Autism

[WannaBcruisN]

My daughter is Autistic but is very high functioning. One of the few things that bothers her is waiting in very crowded lines. Does anyone know if there is anything I can do to get her out of the boarding line to wait somewhere quietly? Thanks for any information you can provide!

[sueernieb]

I have a granddaughter who has autism but is very low functioning. She does enjoy riding on rides at amusement parks which usually requires waiting in lines. Most places we have been have a handicapped entrance which we are allowed to use so she can go right on in. I would contact the cruise line and see what could be arranged. I feel that you should be allowed to go right in so she does not have to experience anything that makes her uncomfortable. Special arrangements must be made for special people. I hope you have a wonderful cruise.

 

Sue

[montgomeryfamily]

If she will ride in a wheelchair, then when you get to the cruise terminal, request a wheelchair for boarding and then you won't have to make long, involved explanations to people who probably won't understand anyway--you get just go ahead and board with the other disabled people.

[Joisey Guy]

How have you and your ASD kids fared on cruises?

 

Has anyone placed their ASD kids in any of the onboard camps? What was your experience, as well as those of your kids? We have an eight-year-old son who is relatively high-functioning, and we're hoping he can go to Camp Carnival during our cruise to Canada in late August. The Carnival representative suggested explaining his issues to the staff at the camp and then observing how he does. I realize the camp staff can't provide my son with one-on-one assistance, but I'm just hoping they will be willing and able to accomodate him, as he does need some supervision.

 

Also, how have your children managed in the dining rooms? My son is a chicken nugget junkie, so he'd probably be content with that every day and night (though we'll try to offer him something off the main menu). I suspect he'll also be overwhelmed by all the noise and people aboard our ship (the Carnival Victory), so we'll probably ask for a somewhat secluded table (if there is such a thing) to relieve some of his anxieties. We'll also consider taking him to the Lido Deck buffets, although I understand they can be quite crowded at breakfast and lunch-time.

 

Incidentally, my son is not on any special diet, but we do try to limit his intake of dairy products and thus give him soy milk instead. Do all staterooms have mini-bars that could be used for storing food, or would the dining room staff be able to store and refrigerate his soy milk?

 

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and advice.

 

 

 

 

JG

 

 

 

PS. I'm not too concerned about boarding and leaving the ship; my 85-year-old mother is joining us on the cruise, and Carnival has assured me that they will expedite embarkation and disembarkation for her and other family members traveling with her.

[kitty9]

I'm a retired special education teacher so I'm fully aware of the special needs presented by children such as yours. My best suggestion is for you to go to Camp Carnival with your son and observe how he does in the situation. From experience, I know that the counselors at CC aren't specially trained to handle special needs kids. Plus, when you cruise during times when families abound, the staff can be overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of kids in the groups, which might not be a good thing for your son. You need to observe not only your son, but the counselors and most importantly, the other kids in the group. You just never know how other kids will react to your son.

 

Does your son respond well to noise, kids running in all directions, sensory overload and things like that? If not, then Camp Carnival might not be the best choice. Does your son tend to wander away from things that disturb him? I had one child who would try and hide whenever things got too stimulating, and that could potentially be a dangerous thing for your son. You have to be absolutely certain that the counselor will keep a constant eye on him if he does tend to wander, and that's not always possible when a counselor has a large number of kids to watch.

 

As far as dinner is concerned, I don't see why he couldn't join the family at the table. You can go to the maitre'd as soon as you board the ship and request a table near the door or in the corner where you can have a little more peace and quiet. The kitchen will accommodate him with all the nuggets he can handle. But for special menu items such as soy milk, those things have to be submitted in writing to Carnival no later than 30 days before your cruise. Most cabins have refrigerators to store your personal items---just have the cabin steward take everything out that you don't need. The buffets can be very noisy and crowded especially during peak kid cruising times, so be prepared for that.

[Joisey Guy]

I'm a retired special education teacher so I'm fully aware of the special needs presented by children such as yours. My best suggestion is for you to go to Camp Carnival with your son and observe how he does in the situation. From experience, I know that the counselors at CC aren't specially trained to handle special needs kids. Plus, when you cruise during times when families abound, the staff can be overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of kids in the groups, which might not be a good thing for your son. You need to observe not only your son, but the counselors and most importantly, the other kids in the group. You just never know how other kids will react to your son.

