Kids with anxiety disorders

[CBMom01]

Does anyone have experience with rides or experiences that unexpectedly trigger your child’s anxiety? Mine has had meltdowns in line for smaller rides (antiety grows and grows) and had to leave the line and work through an anxiey attack. Then he’ll be fine in line for something else, be totally fine getting on the ride, then be terrified after the ride starts. There’s no real pattern to his anxiety. Just wondering if others have any experience with that, or advice. We’ve experienced long episodes that nearly ruin whole days for him.

 

[cmwade77]

I don't have a lot, but I do know that quality noise cancelling headphones has helped my brother a lot. He can take them off when good and out them on when needed and listen to some calming music or such.

That about all I have, but I do hope you can get the help you need, as that sounds difficult.

 

[mamabunny]

Does anyone have experience with rides or experiences that unexpectedly trigger your child’s anxiety? Mine has had meltdowns in line for smaller rides (antiety grows and grows) and had to leave the line and work through an anxiey attack. Then he’ll be fine in line for something else, be totally fine getting on the ride, then be terrified after the ride starts. There’s no real pattern to his anxiety. Just wondering if others have any experience with that, or advice. We’ve experienced long episodes that nearly ruin whole days for him.

Is it mostly waiting in the lines that trigger him? Or do you think it's the unexpected motion/stimulus of the rides?

It might be that a DAS would be appropriate for him, since it would allow him to wait outside the lines. And if being emotionally prepared for a ride helps, then you can watch videos (lots of folks like Big Fat Panda's ride videos) to see how the ride looks from a riders perspective. Then you can talk about how "It looks really bumpy right there! We'll have to be ready for that!", etc.

Not trying to oversimplify things, but just trying to find a starting point to help?

 

[gap2368]

What are his trigger once you understand this you can better help him like if all the noise in line bother him some noise canceling headphones might help if it is all the people a stroller might work and so on.

 

[ThinkBelieveDream&Dare]

Does anyone have experience with rides or experiences that unexpectedly trigger your child’s anxiety? Mine has had meltdowns in line for smaller rides (antiety grows and grows) and had to leave the line and work through an anxiey attack. Then he’ll be fine in line for something else, be totally fine getting on the ride, then be terrified after the ride starts. There’s no real pattern to his anxiety. Just wondering if others have any experience with that, or advice. We’ve experienced long episodes that nearly ruin whole days for him.

@CBMom01 Bless his heart, I know how difficult it can be for the whole family trying to pre-empt when/where and why an anxiety attack happens, but I hope you will find these links helpful.
The first is from 2018 so may not be completely current but it will give you an idea of the help that is available for you.
https://www.undercovertourist.com/blog/disability-access-das-card/
and this directly from Disney
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/en_GB/faq/guests-with-disabilities/attraction-access/
All the best for your future trips

 

[siren0119]

Anxiety is so hard! You've gotten some great suggestions here:
Noise canceling headphones
A game device/tablet to distract (there is a PlayDisneyParks app that can be used throughout WDW, games that tie in to the line of the ride you are waiting for)
Watching You Tube videos of the rides to alleviate fear of the unknown
Allowing him to participate in planning to give him a sense of control

Consider the DAS too - it is need-based and designed to help kids like him. There are some great threads on here about DAS to help you decide if it would be helpful in your situation.

 

[michelb]

Our 13 yr old is ASD and has tons of anxiety. He won't go to the park without "noise reduction headphones" (like construction workers wear). (I think he wants them more for control than because of the actual noise (i.e. when he wears them, he can it make more quiet so gets a measure of control over the environment) (A word of caution that we've been told many times on random occasion that he has to remove the headphones to go on the ride and we just tell them that he needs them for medical reasons and he's never not been allowed to wear them. I can understand their concern but they really don't budge (he's riding large / fast rollercoasters and ones with loops (e.g. Rock n Roll Coaster at Hollywood Studios) with no issues). We've had tons of anxiety just before getting on the ride (many, many times we've been waited in line and when we get to the front, his anxiety hits and then he can't go on and we leave without riding). It also happens with rides that he's been on in the past. If we get him to sit on the ride, then he's fine. As siren0119 does, we pretty much always show him YouTube videos of the ride before we go on but that doesn't always help (he loves watching any rollercoaster but it doesn't mean that he'll go on it!)

 

[Weedy]

I have a question not to be mean but why bring a child to do something that stresses them out so much. It doesn’t sound enjoyable for them.
Do they enjoy it sometimes?

 

[jerseygal]

My Daughter in Law is very big into stress control and anxiety control. She practices yoga religiously. She is a middle school guidance counselor, so LOTS OF YOGA after school is positive way to de stress.

 

[Erin1213]

My 19 year old ASD/ADHD loves going to Disney. Around the age of 12 symptoms of anxiety disorder started. His Psychiatrist placed him on medication and with help from social stories on what to expect, his anxiety issues has greatly decreased. His stress triggers was increased when we didn't give him enough information ahead of time.

 

[cmwade77]

I have a question not to be mean but why bring a child to do something that stresses them out so much. It doesn’t sound enjoyable for them.
Do they enjoy it sometimes?

Believe it or not, many of these kids are enjoying themselves most of the time in the parks, just have anxiety at various points throughout the trip, but really do want to go and often they don't even know what might trigger their anxiety. If you asked them if they would prefer to stay at home or go to the parks and deal with the anxiety, the majority would want to go.

