Camp Carnival and children with autism

[Vianky]

My family will be going on our first cruise in July on the Valor. My 11 year old has autism. High functioning autism. Everyone that as ever watched my children say that they are the best behaved kids ever. You really do not need to treat my 11 year any different. We never have and he is extremely well behaved just like my 7 year old.

 

Now, is there some type of policy that would not let them watch my son since he has the "label"? Even though really he would not need absolutely ANY extra type of attention?

 

Am I required to let them know of his condition?

 

We have always treated him like any other kid and we hate for other to label him and just assume things about him. So if I am not required to tell them I don't think I want to.

 

Thanks!

[IndyKat]

Check out this link, my sister and I travelled in January with my 8 year niece who has Autism . I'm sure you & your family will have a great time. :)

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1130391&highlight=autism+destiny

 

Kath

[DrCammyCam]

Hi

I think it's great you are taking your son on a cruise. My brother is autistic and I wish we could take him. ( he is not tolerable of change.) Anyhow, they do ask if your child has any medical conditions or allergies. There are also considerations of if you would allow him to check himself out or wait for an authorized person to pick him up. Now, if you are comfortable that his autism won't cause any issues I don't think you would need to disclose. There is always the option of obtaining a pager or calling to check on your child.

[kr8z]

Carnival is very accommodating. I emailed them to let them know our 3 year old was diagnosed. They set up everything and are wonderful! Also, check out http://www.AutismOnTheSeas.com I transferred our next booking to them. they also work with the ships to make sure everything will go smoothly. Camp Carnival will allow a special needs child to drop down an age group if necessary. I assume since your child is high functioning, that the 9-11 group will be just fine. Enjoy your cruise and don't worry about camp. They will welcome your son with open arms.

[garpmqt]

I wish you the best with your cruise! I wish that we could take our son, who has Fragile X, but he can't take any unusual motion or noise without really bugging out. We hope that in time he can become less anxious about such things.

[kerrytens]

kr8z is right on the ball with this one! Carnival will welcome your child and have everything set in place for his arrival. You can either email them yourself and let them know or take that extra step and contact Autism on the Seas. Wonderful organization - they MADE our cruise :D

[Vianky]

Timothy will be fine and I do not believe he would need any special accommodations. As long as I prepare him with enough time in advance he usually does very well on vacations if he knows what to expect.

 

The only thing that concerns me just a bit is that when he is in a social situation it can come to a point where he is ALL DONE. He does not have a meltdown but he NEEDS to be left alone. He can do this on his own by going to a place where not everyone is at but it will bother him if someone is asking him what is wrong many times and try to push him to socialize.

 

Its not all the time. I have friends over very often and he handles that very well. Recently this happened, when there were like 5 children in his room and he was ALL DONE for the moment and told them all to leave his room. At first they did not listen and this made him very annoyed and started to stress out a lot.

 

Once he gets to this point he needs to just be left alone and he can calm himself down. Sometimes he is fine to play in 10 min, sometimes he is done for the day.

 

Those pagers that they give out, do they children have the option to call for mom themselves or do they have to ask someone to call for mom? Maybe a walkie would be the best way to go? so if he needs me he can just call me himself? Do you think this should be something I should tell them?

 

I just really fear that they will label him and think he needs all this attention when he will just hate that. I have had so many situations where people know before hand that my son has autism and when they come in contact with him they do not treat him like they would any child. He does not understand why they do that and does not like the extra attention.

[A&Jfamily]

Timothy will be fine and I do not believe he would need any special accommodations. As long as I prepare him with enough time in advance he usually does very well on vacations if he knows what to expect.

 

The only thing that concerns me just a bit is that when he is in a social situation it can come to a point where he is ALL DONE. He does not have a meltdown but he NEEDS to be left alone. He can do this on his own by going to a place where not everyone is at but it will bother him if someone is asking him what is wrong many times and try to push him to socialize.

 

Its not all the time. I have friends over very often and he handles that very well. Recently this happened, when there were like 5 children in his room and he was ALL DONE for the moment and told them all to leave his room. At first they did not listen and this made him very annoyed and started to stress out a lot.

 

Once he gets to this point he needs to just be left alone and he can calm himself down. Sometimes he is fine to play in 10 min, sometimes he is done for the day.

 

Those pagers that they give out, do they children have the option to call for mom themselves or do they have to ask someone to call for mom? Maybe a walkie would be the best way to go? so if he needs me he can just call me himself? Do you think this should be something I should tell them?

 

I just really fear that they will label him and think he needs all this attention when he will just hate that. I have had so many situations where people know before hand that my son has autism and when they come in contact with him they do not treat him like they would any child. He does not understand why they do that and does not like the extra attention.

 

Really - they won't label him. My oldest is ADHD and I always make sure to let them know that. When you register him the first night, just talk to the people who will be mainly with him and explain that how he will behave and that he does not need extra attention. A walkie talkie would be a good idea so that he can contact you - I assume you don't want him to have the ability to sign himself in and out of camp.