Kitty, thanks for your thoughtful reply. I suppose the number of campers varies depending on the time of year. For example, I found a review of an early May Carnival cruise in which there were only five kids and four counselors, while a review of a December cruise reported there were over 200 campers with only 10 counselors. Clearly, the latter ratio would be unacceptable for us (and perhaps for many parents of typical kids too) because our son does best in smaller (and less chaotic) class and group settings.

 

We will have to plan in case the camp and the night-time babysitting are not viable options for our son. We'll bring along books, games and activities for him and alternate his care equitably between me, my wife, and his grandmothers. Child care will only be an issue while the ship is at sea, as he will be joining us for sight-seeing, which he does enjoy.

 

Beyond the pools, the waterslide and the arcade (which he probably won't use because he's not into video games), what other onboard activities are there that might be appropriate for him?

 

Thanks again.

 

 

 

JG

 

 

PS Our 11-year-old daughter is also considered to be on the spectrum, but she is so high-functioning that she'll have no problems with the camp or any other activities.

[PiperMcB]

I also teach with kids on the autism spectrum. One thing that I have found very helpful is social scripting. Sometimes, going through what may happen in different situations and some appropriate ways to react to the different situations can do a lot to help the child handle things. I have a nephew with Aspergers and this really helps him.

 

Year before last, our entire school had to evacuate our building and go to a nearby high school (some construction workers hit a gas main.) I scripted the situation and my autistic student handled it very well--better in fact than some of the neurologically typical students!

[kitty9]

Other than what you said in your post, unless your son is involved in CC, there's not much else for an 8 year old. You can bet that in August, there will be literally hundreds of kids on your cruise. My friends did a Carnival cruise last August and there were over 650 kids on board. But don't let that deter you from trying CC. You might be surprised by how much your son will enjoy everything. You might also see if you can just go into CC with your son and use whatever things they have available such as arts and crafts, games and toys. That's a good alternative if your son doesn't do well by himself in the groups.

[jonesmen]

One of my twin sons (12) is on the spectrum (aspergers). Very bright, very verbal, but sometimes lacking in appropriate social skills. We were on the Grandeur last February, and we spoke to the kids program people upfront. As someone mentioned, most of the staff is not experienced dealing with kids with special needs. While they were initially receptive to working with him (us), after a small meltdown (nothing physical, but some yelling), we were summoned. We were not completely confident that they were equipped (or really willing) to work with us, so we participated sparingly. Since my sons have each other and were not really interested in many of the activities anyway, this worked fine for us. We are sailing again in February on Princess, and will evaluate the kids program when we board.

 

As with any vacation, we find that once we establish something of a routine, he settles in fine. The first night at dinner was a little stressful, particularly with tablemates. By mid-week, though, we were cruising (pun intended).

[sailor moon]

Our DD has high functioning Autism (Aspergers). We took her on Disney as her 1st cruise when she was 10 and it was very hard on her (and us) because of all the noise and all the waiting in line. The kids program was good for short amounts of time but she really did better with us. We are taking her on the Rhapsody at Thanksgiving this year with the knowledge that she will be hanging with us again as oposed to the tween group (she will be 13) . I can say that while she has outgrown a lot of her sound sensitivity and has more patience than she used to, I also know she will get overwhelmed or impatient -- especially when she is tired or hungry. We just try to anticipate the pitfalls and do the best we can. We took her brother last year on the Rhapsody and left her behind (which she loved as she had the sitters sole attention) . This year she wanted to try another cruise and she really wants to swim with the dolphins in Cozumel like her brother did last year. Time will tell if we made the right decision! Good luck with yours.

[jonesmen]

Our last cruise was on the Grandeur, sister ship to the Rhapsody. I think it is a nice manageable size ship, and our son generally did quite well. It isn't as big and overwhelming as the Voyager class ships or some of the other larger ships. Since my son is a twin, the boys had each other, and didn't need the kids program as much.

 

We swam with the stingrays, though, and it was not a good experience. He really wanted to do it, but the sensory overload was just too much. I don't know whether the dolphin experience is more controlled, but 50 stingrays coming at us, benign as they are, was just too much (we were a little intimidated as well, at first!).

 

I can relate to the ability of our kids to "keep it together". The first dinner with people we didn't know was a little strained for all of us because he was as you mentioned tired and hungry, and we were sitting with people we didn't know. We had wonderful tablemates, though, so the rest of the week was fine, even when my son was a little "quirky". Princess has personal choice dining, so we won't have to contend with set mealtimes or unfamiliar tablemates. I think this should make it a little easier.

