High functioning autism

jvz82 · Oct 22, 2016

My 7 year old has high functioning autism. His autism occasionally takes me by surprise, if that makes sense, where he seems like such a typical 7 year old and then suddenly he's having a full on meltdown. Our last Disney trip was about 3 years ago, before his diagnosis, and the biggest meltdown we had was in line for the Ariel ride. The line was super long, and it's a crowded wait. It was such a big meltdown that my husband had to leave the line through an emergency exit. A cast member (respectfully) asked if my son had autism. My husband was able to calm him down and we enjoyed the rest of the afternoon.

He's matured a lot since then but he still gets really overstimulated easily. He can usually hold it together until something doesn't go the way he expects (and we don't always know what his expectations are, they're something he's decided on his own) and then he'll lose it.

I guess what I'm wondering is do we try for the das right away or see how the first day goes? I've got our trip really planned out with lots of time for breaks built in to avoid some meltdowns. But we're there around Christmas and it's going to be crowded and overstimulating no matter how well I plan. Does it sound like das would be helpful for him?

Any other parents of kids with high functioning autism feel somewhat uneasy about utilizing das?

Aladora · Oct 22, 2016

Our 11 year old is HFA and we have used the DAS as well as the old GAC. Our first DL trip was when he was 6, a short 3 months after his diagnosis and the GAC was a tripsaver! The older he gets, the less we use the DAS and we have gone from him not being able to wait in any lines at the beginning to our trip last month where we had a rule that if the ride had a wait time of 30 minutes or less, we would not use the DAS. It went well for the most part but we also have other strategies to help. He is light sensitive so we always have sunglasses plus a spare pair, we allow him to bring his Nintendo DS and he can play it when we are waiting in lines and finally, we take a mid day break back at the hotel to allow him to decompress and not get overwhelmed and overstimulated.

If it were me, I would try the first day without the DAS and if you find that your son needs the accommodations it provides then I would get it.

mamabunny · Oct 22, 2016

If you or your family member requires and is eligible for DAS, then please don't feel uneasy at all.

Having DAS, and not needing it is way better than not having DAS and then trying to go get it after he has gone through a meltdown, and everyone is kind of emotionally wrung out.

Also, since you have some time before your next trip, maybe you could work with your DS and set some appropriate expectations in advance so that he isn't caught off guard when WDW doesn't look like it does in the commercials on TV... Even just gentle reminders like "all of the Christmas decorations will be out for us to see everywhere we go!" could be helpful.

DisneyOma · Oct 22, 2016

jvz82 said:
My 7 year old has high functioning autism. His autism occasionally takes me by surprise, if that makes sense, where he seems like such a typical 7 year old and then suddenly he's having a full on meltdown. Our last Disney trip was about 3 years ago, before his diagnosis, and the biggest meltdown we had was in line for the Ariel ride. The line was super long, and it's a crowded wait. It was such a big meltdown that my husband had to leave the line through an emergency exit. A cast member (respectfully) asked if my son had autism. My husband was able to calm him down and we enjoyed the rest of the afternoon.

He's matured a lot since then but he still gets really overstimulated easily. He can usually hold it together until something doesn't go the way he expects (and we don't always know what his expectations are, they're something he's decided on his own) and then he'll lose it.

I guess what I'm wondering is do we try for the das right away or see how the first day goes? I've got our trip really planned out with lots of time for breaks built in to avoid some meltdowns. But we're there around Christmas and it's going to be crowded and overstimulating no matter how well I plan. Does it sound like das would be helpful for him?

Any other parents of kids with high functioning autism feel somewhat uneasy about utilizing das?

You could always check with his school and see what strategies they use for when your son has to wait in line/wait his turn. While a DAS helps with waiting for attractions, there's no DAS for buses, restaurants, bathrooms, etc. It's never too early to start collecting 'tools' to help a person cope with stressful situations.

gap2368 · Oct 22, 2016

You can ask for a DAS card and if you do not need it you do not have to use it.

5kidsmommy · Oct 22, 2016

We plan on getting a DAS card for our 14 year old son with HFA. I doubt we will use it but it will be there if needed. I actually like him to wait, he's at a good age to practice patience but lately traveling has gotten very difficult for him. So basically I prefer to have a back up plan.

lanejudy · Oct 22, 2016

What are your plans the first day? If you are aiming for an early in-park breakfast and/or rope drop to get some attractions done with little wait, I suggest at least starting your day without and see how it goes. You can then swing back to GR later in the morning or afternoon. If your first park day will be at a fairly leisurely pace anyway, with no rush to get somewhere, make a stop at GR on your way into the park. Then you'll have the option to use it as needed.