 

[CBMom01]

Believe it or not, many of these kids are enjoying themselves most of the time in the parks, just have anxiety at various points throughout the trip, but really do want to go and often they don't even know what might trigger their anxiety. If you asked them if they would prefer to stay at home or go to the parks and deal with the anxiety, the majority would want to go.

This is right. This will be our 4th trip. Most of the time he’s as overjoyed to be there as you'd expect. The anxiety is unpredictable, which is the challenge.

Last trip was our first after official diagnoses, and with ADS. It helped, since he didn’t have as much time in line to worry. Not every time, but helped some.

Im going to have him watch more videos - though that occasionally backfires. One of his favorite ride experiences ever was Ripsaw Falls at Universal. I showed him that it was more intense than Splash Mountain. Oops. Instead of calming him about SM I made him more nervous about RF, but he’s still planning on it - which makes him feel brave.

Thank you, everyone. Im glad I found this - you are all lovely.

 

[SueM in MN]

@CBMom01 Bless his heart, I know how difficult it can be for the whole family trying to pre-empt when/where and why an anxiety attack happens, but I hope you will find these links helpful.
The first is from 2018 so may not be completely current but it will give you an idea of the help that is available for you.
https://www.undercovertourist.com/blog/disability-access-das-card/
and this directly from Disney
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/en_GB/faq/guests-with-disabilities/attraction-access/
All the best for your future trips

Since you are new, you might not have seen these resources on this Board:

This is information about DAS (Disability Access Service):
https://www.disboards.com/threads/w...15-digital-das-on-tickets-magicbands.3178976/
The thread was started in 2013 when DAS was first put into place. The first post is up to date, but the other posts are from when the thread first started.

This thread is FAQs about traveling to WDW:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...disabled-1st-trip-next-trip-wish-trip.595713/

 

[ThinkBelieveDream&Dare]

Since you are new, you might not have seen these resources on this Board:

This is information about DAS (Disability Access Service):
https://www.disboards.com/threads/w...15-digital-das-on-tickets-magicbands.3178976/
The thread was started in 2013 when DAS was first put into place. The first post is up to date, but the other posts are from when the thread first started.

This thread is FAQs about traveling to WDW:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...disabled-1st-trip-next-trip-wish-trip.595713/

Thank you @SueM in MN Will take a look

 

[Jperiod]

For my son, it took some trial and error before figuring out what lines and what rides triggered him, and what we needed to do at those attractions to help him be successful (with the help of the GAC and kind CMs!). Don't be afraid to ask a CM for special assistance. For years, a CM walked us down the back stairs of HM straight to the doom buggies because my son couldn't handle the crowding in the stretching room and hallway.

We also found tiredness and food choices really influenced it. We religiously stuck to bedtimes and wholesome meals with very limited treats while at Disney. Now that he's older, he has more flexibility, but it still adversely affects him to a degree.

 

[Solfe]

Posting to lurk. I have a student with anxiety and would love to know more about triggers, because it does seem like it has no antecedent, but something is clearly bothering the student. Unfortunately, every environment has a zillion little things happening and you can't track them all. I'd like to see other people's experiences and hopefully successes.

 

[ladyjubilee]

My son has autism (severely impacted), anxiety and PTSD. And he loves Disneyworld, amusement parks, and hard rock concerts. I think all the strategies are great, but the most important one for me is what are you going to do when the poo hits the fan. What is your plan for addressing the crisis?

Normally, we try to avoid any line, including FP lines that will last more than 15 minutes. We use stroller as wheelchair, have beads, balls, tablets, blankets, snacks, drinks, do deep pressure, head squeezes, do meds, headphones, quiet breaks.....but sometimes there are moments it just doesn't work. Someone talks to much, a person smells, the air condition is too loud, the 15 minute line is actually 45 and you can't get out through the crowd. Our plan B is always I take care of the kid and my mom takes care of the people (who often are either shocked and make comments or try to "help", which is worse.) So for me, the biggest strategy is have a plan for when it goes wrong. Who does what, and know if you can get to the nearest exit.

 

[DisneyOma]

Believe it or not, many of these kids are enjoying themselves most of the time in the parks, just have anxiety at various points throughout the trip, but really do want to go and often they don't even know what might trigger their anxiety. If you asked them if they would prefer to stay at home or go to the parks and deal with the anxiety, the majority would want to go.

How do you know this? Do you work with special needs students?

 

[kylieh]

For our DD we did ride through YouTubes as much as possible and also found queue videos. This takes out the element of surprise that triggers some of her anxiety.

 

[CBMom01]

For my son, it took some trial and error before figuring out what lines and what rides triggered him, and what we needed to do at those attractions to help him be successful (with the help of the GAC and kind CMs!). Don't be afraid to ask a CM for special assistance. For years, a CM walked us down the back stairs of HM straight to the doom buggies because my son couldn't handle the crowding in the stretching room and hallway.

We also found tiredness and food choices really influenced it. We religiously stuck to bedtimes and wholesome meals with very limited treats while at Disney. Now that he's older, he has more flexibility, but it still adversely affects him to a degree.

Food choices and pacing do seem to matter. Mine does a bit better with a jam packed day (as long as threre are regular snack intervals with real food). Long periods of wandering/milling around don’t help. I think it has to do with feeling that the day is structured and that I’m confident and in control so he can relax.