Younger son with sensory issues

[StirlingSilver83]

Hello everyone. I have 2 sons, my older son is 9 and is on the spectrum. We usually get the DAS pass for him when we go to Disney and it works great. My younger son is going to be 3 next month and I am starting to see some warning signs that he may be on the spectrum as well, but more sensory than anything. Lately he has been having a ton of trouble with sensory issues like loud places or crowded places. Which is making me nervous Bc I have no idea how he is going to act at Disney. At first I thought I would try and get the DAS for him as well but I honestly don't know how many rides he will want to go on without big brother. I think he would be perfectly happy walking around maybe looking in a gift shop while waiting for big brother to finish a big ride. Anyways I am definitely going to get a stroller as a wheelchair sticker do he has his safe place but does anyone have any other ideas? Has anyone ever used noise blocking headphones on a 3 yr old and they have kept them on and are u allowed to take them on rides? Also for the shows at HS are there certain places u can sit that are away from speakers so not as loud?

 

[TheRustyScupper]

sensory issues like loud places or crowded places

1) Even with DAS, this sounds borderline problematic.
2) I know of few places in WDW (including stores) without noise and/or crowds.
3) And, streets/walkways in WDW might be a nightmare for him.

 

[DLgal]

Get some Peltor earmuffs. They can literally be worn everywhere at WDW. My now 10 year old hated WDW until we purchased some for him and they have been a Godsend, honestly.

My other son has crowd issues (both kids autistic, but 10 y/o has more sensory issues than his brother...the older one has anxiety triggered by crowds, though. Honestly, this is probably not what you want to hear, but when it gets too crowded, we simply have to leave and head back to the hotel for some space and a pool break. We last, on average, 2-4 hours in the parks at a stretch. My son handles crowds better at night, for whatever reason, so we spend much of our park time in the evenings as opposed to early in the day.

 

[StirlingSilver83]

1) Even with DAS, this sounds borderline problematic.
2) I know of few places in WDW (including stores) without noise and/or crowds.
3) And, streets/walkways in WDW might be a nightmare for him.

I thought about the DAS, but like I said I don't think it will help him...his big brother is on the spectrum and has issues waiting in crowded queues for more than 15 minutes so we have gotten the DAS for him before and it has worked out well. But his little brother has different issues and I just don't think the DAS is something that will help those issues. I am going to talk to the pediatrician tomorrow and I am thinking we might talk about those head phones that block out sound, but are those head phones allowed on rides? Also the crowd thing should be ok if he's in his stroller (his stroller is his safe spot), so I am definitely getting a stroller as a wheelchair sticker, bc I think that will more than likely help him more than anything. He's been to Disney twice, but these issues I have been seeing with him are on the newer side, not sure how he's going to react once we get to Disney. Like we took him to the movies over the weekend to see Finding Dory...we just walked in the theater and he covered his ears, closed his eyes and just started crying...my husband had to take him home. He's seen Nemo millions of times and never had an issue but it was at home, not at a theater...maybe I am just being a paranoid parent and he was just having an off day, but my first son is on the spectrum and I just have these warning bells going off in my head.

 

[StirlingSilver83]

Get some Peltor earmuffs. They can literally be worn everywhere at WDW. My now 10 year old hated WDW until we purchased some for him and they have been a Godsend, honestly.

My other son has crowd issues (both kids autistic, but 10 y/o has more sensory issues than his brother...the older one has anxiety triggered by crowds, though. Honestly, this is probably not what you want to hear, but when it gets too crowded, we simply have to leave and head back to the hotel for some space and a pool break. We last, on average, 2-4 hours in the parks at a stretch. My son handles crowds better at night, for whatever reason, so we spend much of our park time in the evenings as opposed to early in the day.

Thanks for the feed back...he seems ok if he has some personal space and kids aren't running around like crazy or if he can absorb himself in his tablet to deal with crowds. We are on the deluxe dining plan, and we do that so we get a break from the parks without actually having to go back to the hotel for a break. Sometimes though my hubby will take my little one back to the hotel to rest while I hang in the park with my older DS, but we were staying on the monorail then...next year we are staying at AKL, so going back to the resort can be tough...I have factored in a resort Day in the middle of the trip where we just hang out at AKL and my hubby said he is going to drive to the parks so if he has to take my little 1 back to the resort it will be easier for him to do so. Usually the food breaks are very helpful (at least for my older son on past trips) so I am hoping they are helpful again with my younger son. I will look into though earmuffs though thanks!

