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First time with adult child with autism


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We have been on many cruises, our next cruise we are bringing family that have never cruised before. They have a 17 year old son who has autism. Any tips for making this a great experience for him? He has been to Disney before, not great with waiting in lines. They have 2 other children going as well, one will be 16 year old boy, can the 2 boys go to the teen club together etc? Are there “rules” like can they have him not be allowed to sign himself out? Instead of carrying a key card can he get something like a wrist band?

 

NCL Bliss

Thank you!

 

 

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If you meet one kid with autism you've met one kid with autism. It really depends on him, and what his parents are comfortable with. DD has autism, she is nonverbal, she likes other kids, has great sense of direction (she could get around the ships better than we do) and is very independent. She has been on 2 cruises so far and our 3rd will be in May '19. She just turned 16 a couple of days ago.

 

On the first cruise we went on Carnival, DD was 12. She was able to go to the kids club a few times - DH and I looked at their program and picked a few things we knew she would enjoy. We made sure to go to the meet and greet the club had on the first day. We met the counselors and explained her disability. They were awesome! They gave us a phone we could use on the ship for the whole cruise.

 

The second was on RCCL, she was 14. This time she did not do the club, mostly because they did not have much she would be interested in - she probably would have liked playing video games but she likes the pool more. Also on this cruise we did not see many kids.

 

The thing with the clubs is that they do not make any age exceptions. DD might've gone to a couple of the activities for the group below her age level. This next cruise she is in the older teen group and she would not enjoy just hanging out.

 

For the teen club they do not need a parent to sign them in or out. Since he does have a sibling near his own age it will be easier to do the club if he wants. We are cruising with NCL for the first time so I don't know if they have this, but on Carnival we got a hole punched on our cards and a necklace with a clip - got it at the casino. If not, his parents could always buy an id badge holder and put the key there.

 

DD loooves cruising. She loves the shows, the music (she danced every night to the bands scattered around the ship), the pools, the restaurants. Once we explained to our servers that she had autism they were the sweetest guys, even cutting up her food for her (she did not need it but she loved all the fuss) and getting her anything she wanted even if not on the menu.

 

One of the big things for kids with autism is routine, going on a cruise is so different it might overwhelm him. DD watched videos on YouTube before we went on our first cruise, I showed her the website so she could see the pools and the kids club.

 

On a side not - we are Disneyland Annual Passholder and go regularly to both DLR and WDW. Do his parents get him the disability pass? It really helps with the lines and crowds.

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