 

We've decided that for whatever time our boys spend in the kids program, we'll ask for them to be in Princess' 10-12 group even though they will have just turned 13. I've already heard back from the Kids program director by email that it would be o.k. Would your daughter think that being with a slightly younger group would be uncool? RCCL accomodated that request for us last year since the boys were 12 and we didn't think they would be comfortable with the "tween" group. They might accomodate your daughter if you thought it was workable for whatever time she spent.

 

Good luck! I'd love to hear how is goes-

 

Bobbi

[LoriLinay]

What a nice group of thoughtful people! My daughter also falls into the ASD group. Our experience was not totally positive on Enchantment of the Seas. But a lot of that was that I didn't feel like asserting myself too much. We went to the kids club and attempted to get my 12 year old in the younger age group. I tried to tactfully explain that my daughter has some delays and would not need extra supervision in a younger age group. I just got a blank stare. I took her back at the time the girl at the club told me to (I thought she told me to come back so she would be there and understand the situation) and she totally ignored us. About 10 kids were involved in a very loud and unorganized activity and my daughter stood in the doorway. No effort was made by the staff to invite her in. And they very obviously saw me trying to encourage her to at least sit down. It didn't seem worth it to push the issue. Like has been said here a lot, the great staff just isn't trained for special needs kids with this type of disorder. Our trip was a family vacation and my daughter was doing really well, so I enjoyed the time with her. (As opposed to needing ther weight blankets, etc...)

 

I strongly agree with getting a wheelchair during the boarding process. But be prepared for stupid rude people. We used the wheelchair when my daughter was less mobile (she has some gross motor delay also) at Disney. When she would get out of her chair and walk to the rides, etc...we would ALWAYS hear comments about how "she doesn't seem so handicapped" URRRRRRGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!

 

Would headphones with nice quiet music help her? I startle VERY easily and find some of the echoing announcements uncomfortable.

[Joisey Guy]

Thanks to those of you who responded to my request for advice about taking an ASD child on a cruise. We returned today from a five-night to Canada aboard the Carnival Victory, and I wanted to let you how things went for my 11-year-old Asperger's-ish daughter and 8-year-old autistic son.

 

Both of them enjoyed the cruise, but in their own way. My daughter was able to attend many Camp Carnival activities and interacted quite well with some fellow campers. She has a strong sense of independence and took herself to and from many camp activities; if she couldn't find us afterwards, she went back to our cabin and waited for us to return.

 

For our eight-year-old son, things were a bit more difficult. We told the counselors about his disorder the first night out and they assured us that he'd be welcomed. The next day, however, they decided he'd be better off with the younger kids, who are confined in a designated area. When we retrieved him an hour or so later, the counselors indicated that there were no problems with him. I was relieved, but I really didn't have any great desire to return him to the camp afterwards.

 

The only serious problems I had with our son related to his sensory issues. On the first day, we participated in the mandatory lifeboat drill. He was fine putting on his life jacket and accompanying us to the muster station, but after the drill concluded, a well-meaning friend attempted to help him remove his jacket, which caused him to freak out and he began screaming and head-butting me in the arm; I remained calm rather than see the situation spiral out of control, and he quieted down by the time we returned to our cabin. In the second incident, he was startled by the ship's fog horn while waiting to go down the Victory's water slide. He was so terrified that he started screaming and tried to flee the upper deck before we intercepted him. For the balance of the cruise, he would not return to that area.

 

He seemed to enjoy our van tours in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, but he did wet his underpants a little in NS, which upset him to no end, despite my assurances that everything would be OK and that the little spot would soon dry. I managed to calm him down by walking around with him and pointing out places and objects to distract him.

 

Overall, I know our son enjoyed the cruise, because tonight he is so sad and weepy that the vacation has ended.

 

Thanks again to all.

 

 

 

JG

[kitty9]

So thrilled to hear your cruise went reasonably well. Your son must have really enjoyed himself, which is really nice to hear.

[PiperMcB]

Glad to hear everything went well. And kudos to your daughter for interacting with others. That is so difficult for ASD kiddos. Sounds like you had a relatively stress-free time!

[painteddigits]

Joicey,

 

I am so glad that you guys fared so well on the cruise! Next year, we are planning on taking a cruise with both of our children--the elder is somewhere between your children in the spectrum.

 

While our son doesn't care for extremely loud sudden noises, he can deal with them as long has he can cover his ears. We've had a couple of diagnoses that conflict, so we're just sticking with "Autistic" for now (easier to explain at times). He's offically BACK to PDD-NOS but at one point they were talking Asperger's because he is so high functioning.

 

This thread has helped me in the decision to at least TRY doing this trip! He does well in group settings of about 30 but after that, he'll tend to stress out.