Enjoy your vacation!

jvz82 · Oct 22, 2016

DisneyOma said:
You could always check with his school and see what strategies they use for when your son has to wait in line/wait his turn. While a DAS helps with waiting for attractions, there's no DAS for buses, restaurants, bathrooms, etc. It's never too early to start collecting 'tools' to help a person cope with stressful situations.

Thanks, that is a good idea. He has more difficulties at school than home so they have many interventions they use with him. I know he often wears head phones because too much noise disregulates him so we will look into bringing head phones.

jvz82 · Oct 22, 2016

lanejudy said:
What are your plans the first day? If you are aiming for an early in-park breakfast and/or rope drop to get some attractions done with little wait, I suggest at least starting your day without and see how it goes. You can then swing back to GR later in the morning or afternoon. If your first park day will be at a fairly leisurely pace anyway, with no rush to get somewhere, make a stop at GR on your way into the park. Then you'll have the option to use it as needed.

Enjoy your vacation!

Our first day is disney springs and the pool, so that will hopefully be a relaxing day. Our first day at the parks will be Epcot and we plan to get there for rope drop. I have our day pretty well planned out and have fast passes made for late morning, planning a hotel break in the afternoon. Last time we went, the day he had the biggest meltdown was in the afternoon and there was no break. I'm thinking the break will really help him.

jvz82 · Oct 22, 2016

mamabunny said:
If you or your family member requires and is eligible for DAS, then please don't feel uneasy at all.

Having DAS, and not needing it is way better than not having DAS and then trying to go get it after he has gone through a meltdown, and everyone is kind of emotionally wrung out.

Also, since you have some time before your next trip, maybe you could work with your DS and set some appropriate expectations in advance so that he isn't caught off guard when WDW doesn't look like it does in the commercials on TV... Even just gentle reminders like "all of the Christmas decorations will be out for us to see everywhere we go!" could be helpful.

Thank you! Yes I've already been talking to him a lot about the trip and we've looked at YouTube videos of people standing in line at rides and the crowds.

I know one of our struggles will be gift shops. We plan to give him a gift card and having him be in charge of the money he spends because I think that will be better than us constantly telling him no. He is very responsible and smart but gets overwhelmed by all the stuff and desperately wants all of it. Then goes into full on tantrum mode when we say no. We've been talking a lot about money and how much will be on his gift card and once the money is gone, he can't spend more. He will do better if he is in control.

Some situations like that I fully anticipate being potential problems but sometimes he is triggered out of nowhere. We'll just do our best to prepare him though!

gorkt · Oct 22, 2016

I didn't realize that high functioning autism made you eligible for a DAS card. My son has gone to WDW twice without it, and he managed okay, but that is mostly because we have no hesitation to pull him from a line or park if his stress levels go up. We are just used to working around it. How does one get a DAS card?

lanejudy · Oct 22, 2016

gorkt said:
I didn't realize that high functioning autism made you eligible for a DAS card. My son has gone to WDW twice without it, and he managed okay, but that is mostly because we have no hesitation to pull him from a line or park if his stress levels go up. We are just used to working around it. How does one get a DAS card?

DAS is based on need, not diagnosis. One person with HFA may have very different needs at the park than another person with HFA. The first post of the WDW - Disability Access Service thread pinned near the top of this forum explains the DAS.

Enjoy your vacation!

gorkt · Oct 22, 2016

Ok, thank you. We will likely just continue to go without it since we do okay.

Kindermouse · Oct 22, 2016

jvz82 said:
Thank you! Yes I've already been talking to him a lot about the trip and we've looked at YouTube videos of people standing in line at rides and the crowds.

I know one of our struggles will be gift shops. We plan to give him a gift card and having him be in charge of the money he spends because I think that will be better than us constantly telling him no. He is very responsible and smart but gets overwhelmed by all the stuff and desperately wants all of it. Then goes into full on tantrum mode when we say no. We've been talking a lot about money and how much will be on his gift card and once the money is gone, he can't spend more. He will do better if he is in control.

Some situations like that I fully anticipate being potential problems but sometimes he is triggered out of nowhere. We'll just do our best to prepare him though!

One thing I finally figured out (It seems like I finally figure out how to handle my son needs or a stage he is going through just about the time is growing out of it :headache:

) is how to help my son with the spending issue. I tell my son that several times before we get there that he cannot buy anything on the first 3 days-but he must instead make a list of what he wants and where to find it and the price and he can then come back for it. We set up a little notepad entry for it on his phone so he can easily make his notes. He then has to crunch the numbers, knowing how much money he has to spend and how much will be left after purchasing an item and make sure he wants it. He often crosses out things on day 2 when he sees something better or decides that it isnt worth it if it means he has very little money left incase he see something better later. Now I dont say no, I say-write it down so we can put it on the list of things to buy on Wednesday. This may not work for your child-you know him best and his ability to "wait for later" but it has been pretty good for mine. on the other hand had I tried it when he was younger (he is 13 now) it would have blown up in my face because he wouldn't have been able to move past an idea that he had set his sights on so back then we just couldn't go into shops at all.

