.  My niece, husband, and I wanted to ride on the dragon ride, but J doesn't like roller coasters that do the "corkscrew" kind of turns.  And our other boy is just terrified of any rides (which we didn't even know until we went to Disney and he was scared to ride on everything that was on a track).  We weren't going to force either of them to ride something they were scared of, but we still told them they had to wait in line with us.  When we got to the front, I asked one of the employees if there was a place they could stand and wait because they didn't want to ride.  Jokingly, the guy said, "Oh, no, everyone in this line must ride the ride."

J burst into immediate tears and just buried his face right into the middle of my chest.  It took a few moments to get him to calm down, but he did, and he wiped the tears away and waited while we rode on the ride.

We rode water rides and got completely soaked.  The boys seemed to enjoy that.  I was skeptical about J enjoying it because if he gets uncomfortable he will complain for ages, but he seemed to like being wet!  My husband took the boys on some sort of spinning ride that was similar to the tea cups.  Since my husband nearly killed me on Saturday on the tea cups, I sat the ride out and let him torture the boys to sickness on it!

Universal was nice.  We also spent the day with one of my old friends from Starbucks who moved down to Orlando a few years back.  It was great to reconnect with him and his wife - and also get some inside scoop on working for Disney!  We hopped over to the other Universal park so that we could go on the Transformers ride.

I think the boys enjoyed Universal more than Disney because they were much more familiar with the movies and rides.  Some of the rides from Disney were still old-school characters, like Dumbo or Peter Pan, and that is not as relevant to them as Harry Potter, Spiderman, Jurassic Park, or Transformers.  Over all Universal was really amazing and I am so glad I got to see Hogwarts, and I am glad the boys were able to share in that experience.  They got to watch Stormy geek out over Star Wars, and me over Harry Potter.

We drove home on Tuesday, and we got to see Tiny after five nights away from him!  And now on to the rest of our summer!  Which looks like it is going to include a new swimming pool, clay camp for Iron Man, and autism sleep away camp for J.  So much of the summer has already passed and yet we have so much more left to experience!

19. Top-Secret Vacation Day Two

Our first day was really pretty successful, and looking back, I don't have any complaints about it.  It was a really long day; we got back to the hotel very late.  We were out for about fifteen hours that day.

On Saturday, we slept a little later.  Stormtrooper went to Hollywood Studios for the parade while my niece, the boys, and I ate breakfast and went to the pool for the next couple of hours.  The boys splashed around and enjoyed cooling off in the water.

Once Stormtrooper was done with the parade, he picked us up from the hotel and we went to Magic Kingdom.  Since we already had our disability pass, we were able to set-up our Fast Passes for the day.  The boys had a blast driving the cars in the speedway and we were able to try out the new seven dwarves ride.

This day I saw a lot of J's symptoms come out.  Once his medication wore off, his hyperactivity was in full force.  He was also very, very tired, but when he gets cranky, there's nothing to sway him away from it.  He reached a point where he stopped caring about the rides and wanted to spend his Disney gift card and go back to the hotel.  He was tired, we all were, but he became argumentative and very snappy.  I know he had fun, but towards the end, Stormy and I wanted to ride the Haunted Mansion one more time, and Iron Man wanted to ride Thunder Mountain, and J didn't want to do either.  My niece took the boys to Thunder Mountain, but J refused to get on so he had to wait until they were done, and my husband and I got to enjoy some kid-free time at the Haunted Mansion - which, coincidentally is both of our favorite ride.

My husband had one negative encounter that day.  He was talking in a group of Star Wars folks and it was mentioned about the new Seven Dwarves ride.  The Fast Pass was used-up for it, so if you wanted to ride, you had to wait in the line (which was 120 minutes when we were there!)  My husband said that we were going to ride and use our disability pass to bypass waiting in the actual line.  And someone said they did not think it was fair that we could just walk to the ride for free, no strings attached.

So let's revisit that for a moment.  With the disability pass, I walked up to the ride, and asked them to sign us up for a return time.  The return time is comparable to the actual wait time for the ride.  We didn't get to immediately cut the line.  We rode other rides and walked around until it was time for us to return to the Seven Dwarves.  It's not a free pass to cut lines, but also if you're a stranger, you don't know what other families go through.  You don't know how we deal day to day, our frustrations, worries, fears, or even our strengths.  So to make a blanket statement of how things are not "fair" is ridiculous.  When J's hyperactivity kicks in, he is so all over the place that waiting in line has the potential to be disastrous.  When we walked around the parks, he bumped into people and wandered (never far, because we kept a close eye on him).  I was very careful to continually check in on him when we were in a line or in a ride, to make sure he was okay because the last thing any of us wanted was a meltdown in the middle of the park.

