minimal verbal child at wdw /getting lost

[lucifie]

We didn't get it done before our trip, but I've been thinking about getting our DD a medic-alert bracelet. She doesn't have any major medical problems, but she is mostly non-verbal, so I was going to put "non-verbal" on the bracelet. This trip our kids all had "First Visit" buttons. At City Hall in MK (and I would assume somewhere in the other parks, too) they had those disposable bracelets you could write on and the CM there also suggested putting our phone numbers on the back of the buttons. I told the kids to show a CM if they get lost. I don't know if a CM would have looked for it, though. The throw-away phone is good and we also rented an adaptive stroller and got the sticker so we could use it as a wheelchair.

[bean24]

My 3 yr old non verbal ASD son will not wear the id bracelets or safety tats. We got a dog tag with his name and our phone numbers on it, and pinned it to the back of his shirt where he couldn't touch it, but it could be easily seem by a CM

[wilkeliza]

Originally Posted by wheels on fire

Trying think best way that if my son gets separated .That a cm can see find out he is pretty much non verbal but can understand.but cant write either due to hi physical issue

Am planning a tag etc with name on .But wont have a phone that works in the USA

Hi. I am a CM at EPCOT and though you might like to hear advice from a CM so you can start working through your son things he might need to do to make him comfortable.

First and formost CMs are taught about this and we do our best in the situation to keep everyone calm. Unfortunately a CM can not touch a child unless the child initiates the contact first. So to help it is important to teach your son is to go up to a CM and either offer a hand to them or a hug or a tug at their costume to get their attention since he is nonverbal and then show them his information. The best thing I saw on a child during my time at EPCOT was a child who had a necklace with a little note card on it that said "I'm lost. My name is------ My parent's name is------. We are staying at ----- Resort. My parents can be reach here ------ (it had email and phone)."

It was perfect because the little boy (toddler so hardly talkative but could easily get lost) just walked up to us touched my fellow CMs hand, got our attenion, and handed us the card. We had everything we needed and he didn't have to say a word.

Tattoos on their arm or hand with the same information is great as well.

Also since your son is younger they will take him to baby care with in 5 minutes of finding him. Sometimes a CM will stay with the child where they came up to them and another will go looking for mom and dad or they will walk with the child for a quick lap of the area to find mom and dad but in your situation a good CM will take him directly to baby care and will also call over the radios to let security as well as all other CMs know about it.

As soon as you realize he is gone get to a CM. It is important to get to a CM yourself because you can give them a description and then everyone in the park will be on a look out for him. Also listen to the CM. Depending on the park there are different rules. I know you may want to run all over looking for your son but know that if you stay with the CM you alerted first it is easier to get him back to you then telling someone and dashing off. Basically what will happen is once we are alerted of a lost child or once we find a lost child we get on a radio or company phone and signal as such. At that point security is made aware and they watch the parks as well as entrances and exits. Also every CM in the area is notified so that they know what child or adult they are looking for. So it is best you stay with CM you first come in contact with so that when this trail of people is looking for your son they know where you are or who you are with.

Never Never Never go to a custodial cm though. I hate saying that but most custodial cast members although they are great cast members barely speak English or they are some of our awesome disable cast members who don't always have the ability to understand what you are asking for. I only say this because I've watched a lot of them act clueless when a lost child is taken to them.

Another great bit of advice I've heard is take a picture of him in the morning on your digital camera. That way if he gets lost you can show a picture to the CMs you tell so that they know exactly what little kid they are looking for and in the stressful situation you don't have to think about what he wore that day.

At the end of the day the most important thing to teach him is that people with the Disney name badge are safe and he can trust them. If he knows that then if all else fails he will get to a CM who will take him to baby care and you can get him there with in minutes of losing him by just going to any CM and telling them he is lost.

Sorry if this is a lot of information I just like to give as much information from a CMs view on this subject because it happens a lot and I always want parents to be over prepared then their kids get lost and they have no clue what to do.

[wheels on fire]

Thank you for the help .He is not autistic the non verbal is down to physical issues he is 7 but does function more around a 5 year old and looks about 3 as is tiny and can get shy around strangers in a busy environment but will not wear anything on him .

I often end up wearing his wristbands in uk .Will try get to Walmart and grab a cell phone picture each day is a good idea and like idea of dog tags maybe on zipper or something

Running of not an issue as such since he normally good and cant run fast ,its more accidental separation Iworry about will have his wheelchair but he likes walk to when he can, and my daughter will get job of pushing the chair as I will in my wheelchair to

[wilkeliza]

Originally Posted by wheels on fire

Thank you for the help .He is not autistic the non verbal is down to physical issues he is 7 but does function more around a 5 year old and looks about 3 as is tiny and can get shy around strangers in a busy environment but will not wear anything on him .