nikkislaght · Oct 23, 2016

We go every year, for 5 days,, my son has HFA and this year we only needed the DAS for our last day.. while waiting in line my husband will be at the front and me at the back so the boy has room to jump without jumping into anyone else.. we take plenty of snacks.. have a plan of attack for the rides.. take lots of rests. and always find an area where he can run around without bothering other people.. he will wear sunglasses and either a hoodie or beanie to cut down on visual and audio noise. we go with friends and will split up if he is getting overwhelmed. so don't be afraid to split up if need be.. use the rider swap too..

Hope you have a great trip !

kingpinpearce · Oct 23, 2016

Kindermouse said:
One thing I finally figured out (It seems like I finally figure out how to handle my son needs or a stage he is going through just about the time is growing out of it ) is how to help my son with the spending issue. I tell my son that several times before we get there that he cannot buy anything on the first 3 days-but he must instead make a list of what he wants and where to find it and the price and he can then come back for it. We set up a little notepad entry for it on his phone so he can easily make his notes. He then has to crunch the numbers, knowing how much money he has to spend and how much will be left after purchasing an item and make sure he wants it. He often crosses out things on day 2 when he sees something better or decides that it isnt worth it if it means he has very little money left incase he see something better later. Now I dont say no, I say-write it down so we can put it on the list of things to buy on Wednesday. This may not work for your child-you know him best and his ability to "wait for later" but it has been pretty good for mine. on the other hand had I tried it when he was younger (he is 13 now) it would have blown up in my face because he wouldn't have been able to move past an idea that he had set his sights on so back then we just couldn't go into shops at all.

I assumed you had Park Hopper when you did this. When we go in March, we don't have Park Hopper because we really didn't use it the last time we went so it wasn't a needed expense. (My son will be 11 and is HFA). He's already going to be on a budget - he and his sister are each getting $100 gift card for Christmas to use as they wish, but there will be no supplementation from the parent's beyond that. I guess we can work on a day to day basis, recommending he wait until we leave each park to decide, and he'll just have to figure out if what he wants at the end of each day is worth it.

murmer · Oct 23, 2016

First if you think you will need to das I recommend getting it. We don't use the das often but having it means when we need it we don't have to go somewhere and get it.

For spending my daughter she earns Disney bucks based on her behavior in the park. Then she gets to spend it as she desires and earns it. This helps encourage her to behave more appropriately and gives her the control to spend as desired. We have a number in our head of how much she can spend total on our trip and divide it up daily based on that.

Hoodie · Oct 24, 2016

gorkt said:
I didn't realize that high functioning autism made you eligible for a DAS card. My son has gone to WDW twice without it, and he managed okay, but that is mostly because we have no hesitation to pull him from a line or park if his stress levels go up. We are just used to working around it. How does one get a DAS card?

We try to have our son wait as much as possible. Usually for the first half of the trip he's OK, but the more tired he gets, the more the autism shows. We got a DAS for our last 2 days last trip and only used it on a couple of rides.

I will say it made it MUCH easier, both for him and us. I don't think we realized how stressful it was to watch him, entertain him, distract him, anything to prevent the meltdown until we got the DAS and saw what waiting outside the line did. For him, it wasn't so much the people. As long as it was moving, he was OK and most Disney lines move frequently or constantly. It's when we either stopped all together (and he'd start yelling at everyone because they stopped) or the interactive lines (TSM, etc.) which was too much stimulation for him. We did TSM at rope drop and had maybe a 10-15 minute wait but it was pure hell with all the flashing lights and big toys - we had to pick him up to get around Mr. Potato head because he just froze and sat down. FP entrance avoided all that. Just that was worth it.

You can always give it a try. If it helps have a smoother trip, great. If not, you don't have to use it. I had absolutely no intention of getting one for him but it really did help.

gorkt · Oct 24, 2016

Thanks for everyones responses. I may just play it by ear. So far we have managed okay without it, but we go at typically less crowded times of the year and do our best to avoid attractions with long lines. However, this year's Jersey week looks to be more crowded than usual. He is older now, and has better coping skills in some areas, but feels more anxiety in other areas.

Usually for the first half of the trip he's OK, but the more tired he gets, the more the autism shows.

I find this true for our son as well. His level of fatigue is directly related to how much stimulation he can handle. I mean, I think that is true for all kids, but particularly kids with ASD.

mamabunny · Oct 24, 2016

@gorkt: proof that I'm from the flyover states: What's "Jersey week"? Is that Thanksgiving?

High functioning autism

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