I think Disney tries to make the experience the best it possibly can be for every family going.  From what I saw, they took disabilities, including food allergies, very seriously.  They seemed to try to take the worry away from parents over whether their children would have an enjoyable time.  For that, I was extremely appreciative.  To the man who wasn't compassionate at all, my husband replied with, "Oh we deserve to use the pass ... we pay for it every day living with a kid with ASD."  It can be very difficult having a child with special needs and when a place like Disney wants to help eliminate some of the stress, we welcome it with open arms.

On day two, we got to ride a lot of rides in the Magic Kingdom:  Astro Orbiter, Big Thunder Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, Haunted Mansion, Tea Cups, Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, Seven Dwarves Mine Train, Stitches Great Escape, Space Mountain, Speedway, and of course, the train that took us around the park as well as the Monorail.  That's a lot of rides for one day, and it's no wonder the boys got tired.  We were exhausted, too!  We got back to the hotel and finally fell asleep after midnight.  Such a long day, but so much fun.

18. Top-Secret Vacation Day One

Last Thursday, May 29th, my stepmom (whom everyone calls "Grams") came to pick the boys up.  Her BFF was also there with her grandson, who is roughly the same age as our boys.  They went off to play while Stormtrooper and I got the boys' stuff together.  Unfortunately, I had a really bad cold, so I packed the boys' clothes and car-stuff together and my husband set it all up properly in the car while I took a quick nap.  We also had to pack Tiny's things because he stayed at my parents' house.

We got in the car, filled up on gas, and went to my parents'.  We exchanged Tiny for the big boys and started driving.  We told them we were going to a Star Wars event, but they've been to so many parades and things that they weren't upset about being in the car, or too inquisitive about where we were going.  

After about three hours, we asked them if they had any idea where we were going.  Once we finally told them we were going to Disney World, Iron Man got super exited and bounced up and down in the seat.  J was very neutral, as I expected he would be.  When I asked them if it was a good surprise, J said, "No, not anymore," since I had just told them.  Still, he was excited.  Later on in the vacation he told me that inside his brain he is excited and happy, but he doesn't know why his brain doesn't tell the rest of his body to express how his brain feels.  

We got to the hotel around 10pm Thursday, went to bed, and got up early the next morning for breakfast.  Stormy had to go to Hollywood Studios early since he was part of the parade.  The boys and I waited to meet some friends of mine who worked at Disney so we could spend the day with them.

The first Mickey we saw!

The boys in front of the lake while we waited for the ferry.

We took one of the ferries to the Boardwalk and the boys got to see parts of Disney before everyone was awake and at the parks.  I got to explain how different parts of Disney work, how some people stay in different resorts/hotels while they visit and how the buses, trolleys, and ferries work.  When we got back to Hollywood Studios, I went to Guest Relations.  I was originally so hesitant to use this because I always feel there are people who are so much worse off than we are, who need it more, but at the same time, I could envision meltdowns and sensory overload if we were in a line full of people.  Also, at the end of the day, J's hyperactivity kicks in because his medication wears off, and he starts to wander, starts to rock back and forth, flail about, and standing in line with people could have gotten really terrible if he started knocking into people because he cannot stand still.

We got the pass and I am really pleased we did.  The Disney cast member was very nice and helped with the whole process.  We ended up getting a pass that allowed us to wait for a ride without having to wait in the actual line.  Instead of waiting for two HOURS for the new Seven Dwarves ride, we were given a time to come back and bypass the long wait.  The staff is supposed to write down the time so that we would wait as long as the others in the actual line, but because there's always a small wait to get on the ride anyway, they usually wrote our return time for less than the stand-by line.  It was extremely helpful.  It allowed us to get something to eat or drink, visit a store, or wait in shorter, more manageable lines.  

At Hollywood Studios, we were able to use the pass for almost all the rides we wanted to go on, which was especially useful for the Toy Story ride, which always had a line longer than an hour.  Overall, J did really well.  He went on Tower of Terror (granted he said he never wanted to ride it again, but he at least gave it a chance).  My husband walked in the parade in the morning and joined us in the afternoon for the rest of the day, along with my seventeen-year-old niece who we brought to babysit the boys if we needed it.  