 

[tcufrog]

My older son has noise sensory issues and is high functioning Aspergers. Occupational therapy worked wonders for him. The problem won't go away and will only become more of an issue if you don't get him help. If at all possible I would start now. It only gets harder as you get older to overcome it on your own. It will help quite a bit with his daily life and will be very helpful at Disney.

 

[nikkislaght]

while waiting in line, my husband is at the front and I'm at the back , son in between and we leave plenty of room for him to jump, flap etc.. smells hit my son, so sometimes he needs something to cover his nose. it could be his sweater or a scarf etc.. he also wears ear buds.. And sunglasses to reduce visual noise. We have food issues with my son . so making sure he has the correct food, crunchy snacks..as he is a seeker.. also he wears a weighted backpack.. and Under Armor clothing tight. if you are using a stroller I would take a weighted lapbag.. you can make these real easy and cheap.. heavy linen placemat sewn length ways... leave a fill whole, fill with rice and lavender.. sew the whole.. weight of bag should be about 10% of the weight of child... we bring our sons weighted blanket with us , to reduce sleeping issues.. he also uses a camelbak drink bottle. this has lots of sucking. if he is an oral seeker.. you can get him some chewlery.. if he is an avoider and some kids can be both.. then make sure you find that quiet spot to rest in. My son is 11 and on our last trip, I would take him back to the hotel early so it was just us, he would swim for a bit.. come back to the room and rest while watching some TV ,, that alone time was important for him and made life bearable for the rest of our group.. hope you have a great trip.

 

[Cloudy]

Noise blocking headphones are allowed on rides.

 

[JenLT]

... Lately he has been having a ton of trouble with sensory issues like loud places or crowded places. Which is making me nervous Bc I have no idea how he is going to act at Disney. ... Anyways I am definitely going to get a stroller as a wheelchair sticker do he has his safe place but does anyone have any other ideas? Has anyone ever used noise blocking headphones on a 3 yr old and they have kept them on and are u allowed to take them on rides?

His stroller will be a big help! Definitely get the stroller as a wheelchair tag and get noise blocking ear muffs. I know there are actual headphones that are also noise cancelling, but those don't seem to work that well (at least what we've had). The ear muffs work much better! Does your son use any electronics? I know a lot of people are against that but I've found that when our son got overwhelmed by what was happening around him, he'd lay back in the stroller, pull out the sun shade as far as it went, and play his ipod touch/watch a movie on there until he was able to pay attention to the world again.

You may have to skip the shows with him if he is developing a reaction to theaters. Our son won't even consider a theater. Not ever, not even for his favorite character in the whole world - Nemo. There is something about theaters that can be overwhelming to some children with sensory processing problems.

 

[StirlingSilver83]

His stroller will be a big help! Definitely get the stroller as a wheelchair tag and get noise blocking ear muffs. I know there are actual headphones that are also noise cancelling, but those don't seem to work that well (at least what we've had). The ear muffs work much better! Does your son use any electronics? I know a lot of people are against that but I've found that when our son got overwhelmed by what was happening around him, he'd lay back in the stroller, pull out the sun shade as far as it went, and play his ipod touch/watch a movie on there until he was able to pay attention to the world again.

You may have to skip the shows with him if he is developing a reaction to theaters. Our son won't even consider a theater. Not ever, not even for his favorite character in the whole world - Nemo. There is something about theaters that can be overwhelming to some children with sensory processing problems.

Thanks for the reply! I plan on getting the peltor earmuffs like a previous person suggested. I looked them up on Amazon and they come in colors and aren't that expensive...I think I will even get a pair for my older son...he's on the spectrum but he can deal with his sensory issues better Bc he's older, but if he had the ear muffs he could stay for the fireworks which would make him happy. I this at HS the only shows we are going to see is the Frozen sing a long, Disney Jr, and beauty and the beast. At least with my little guy. My older son wants to see Indiana jones and the little mermaid show but those shows are too intense for his little brother...so I'm thinking that my hubby might go back to the resort after lunch for nap time with my little one and then we can do the other stuff that my older son wants to do. I know my younger son definitely wants to see the Disney Jr show he loves that show and watches it on you tube all the time and he LOVES frozen so that's a no brainier lol...he does have an iPad but I'm always afraid to take it into the park where it could get broken or lost...if we have to we can DL his favorite games onto either my phone or my husbands phone and if he needs that break from the world he can play with that.

 

[AcrossthePondNic]

I'm in the UK and my son was recently given noise makers by his doctor. They look like hearing aids and they play white noise into the ear. It's early days but he certainly seems able to cope for longer with them in when he's in a noisy area. Not sure if something like that would be of any use.