Hi I am New to the Forum

[London Girl]

We are travelling in May to Orlando with friends, we are flying with Virgin. This is the first time we have been. My Son is Autistic and Virgin have been very helpful with arrangements for the flights. This is the first time we have flown with our Son, we have plenty of things to take to keep him occupied on the flight, However,has anyone in the Forum travelled with an Autistic Child to Florida. if so how did you get on in the parks and do you have any suggestions of whats going on outside of the parks that would be good for an Autistic 10 year old? Many Thanks [msnsmile]

[blott]

Welcome to the forum! This thread might be of some help I hope. http://www.orlando-guide.info/forums/topic_4286.asp

[Chloe]

Welcome, I am sure you will enjoy the forum, and the information that is to be had re: all matters Floridian. You will have a fantastic holiday, and I am sure your son will love every moment. Chloe

[Newhomebuyer]

Can I recommend that you take a doctors note or some evidence of your sons autism. Many children with autism find the wait in line a very stressful experience in the theme parks. There is a scheme at Disney which can make this easier for you. If you take a note to the to Guest Services in Disney parks, they will give you help and advice on how to make the parks an exciting but not stressful time for your son.
At one time you did not need a note but sadly some guests abused the system so they often ask for verification before giving out special passes.
I am sure you are all going to have a great time.

[search66]

Good advice from both respondants. Disney is very accomidating to anyone with special needs. I applaud you for taking the trip. I have family members that work specifically with autistic children, and it's very rewarding.

I'm sure your son is going to have a blast! Welcome to the forums!

[caroline]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by London Girl
We are travelling in May to Orlando with friends, we are flying with Virgin. This is the first time we have been. My Son is Autistic and Virgin have been very helpful with arrangements for the flights. This is the first time we have flown with our Son, we have plenty of things to take to keep him occupied on the flight, However,has anyone in the Forum travelled with an Autistic Child to Florida. if so how did you get on in the parks and do you have any suggestions of whats going on outside of the parks that would be good for an Autistic 10 year old? Many Thanks [msnsmile]
[/quote]

One of my best friends has an autistic son, they got a letter from the autistic society to present at Disney and Universal and were then given a special pass - Nick can't cope with standing in a queue with lots of other people.
This pass allowed them to use the fastpass system on the rides where it is available, on all other rides they had to present it to the cast member at the entrance to the ride and were then shown where to go.

It worked really well and they were thrilled with the way the staff at the parks treated them.

Have a great time

[Nostromo]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by London Girl
We are travelling in May to Orlando with friends, we are flying with Virgin. This is the first time we have been. My Son is Autistic and Virgin have been very helpful with arrangements for the flights. This is the first time we have flown with our Son, we have plenty of things to take to keep him occupied on the flight, However,has anyone in the Forum travelled with an Autistic Child to Florida. if so how did you get on in the parks and do you have any suggestions of whats going on outside of the parks that would be good for an Autistic 10 year old? Many Thanks [msnsmile]
[/quote]

I have DMed you a useful link on this subject.

[Nostromo]

This article is about taking a child with Autism to Orlando on a personal perspective:

Just For Fun: Disney & Theme Park Disabilty Pass Report
Posted by: webmaster



Our Florida experience this past week
by Carolyn Gammicchia (2/25/2004)

We are back from Florida and wanted to give folks the low down on what happened when making attempts to enjoy the theme parks with our son who is affected by autism. We're sending this to many lists so if you have questions about a specific piece of information that we are supplying, please e-mail us privately and we'll do what we can answer questions based on what we experienced.

We also want to state that we have utilized special assistance passes at theme parks as a learning tool for our son. Initially he could only sustain a line for less than a minute without a behavioral outburst. We also don't know either if he as just over stimulated or that he just could not sustain the situation at the time due to his sensory dysfunction. But we now mainly use the pass as a back-up for the "just in case" situations. He can now tolerate lines longer than us at times because he knows the expectations and envisions that he will be getting what he wants at the end of the wait. Unlike some of us who are not real ride friendly....thank God for husbands and siblings who love them.

Another tidbit of info. We took a letter from our son's neurologist which stipulated his diagnosis. Though it states that he is HFA with ADHD, folks still allowed us the passes and every staff person thanked us for providing the letter and stated that it made their jobs much easier. The Disney rep did state also that folks had been abusing the system and they had been getting complaints from other park attendees and that was what had caused the previous hoopla over the possible discontinuation of passes for some folks with hidden disabilities.

So here is a list and what we experienced. However please note we also asked for written policies and most parks have booklets regarding their information. I would tell folks to contact each park you'll be attending before hand to see what they do allow as well.

Disney World/MGM/Epcot:


We were given a "Special Assistance Pass" that allowed us access to rides that have fast passes to utilize those lines for the entire length of our stay and for our entire party. For the rides that do not have fast pass access, each ride has a disability entrance that is wheelchair accessible and folks can use that entrance. Just be aware that this does not mean there will be no line. We waited up to 40 minutes in a fast pass line for a couple of rides and chose not to go the accessible route because the lines were never over 30 minutes in most situations.


Universal Studios and The Islands of Adventure:


We were given a "Assistance Pass" that allowed the same as Disney. The pass could be used for Fast Pass entry. We found this to did not allow folks in line to know that we did not have a Fast Pass and with Disney also. Therefore it really is a good idea for those that may not know about hidden disabilities and becoming upset when a special pass is used.


Discovery Cove:


This waterpark experience is fully accessible and special aqua wheelchairs are available and there are ramps and each site including the dolphin experience location. That was great to see. They don't have lines there nor really the need for any type of pass. The staff at this site is also excellent. This year our son had a little difficulty when riding the dolphin initially. He could not hold on and became upset. Up until that point we had not told them about the autism and when he is there we usually don't have problems, but he said he hated the dolphin and wanted to leave the site. The trainer personally went after him and told him that he would tell "CJ" to give him another ride. He then allowed him to have his own little interaction time with the dolphin, feed him and have his own little personal experience for over five minutes. He then took him out and had a great session with hi

[London Girl]

Thank you all for your replies, I appreciate it very much. It is a little daunting to think of WDW and Universal with our Son, because of the difficulties we may have, but we will be sure to take all your advice. Thank you.

[pt cruiser]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by London Girl
We are travelling in May to Orlando with friends, we are flying with Virgin. This is the first time we have been. My Son is Autistic and Virgin have been very helpful with arrangements for the flights. This is the first time we have flown with our Son, we have plenty of things to take to keep him occupied on the flight, However,has anyone in the Forum travelled with an Autistic Child to Florida. if so how did you get on in the parks and do you have any suggestions of whats going on outside of the parks that would be good for an Autistic 10 year old? Many Thanks [msnsmile]
[/quote]
Our son is also Autistic, we first took him to florida when he was 13 he is now 22, we have flown with virgin many times and they have been very good.William loves a window seat,we also take his favorite music for him to listen to.He was a little upset for the first couple of days new surroundings and all that, but now he looks forward to going now. He even wants to have a go in a hot air ballon when we go again in november[msneek][msnscared] William found it hard when he was asked to take his shoes (only started this after 9/11)But we had a word with one of the security men and he was very understanding and escorted us through.We took him to discovery cove last year, they were absolutly brilliant with him, have a picture of hime blowing a kiss to the dolphin , he didn't want to kiss him in case it bit him!! Watching to many jaws films i think!!Wiliam loves gatorland, not as busy as some of the parks, and he loves the air boat rids at boggy creek, but his favorite is to go for drives all over the place so he can see different street lights and road signs.I'm sure your son will be fine have a great time.
Teresa