That day, everything went pretty smoothly.  We didn't have any meltdowns or complaining.  Both the boys were happy.  I did have to have a conversation about what Autism is with Iron Man; afterwards he looked at me with a glazed look.  I don't think he's ready to understand/accept anything about Autism yet.

We ended the day with fireworks and then we all went back to the hotel.  All in all, day one was a great success.

17. Vacation Vacation

School's out for summer!

This is the first weekend of no-school.  We let the boys stay up way too late the last two nights, and we didn't have them do any chores.  All they did was play, play, and eat.  

On the last day of school, there was the awards ceremony to help celebrate the kids' accomplishments in school.  Little Iron Man got one for attendance, one for being a star student, and one for A/B Honor Roll.  He has his own struggles, mostly with impulse control.  Sometimes he acts out for attention, and he certainly misbehaves in school way more than he does at home.  He is extremely intelligent, and I think his behavior definitely affects his grades at times, but overall, he is a very good kid, and we are certainly proud of how well he has done.

At school, the kids have to take Accelerated Reader (AR) tests on the books they read.  J got an award for getting over 100 AR points, which apparently is difficult to do when you're in third grade.  However, I'm not exactly super proud of that award.  I'm pleased, of course, but each quarter, the kids were given an AR goal and they had to reach so many AR points each semester.  J would see how many points he would need, find ONE book that would give him those points, read the book, take the test, and then wouldn't take any more tests the rest of the semester.  It's a backwards way to be really lazy.  The books he chose weren't necessarily easy books, and he had to read and absorb the books so he could get all the points for the test.  He loves taking shortcuts.  Or maybe he's really a genius in hiding.  I don't know.

He also got a penmanship award for having the best cursive in his class.  He told me he knew he was going to get that one because it was just "so obvious" he had the best handwriting.  I've heard this is strange with kids with ASD, but J's talent is art, and for as clumsy and uncoordinated as he is with everything else, he can draw.  He can't tie his shoes, but he can draw very intricate things.

As far as honor roll goes, J got the A Honor Roll for getting all A's for the entire school year.  So far  he has never gotten a B.  When we had the conversation about his grades, he was not really sure what a B meant.  We briefly discussed grades and averages (which he understood better than I thought he would have) and I showed him his report card, which had his averages for each semester as well as his end-of-the-year average.  He was really disappointed in his Reading grade (a 95) and upset that in the third quarter he got a 99 in science, which was the only quarter he didn't get a 100.  I told him if his lowest grade is a 95, then we really have nothing to worry about.  He was pleased that the stamp on his report card said he got to graduate to the fourth grade.  

Third grade brought on a lot of ups and downs.  There were a lot of changes, but I feel that it was a great year of growth.  We found a new therapist that we like, J started going to the gifted program at school, we found a parent autism support group that was coupled with a  social-skills club for kids with autism, and because of all these different things he has greatly improved as a little person.  I have received a lot of comments from his teachers, family, and friends regarding his behavior, his improving social skills, and the way he integrates his new coping mechanisms.  

Hopefully we can continue to help him learn and grow this summer.  Therapy is the only thing that will continue; the rest will pick back up with the start of the new school year.  We are very excited to see where this summer takes us.  

Well, in FOUR DAYS it takes us to DISNEY WORLD, so the rest of the summer probably won't even be able to compare!

16. The Talk

I kept starting a blog post, writing a few words, and then deleting everything a few days later.  We've been so busy lately.  I did a Mother's Day project where I made cards for most of my friends who are moms, which means I handmade close to thirty cards.  Then I have been preparing for an arts project at the elementary school for the End of the Year Party, so I had to prep everything, which included cutting sheets of colored tissue paper into thousands of tiny squares.  Not hard work, but time consuming.  Since it's the end of the school year (only four days left!) I decided the kids would have a Beach Party.  They will make stained glass jellyfish for arts and crafts, eat pineapple, watermelon, and goldfish for snack, drink fruit punch, and listen to luau music.  After tomorrow, I can put that project under my belt, and then my focus will return to ensuring that everything is in alignment for our big trip to Disney World!

Summer brings other changes, including Autism Support Group being over until the start of the next school year in August.  I will honestly miss it, and I know J will miss going to his club.  The structure of the support group is wonderful; the ASD kids go to a class with other ASD kids and they're able to talk and learn about the struggles that having ASD can bring, the siblings can go to a childcare classroom, and the parents all gather for the support group.  It's wonderful.  It was nice to be surrounded by people who know.  Even the days I didn't speak much, it was comforting being around parents who were still talking about things I could relate to.  The parents of middle school and high school aged kids still had things to offer me as a parent of a third-grader: their experiences when their children were J's age and their experiences now that I may need to prepare myself for.