I often end up wearing his wristbands in uk .Will try get to Walmart and grab a cell phone picture each day is a good idea and like idea of dog tags maybe on zipper or something

Running of not an issue as such since he normally good and cant run fast ,its more accidental separation Iworry about will have his wheelchair but he likes walk to when he can, and my daughter will get job of pushing the chair as I will in my wheelchair to

First off I want to apologize for calling your son autistic. I read the reply about the person who had the autistic non-verbal son and must have mashed them together in my brain while replying thinking they were the same little boy. I edited my reply to reflect the information.

If the accidental separation is the worry I would say plan a few moments each day where you can let him walk in a small area that would be less crowded. The baby centers are great for this since they aren't just for babies. Tell them you just want him to be able to stretch his legs in a safe place.

Another great idea is since you both have wheelchairs use those viewing areas each night to your advantage. They are usually roped off (or at least the ones in EPCOT are) and the CM are usually very protective of the kids in them. I use to work that area every night in EPCOT and I always loved playing with the kids in the area especially those who were getting their stretch for the night. Also a stop by guest relations at each park would be beneficial. They can give you some pointers of queues and areas of the park that would be great to let him walk around in and explore that are also easy to monitor him in.

Also remember Disney is the best for guests with disabilities and I'd go as far as to say 90% of CMs will be more than willing to help and even play if you need help while he is walking about that way you have several eyes on him.

Also I hope I'm not coming off as rude or anything. I try to be helpful and on another Disney forum I was told I was being rude for suggesting asking for help so I just want to be clear I'm not trying to be rude just offer suggestions so that you know all your options. I hope you have a fabulous vacation.

[wheels on fire]

thank you

no dont worry its ok lot people do presume non verbal children are Autistic

And no you are not coming across as rude at all far from it .Found all posts very helpful and especially helping hear from A cast member point of view as if he gets lost you are going be my first point of call so means have some idea of what you need

Yes Am hoping to make the handicap areas for shows and have to agree so far the help from Disney and the accommodations far outweigh anything in uk

[SueM in MN]

Originally Posted by wilkeliza

First off I want to apologize for calling your son autistic. I read the reply about the person who had the autistic non-verbal son and must have mashed them together in my brain while replying thinking they were the same little boy. I edited my reply to reflect the information.

If the accidental separation is the worry I would say plan a few moments each day where you can let him walk in a small area that would be less crowded. The baby centers are great for this since they aren't just for babies. Tell them you just want him to be able to stretch his legs in a safe place.

Another great idea is since you both have wheelchairs use those viewing areas each night to your advantage. They are usually roped off (or at least the ones in EPCOT are) and the CM are usually very protective of the kids in them. I use to work that area every night in EPCOT and I always loved playing with the kids in the area especially those who were getting their stretch for the night. Also a stop by guest relations at each park would be beneficial. They can give you some pointers of queues and areas of the park that would be great to let him walk around in and explore that are also easy to monitor him in.

Also remember Disney is the best for guests with disabilities and I'd go as far as to say 90% of CMs will be more than willing to help and even play if you need help while he is walking about that way you have several eyes on him.

Also I hope I'm not coming off as rude or anything. I try to be helpful and on another Disney forum I was told I was being rude for suggesting asking for help so I just want to be clear I'm not trying to be rude just offer suggestions so that you know all your options. I hope you have a fabulous vacation.

I want to welcome you and let you know that suggestions are welcome here, as long as by are given in a well meaning manner.
There are one posting guidelines found here:
http://www.wdwinfo.com/guidelines.htm

As long as you follow them, you will have no issues.

If you have not looked at the disABILITIES FAQs thread, I suggest you check it out. It is as full of good information as I can make it. You can find that thread stuck near the top of this board or follow the link in my signature.

Post 6 of that the disABILITIES FAQs is about Guest Assistance Cards and assistance that can be provided by Guest Relations in the parks.

[CKCruising]

Originally Posted by wilkeliza

...Another great bit of advice I've heard is take a picture of him in the morning on your digital camera. That way if he gets lost you can show a picture to the CMs you tell so that they know exactly what little kid they are looking for and in the stressful situation you don't have to think about what he wore that day...

I think this is excellent advice for every parent. With camera phones (or digital cameras) now, take a picture of you child/children before you start every day. Even if you picked their clothes out in the morning, when it comes to a stressful situation like a missing child, it might not be easy to remember what they are wearing.

[lanejudy]

Originally Posted by wheels on fire

...and like idea of dog tags maybe on zipper or something ...

Since most zippers are on sweatshirts that are likely to be removed on a hot day - another suggestion is to put the dog tag on the shoe laces.

Enjoy your vacation!

