DAS for a teenager (on her own)

[thiabelle]

Hello! My DD (17) will be heading to the World for a school trip. She is super excited but also anxious. She has GAD and this will be the first time at DW without me (she has gone many, many times and is comfortable there)
Right now her biggest issue with anxiety is coming from having to get a DAS on her own. She has always travelled with just me and I have a DAS so there never seemed to be a reason for her to obtain one as well (she was just part of my party).
As such, she isn't in their system. She knows what she needs to do (Go to GR at MK on their first day and ask). Will there be an issue because she is not an adult and there will not be an adult with her? Should I see if a chaperone can accompany her?
I have told her that I will help her craft a "crib sheet" so that if she gets flustered she can refer to it but that she is going to have to advocate for herself (sniff- I'm not there to help). She can't just push the note towards the Cast Member. And she will have to speak at a volume that they can hear her!
Any experiences or advice would be most appreciated.
Thank you all!

 

[gap2368]

I am not too sure about the age and going alone so she might have to have an adult with her ( I know there is an age limit for riding rides alone not too sure about being in the park alone) So it might be helpful if one of the chaperones goes with her and also anyone she will be with at the park that day so they can be put on the DAS card with her and ride things together.

with that said she can go to GR and tell them she would like to see about getting a DAS and let the CM know she wrote some things down on m why she thinks she needs a DAS card and ask them if they would not mind reading this. the CM can read thing people write down they cannot read Dr note. the CM might ask her follow up question or they might not

 

[SueM in MN]

At 17, she will be fine entering the park alone and riding alone. The age to do either of those things is 14 years.

If she was my child, I would prepare her to self-advocate as Gap mentioned, but I would also ask for the chaperone to be with her to provide support (making sure the chaperone knows she is supposed to do it herself).
Unless she plans on riding everything alone, she will need to choose some friends (up to 5 besides her) who will be linked to her DAS and will able to be included in her DAS Return Times.
I’m assuming she knows how DAS works, if she’s been with you when you used it, but I’d still go over it with her - she may not have paid much attention since she didn’t need to.

 

[thiabelle]

Thank you all so much. She has one friend who is attached via MDE (they are currently in the process of making FP day by day). I will tell you to make sure her friend goes with her in order to be linked to her DAS.
I was thinking that a DAS refresher would be a good idea- @SueM in MN--> she doesn't pay attention to anything!! She recently started driving and seems genuinely astonished that the roads all connect to get her where she wants to go!

 

[mamabunny]

I don't know if this would be helpful, but there is an App she could download for her phone (I have an iPhone - not sure if this is available for Android, but I seem to recall hearing that it is) for future use.

It's called "Emergency Chat" (the developer's name is Leonard Elezi) and if she gets overwhelmed and can't talk - but could still text - it allows her to type a message on her phone and then hand it to another person who can then type back, or speak verbally to her. There is a splash screen that you can customize to let people know that she is overwhelmed and can't speak right now.

If you think she might become overwhelmed in a specific situation, you can even "preset" some text that would provide the basic info she needs to communicate in that instance.

I believe my buddy @gap2368 was the one that brought this app to our attention originally (credit where credit is due! )

 

[thiabelle]

Thank you so much again. I will definitely look into that app. That could be very helpful, especially if she gets separated and then gets overwhelmed.

 

[mickey&minniealways]

Hello! My DD (17) will be heading to the World for a school trip. She is super excited but also anxious. She has GAD and this will be the first time at DW without me (she has gone many, many times and is comfortable there)
Right now her biggest issue with anxiety is coming from having to get a DAS on her own. She has always travelled with just me and I have a DAS so there never seemed to be a reason for her to obtain one as well (she was just part of my party).
As such, she isn't in their system. She knows what she needs to do (Go to GR at MK on their first day and ask). Will there be an issue because she is not an adult and there will not be an adult with her? Should I see if a chaperone can accompany her?
I have told her that I will help her craft a "crib sheet" so that if she gets flustered she can refer to it but that she is going to have to advocate for herself (sniff- I'm not there to help). She can't just push the note towards the Cast Member. And she will have to speak at a volume that they can hear her!
Any experiences or advice would be most appreciated.
Thank you all!

Myself I would ask if one of the chaperones could accompany her to get a DAS. Better to circumvent any problems in my opinion. My special needs son who is now 31 loves Disney. He can actually navigate everything there on his own. Buses, monorails etc. He cannot do this at home. She just might suprise you. They have a tendancy to rise to the occasion when given the opportunity.

 

[thiabelle]

Hi all! Just wanted to give you an update. DD successfully got her DAS all on her own! I got a text on Monday afternoon saying she was all set. She has used it once a day for her park days. I am so happy it worked out for her. Thank you so much!!