One of the issues that was brought up during our very last meeting was one we had experienced in our own house just last week.  I was shocked that other parents had gone through the exact same thing.  Our two older boys are getting older and beginning to be mildly curious about bodies, about girl bodies, about boy bodies, about bodies older than they are.  We found out one of them had Googled about bodies on his Nintendo DS, back before I had set any parental controls on it because I hadn't realized that Googling things was on it possible.  The other, we caught stark naked in the bathroom examining himself in the mirror.

None of this really bothered us as parents.  We  know our boys are growing older and are going to be curious about these things.  Stormy took one kid and I took the other, and we've explained that curiosity is normal, the feelings about girls (or hey, boys, we don't discriminate) is normal, but they can't Google what they're curious about because they're too young to understand how to filter through the results - and let's face it, Google can be a very dangerous place for a child who is curious about growing up.  We can go to the library and check out age-appropriate books if they're too embarrassed to ask us.  Anything that we need to do to keep them safe but informed.

Little Iron Man is neuro-typical, so he took the conversation well and just said okay and moved on.  J, on the other hand, is definitely going to be a more on-going process to make sure he understands.  I asked his therapist about it, because we didn't want to offer him information that he wasn't ready for, but it's obviously become something we need to start discussing.  She was very adamant that sex, puberty, and changes were something that we needed to talk about with J - with any child, but especially J.

Since J doesn't understand social constructs or the implications of his words and actions, it's especially important he understand the things he can/cannot do or say in social situations.  We've heard of other ASD kids getting in trouble for things that were innocent in nature for them, but other parents did not see it that way.  Quick examples are, a girl was curious about what boys looked like under their clothes, and asked the boy next door.  She was twelve, he was ten, and afterwards, all hell broke lose from the boy's parents.  Would it have happened if she had been a typical child?  I don't know.  I know that oftentimes parents of typical children are scared of what they don't know, uncomfortable about the differences between their child and one with ASD.  The other example is a sixteen-year-old boy was curious about this "sex thing" everyone was talking about, so he looked to the internet to find someone who would "show him" and he took the family car and drove fifty miles to meet-up with that person.  He didn't understand the implications of what he was doing, nor did he understand what would be happening when he did finally meet up with them.  He just wanted to know what "sex" meant.  (He was fine in the end, nothing bad happened to him, but it could have, very easily.)  Kids who are more neuro-typical understand why they're getting in trouble, why they can't do what they did.  Those two kids still haven't fully realized what their actions meant.  Nothing bad happened when I drove fifty miles, so why can't I do it again?  There's always this underlying logic with ASD kids; if it's logical to them, they cannot see anyone else's point.  The girl in the first example had never had a conversation about bodies, changes, or sex, so her actions were fueled entirely by curiosity and seeking to understand.  The boy had been talked to about those things, he wasn't a stranger to it, but again, he sought a greater understanding.  Which isn't by itself unnatural or bad, however it's the way he went about trying to quell that curiosity that was the problem.

The therapist said we have to talk to the kids in an age-appropriate way and slowly escalate the conversation as they get older.  We shouldn't over-talk the subject or they'll stop listening.  If we over-talk it they'll either get embarrassed because they're not ready for the conversation, or they'll tune us out, as kids often do if they feel lectured.  But it's important for them to know we are here, we're not scared of the subject, and we want them to be safe and happy.

It's been interesting figuring out the right verbiage to use, the right way to say it.  We never want our kids to feel ashamed of their bodies, of the private parts that make them distinctly male, which I think ends up being what happens to a lot of kids.  They get embarrassed or feel shame over their bodies, their curiosity, their feelings - both emotional and physical.  We all experience it in one way or another, some earlier than others, but it happens.  We can't be scared of our kids experiencing it as well.  If we want them to grow up into healthy adults with healthy relationships and/or marriages, then we have to help prepare them for that now.  If we get embarrassed about the subject or make them feel badly about it, then they may grow up associating shame and embarrassment regarding sex and their bodies.  That doesn't lead to healthy adults who have healthy relationships.

When we realized the boys were curious enough to Google certain things, albeit somewhat innocently, we weren't mad.  We didn't want them to associate anger with their curiosity.  We didn't want to scare them away from what they were feeling.  As parents, we want them to be healthy and safe - both of which can be hindered by Googling the wrong thing or finding something scary or illegal on the internet.