[dasan]

Originally Posted by wilkeliza

Hi. I am a CM at EPCOT and though you might like to hear advice from a CM so you can start working through your son things he might need to do to make him comfortable.

First and formost CMs are taught about this and we do our best in the situation to keep everyone calm. Unfortunately a CM can not touch a child unless the child initiates the contact first. So to help it is important to teach your son is to go up to a CM and either offer a hand to them or a hug or a tug at their costume to get their attention since he is nonverbal and then show them his information. The best thing I saw on a child during my time at EPCOT was a child who had a necklace with a little note card on it that said "I'm lost. My name is------ My parent's name is------. We are staying at ----- Resort. My parents can be reach here ------ (it had email and phone)."

It was perfect because the little boy (toddler so hardly talkative but could easily get lost) just walked up to us touched my fellow CMs hand, got our attenion, and handed us the card. We had everything we needed and he didn't have to say a word.

Tattoos on their arm or hand with the same information is great as well.

Also since your son is younger they will take him to baby care with in 5 minutes of finding him. Sometimes a CM will stay with the child where they came up to them and another will go looking for mom and dad or they will walk with the child for a quick lap of the area to find mom and dad but in your situation a good CM will take him directly to baby care and will also call over the radios to let security as well as all other CMs know about it.

As soon as you realize he is gone get to a CM. It is important to get to a CM yourself because you can give them a description and then everyone in the park will be on a look out for him. Also listen to the CM. Depending on the park there are different rules. I know you may want to run all over looking for your son but know that if you stay with the CM you alerted first it is easier to get him back to you then telling someone and dashing off. Basically what will happen is once we are alerted of a lost child or once we find a lost child we get on a radio or company phone and signal as such. At that point security is made aware and they watch the parks as well as entrances and exits. Also every CM in the area is notified so that they know what child or adult they are looking for. So it is best you stay with CM you first come in contact with so that when this trail of people is looking for your son they know where you are or who you are with.

Never Never Never go to a custodial cm though. I hate saying that but most custodial cast members although they are great cast members barely speak English or they are some of our awesome disable cast members who don't always have the ability to understand what you are asking for. I only say this because I've watched a lot of them act clueless when a lost child is taken to them.

Another great bit of advice I've heard is take a picture of him in the morning on your digital camera. That way if he gets lost you can show a picture to the CMs you tell so that they know exactly what little kid they are looking for and in the stressful situation you don't have to think about what he wore that day.

At the end of the day the most important thing to teach him is that people with the Disney name badge are safe and he can trust them. If he knows that then if all else fails he will get to a CM who will take him to baby care and you can get him there with in minutes of losing him by just going to any CM and telling them he is lost.

Sorry if this is a lot of information I just like to give as much information from a CMs view on this subject because it happens a lot and I always want parents to be over prepared then their kids get lost and they have no clue what to do.

What happens if you have a child that does not understand to go to a
cast member for help? Are cast members trained to look for children that
are by themselves?

[wilkeliza]

Originally Posted by dasan

What happens if you have a child that does not understand to go to a
cast member for help? Are cast members trained to look for children that
are by themselves?

First off sorry I didn't respond sooner I'm still getting use to this board.

Yes we are trained to look for list children. Some cast member may ignore it because the parks are so busy and it is hard for us to know who belongs to who but if we see a toddler by themselves and upset we are trained to make the list child call and try to get the kid to stay with us.

For any child with the capacity of 3 or older the bat advice is to show them what our name badges look like and tell them these are the safe people. Disney is safe but we can't know for sure other guests aren't up to something funny. Even though they may not know to come up to us they will at least know we are safe and trustable when we approach them. The worst for us is a lost child who runs away because we can't physically stop them (i mean like bear hug stop them) unless the make it to the turnstiles or to a CM only section alone.


Side not many CMs will break the rules if we see that the child is most likely special needs. We do use our best judgement and if we can't stop the child we will a least follow them and alert others of the situation.

[disney david]

My suggestion is right when you enter show your kids the security cms uniform and ocso deputies inform. As a fail safe because I highly doubt your kid would make it to the entrance unless you was near when got separated. Because the odds a cm would find and help is very very high or another parent would alert a cm before he got to the front. I also highly doubt they wouldn't stop a young kid if he was by him self trying to exit.

[pls5286]

My DSS is Autistic. We went to Wal-mart and in the pet-supply department you can custom make dog-tags for really cheap, like $2.00. I made him one that says my name is XXXX and I am Autistic. My dad's phone # is. My step-mom's phone # is, and my brother's phone # is. Please help me find them. We stress to him if he gets separated to go to a police officer or a store worker to show them his tag and they will find us. He wears it anytime we are out and about and in a very large crowd.