 

Thank you,

Carol

[nancyfancy40]

My son is a AS child. He has been on one cruise at age 10 and we are going in April on our 2nd (He is now 15) The things that helped him, were to print out maps of the ship and become familiar with all aspects and areas of the ship. AS kids do not like the unkown. He did fine on our Carnival Cruise with the 10 year old group.

 

We just spoke with the staff up front, I made up a little mini book about the particular of high functioning AS and that helped them. My son has never done well in lines.

 

I contact the National Austim Society and got a card from them. Every where we have gone we just present his card and they put us up front.

 

A cruise can be a wonderful expericence for an AS child, just make him part of the preparation and part of learning about the ship.

 

Nancy

[painteddigits]

I contact the National Austim Society and got a card from them.

 

Thanks Nancy! Where on their site can I request this or does that come with the membership only? That's something we've been looking at anyway mostly for the Spectrum magazine, but I've found a lot of helpful info on there in the past.

Thanks,

Carol

[nancyfancy40]

Thanks Nancy! Where on their site can I request this or does that come with the membership only? That's something we've been looking at anyway mostly for the Spectrum magazine, but I've found a lot of helpful info on there in the past.

Thanks,

Carol

 

Here is the address to get the two cards I have. They are wonderful and no park, event or anywhere do they question. They just give us backdoor passes and we get put in front. I do now always use them, but in those times, it is sure nice to have them.

 

www.dimensionsspeech.com/autsim-resistry.htm

 

Hope this helps;

 

 

Nancy

[lalapodip]

In case anyone else tries the link, here it is again, because the original link wouldn't work for me. I have these cards for my son, but I haven't yet had to use them.

 

http://www.dimensionsspeech.com/autism-registry.htm

 

My 10 year old son is severely autistic and we were not able to have him participate in the Kids Club on the Disney Magic last August. He still had a wonderful time in the pools - and eating chicken nuggets and french fries to his heart's content! :)

[whereistheship]

My son has autism. He is 9. This will be his first cruise. I am wondering about getting on the ship. I have not cruised since I was single and did not pay attention to such issues at the time. Do they board children/people with disabilities first? We are leaving from NY. We will not have to fly only a hour car ride to get there. I am concerned about long waits for him and am trying to gather as much information as I can. He is usually able to walk but when things get tough he uses a wheel chair so that he can concentrate on keeping himself together. Walking is sometimes too much to ask. RC say that they will have a wheelchair available but I am wondering if I should rent one and take it with us. Normally at the mall...Disney...etc we just use one of theirs and I has worked fine. Any thoughts or experience?

[sailor moon]

Our DD 14 has autism (Aspergers) and we just went to the head of lines at the boarding area and they let us go through. They are very understanding and accomodating. Any time we had a request related to her it was handled with grace and understanding.

[Arubalisa]

Our dd also has Aspergers. We have never ever had any problems on HAL or Celebrity (or Disney World for that matter) :) . All of the staff were more than accommodating and helpful.

 

Both Kid's programs were fantastic. As much as dd looks forward to quality time with mom, dad and her grandparents and great grandmother, the kids program is her reason for cruising. Kind of like summer camp afloat. If you have any other specific questions, please feel free to email me.

[TEAGAN]

We are leaving on our first cruise in less than 3 weeks with our 12 yr old son (Autistic & Epileptic). When we booked, we gave the TA a copy of a letter from the children's hospital we deal with re: his special needs. She faxed it so special services at Royal Caribbean and we were confirmed the next day with priority boarding and a table for 3 at dinner (so he's not overwhelmed by conversation & questions from others). We will deal with the kids club when we get there, depending upon how he's doing. They said that since we will be boarded early - to go and talk to the people at the kids club before it gets busy. We may not bother with it though - I'm afraid I will worry more & it will be more hassle than just doing things together. He is a sports loving kid and RCCL has lots to do on the ship. Wish us luck !!!

[whereistheship]

I got right on the phone with the travel agent. We are also cruising RC. I gave her a list of things that we will need. Not real long but you get the idea. She will call me back in a little bit. He is very excited about going. I also called the Dr to get him on board (if you will). Thank you Teagan, Sailor Moon and Arubalisa. All really good ideas. I also asked the TA to find out who RC uses to rent wheelchairs in the NY port. He does not use it alot but sometimes if the sensory input is too much ...it is all he can do to keep himself together let alone walk. Good thoughts and good sailing Teagan. Please let me know how you make out when you get back!!!!