Little Iron Man will be more ready for the changes to come than J will; J is so immature because of his ASD in so many aspects that I can imagine that puberty will be far more confusing for him.  Or maybe they'll shock us and both will be equally lost or equally ready.  All I know is that I hope they both grow up to be well-adjusted and healthy adults, without shame or embarrassment.  I think that Iron Man will understand the implications of his words or actions more than J will.  I hope to get J to a place where he understands what is appropriate and inappropriate, even if he doesn't understand why, so that we can feel safe that even if he doesn't agree or understand something is inappropriate, he won't do it because he will know not to.

I should probably start getting some books to help facilitate the coming conversations that are going to happen over the next several years.  At least when I Google these things, I know how to filter through the results.

15. Autism Day at the Aquarium

This past Sunday we went to Autism Day at the Aquarium.  It was sponsored by Autism Speaks, which I know is a controversial charity amongst families who have children with autism, but this event was free.  If we had gone on a normal day, to pay for all of us to get in would have cost $131.80 before tax - and that is not including Tiny because he would be free.  Which basically means we wouldn't have gone because for a family of five, spending that sort of money on tickets is out of the question.  Having special needs kids always comes with a host of expenses and often the fun things get pushed to the side to pay for the necessary things.  So whatever the feelings over Autism Speaks, they provided us with a free day at the aquarium.  

Normally the aquarium opens at 10a, but they opened two hours early for those on the autism list.  It didn't mean it was less crowded, because it was a complete nut house, but what it did mean was that of all the kids who were different, no one batted an eye.  The differences were so normal to everyone that we didn't feel uncomfortable.

J behaved really well.  I had to reign him in a couple times when he would pace and walk in front of other people without realizing it.  He has a way of touching his fingers when he feels uncomfortable and he did that the entire time, but he didn't seem too overwhelmed.  He was really quiet, which happens when he is out of his comfort zone.  

It was fairly noisy, but J seemed okay with it.  A fair amount of kids had some sort of ear protection, like noise-canceling headphones one might wear at a shooting range.  Stormy and I both wondered if those might not be a bad idea for when we go to Disney.  I wonder how different J's behavior might have been if the noises weren't so overwhelming.  I wonder if he would have been more energetic or animated or excited.  

The vast majority of families were very friendly and accepting.  If a child did something, like bump into someone, or start to have a meltdown, or refuse to get on an elevator, the parents would apologize, but everyone was extremely gracious in their responses.  That's okay or I understand what it's like, you don't need to apologize.  

I think you do need to apologize.  You need to acknowledge that your child has done something and apologize for it because that's the polite thing to do.  J walked right in front of someone and I gently pulled him back and said, "I'm sorry," to the man he walked in front of, and to J I said, "You need to remember to watch where you are walking."  The man smiled and said That's okay, you don't need to apologize, but of course I did and I needed to.

So while most parents were accepting and understanding, a tiny percentage did not apologize for their kids, let them run around, and did nothing to either curb the behaviors or even apologize when those behaviors negatively impacted those around them.  One child knocked into me so hard that I had to take a step to right myself.  I wasn't angry or upset, but the mom just shrugged and ignored it and said nothing to me whatsoever.  I saw enough of this that it made me wonder - are these kids' behaviors worse than my own ASD child because they have a more severe form of autism, or are these kids' behaviors worse because their parents use the ASD as an excuse and don't try to stop the negative behaviors?

The positives in the experience vastly outweighed the negatives.  It was also the first time I had done anything like this.  Normally I would not have signed up for an autism day or accepted free tickets, but it was nice to be able to go with the whole family and have everyone participate in something that we may not have been able to do otherwise.  

Mostly I left feeling pretty good - good that the older boys were able to have fun and have fun at something they could both really enjoy and good that the entire experience was so positive.  I didn't have any feelings of stress because I knew that if J had any sort of episode or negative reactions to anything in the aquarium that those around us would understand.  No one would stop and stare and wonder what was wrong with my kid, because what is wrong with my kid is what is wrong with their kid, so there was an air of acceptance in the entire place.  And whether people likes Autism Speaks or not, for one day they were able to help me provide something for my family that was wonderful.

J and Little Iron Man in front of the jellyfish.

14. M-I-C - See you real soon - K - E -Y - Why? Because We Like You. M-O-U-S-E

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!