Asd/sld

[shazc]

Could any body please give me some ideas for our trip to WDW/
We shall be going in August I have 2 children aged 8&9 the youngerst being high on the ASD with SLD also. We do have a wheel chair that we use on the odd occ's as she is Asthmatic also . I keep looking at all the info I can and am now worried it may turn out a bad move to go. As Im sure most of you know ASD children cannot understand the concept of queing which that alone is going to be hard. We shall be staying in the All Stars resort is there a number I can call in WDW that could help Ive so many ?'s and I dont know where to start

 

[cindysteve]

I have a 7 yo DD who is Bipolar : , and a 9 yo DS who has high functioning autism . When one goes off, the other follows suit. I recieved a tidbit in the unofficial guide for people with "Non-Apparent" disabilities that I intend to use this time. I would be interested to hear from others who have used this. The UG says to get a letter from your doctor explaining your child's condition, and what type of accomodations may be helpful to enhance your child's experience at Disney (or in my case to enhance the experience of the other guests around us as well). For example, if his condition impedes his ability to wait extended periods of time and causes sensory issues that may impact his ability to wait in line. And have the doctor ask in the note that they make whatever accomodations they can. Take the note to guest relations and they will give you a "Guest Assistance Card" which when shown to the CM will place you in a separate uncrowded waiting area.

 

[SueM in MN]

quote from cindysteve:
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I recieved a tidbit in the unofficial guide for people with "Non-Apparent" disabilities that I intend to use this time. I would be interested to hear from others who have used this. The UG says to get a letter from your doctor explaining your child's condition, and what type of accomodations may be helpful to enhance your child's experience at Disney (or in my case to enhance the experience of the other guests around us as well). For example, if his condition impedes his ability to wait extended periods of time and causes sensory issues that may impact his ability to wait in line. And have the doctor ask in the note that they make whatever accomodations they can. Take the note to guest relations and they will give you a "Guest Assistance Card" which when shown to the CM will place you in a separate uncrowded waiting area.

If you look around at this board a bit (go to the bottom of the page and you can find links to recent past pages), you will find threads with GAC in the title. That's the abbreviation we use to avoid typing out Guest Assistance Card each time. There are a lot of DIS posters on this board who have used GACs.

This thread has quite a bit of information about dealing with autism at WDW.
If you get a doctor letter, keep in mind that the CMs are not medical people, so the letter should be written in plain language that a lay person can understand. Also be specific; "he can't wait in line due to sensory issues" may make perfect sense to someone else with a child with the same condition, but it may not mean anything to the CM. They need to know what sorts of things are a problem - is it being close to a lot of people and what happens (he begins yelling, hitting, etc).

A lot of people with children with autism spectrum conditions find that using a stroller (or in your case, a wheelchair, since you have one) helps to cut down on stimulation and also gives sort of a "safe refuge". People especially like the WDW strollers for their children with autism because the hard plastic provides a "pressure sensation" and also because the solid sides of the stroller cut down on stimulation. The WDW parks strollers come in several sizes that will fit up to a small 12 year old. You can also request a GAC that allows use of a stroller in queues to be treated the same as a wheelchair.

Using FASTPASS (which is available to anyone) and going to the parks early in the day will help you avoid waiting in line. With FASTPASS, you put your park passes into the FASTPASS machine. A FASTPASS ticket will pop out with a time to return printed on the front. When you return to use your FASTPASS, your wait will be 10 minutes of less. A lot of people don't get an early start going to the parks, so if you can get there at opening, you can usually see a lot of things without waiting more than 10 or 15 minutes in line, even during busy times. For example, DH and I went on an adult only trip last July. By getting to MK a little after opening, we were able to go on Buzz Lightyear, Winnie the Pooh, Small World, Peter Pan, Haunted Mansion, Pirates and have a snack before 10:30 without hurrying or getting fastpasses for anything.

 

[SueM in MN]

We shall be staying in the All Stars resort is there a number I can call in WDW that could help Ive so many ?'s and I dont know where to start

I forgot to answer this question.
There isn't a phone number to call with this sort of questions. You need to go to Guest Services in person with the person who has the disability. You can go to Guest Services in any of the parks to request a GAC. Autism is something that they deal with every day at WDW, so the CMs do have some general understanding of what sorts of issues you face. You only need to get one GAC. The same GAC is valid at all parks. Usually, they issue the GAC for up to 6 people (5 plus the person with a disability) and it will be good for your whole length of stay. There may be some places where the CM will limit the number of people who can accompany the person with a disability. This is usaually because the waiting area is too small to have a larger number of people or there are already several large groups waiting.
As for your other questions, you can ask anything you would like right here.
And here's another website with information about dealing with autism in WDW.