Kids club for child with disability

[Rubicon55]

Though we have taken two older children on a cruise, this will be our first with a 9 year old non-verbal Down syndrome/Autistic child.   Being small for her age and with her disabilities, last year she was placed in a Kindergarten class; though now home schooled.   The one aspect is that she is not toilet trained, so she does wear pull-ups.  We know she can't wear swim diapers in the pool.   We will be on the Dream in September.  Does anyone have experience in how we will be able to use the Kids Clubs for her?  She has a great temperament and loves to watch movies, spin , and dance.  The primary question will be the pull-ups...   she may be too old for one group but the pull ups keep her out of the older group!    Thank you for any insight!

 

We are WDW Passholders and she will always be found in a Disney shirt or dress and with her Princess doll. 🙂

 

Thank you!!

2881ECC8-2060-4E9B-A174-50394E0822B8.heic

[Shmoo here]

8 minutes ago, Rubicon55 said:

Though we have taken two older children on a cruise, this will be our first with a 9 year old non-verbal Down syndrome/Autistic child.   Being small for her age and with her disabilities, last year she was placed in a Kindergarten class; though now home schooled.   The one aspect is that she is not toilet trained, so she does wear pull-ups.  We know she can't wear swim diapers in the pool.   We will be on the Dream in September.  Does anyone have experience in how we will be able to use the Kids Clubs for her?  She has a great temperament and loves to watch movies, spin , and dance.  The primary question will be the pull-ups...   she may be too old for one group but the pull ups keep her out of the older group!    Thank you for any insight!

 

We are WDW Passholders and she will always be found in a Disney shirt or dress and with her Princess doll. 🙂

 

Thank you!!

2881ECC8-2060-4E9B-A174-50394E0822B8.heic 856.26 kB · 1 download

No, pull ups will not keep her out of Oceaneer's.  That said, the CMs in Oceaneer's cannot assist (in any way) with toileting in there.  If there were an accident, they would page you to the club to come to help her.

 

There is no individual help in the club to make sure she will participate in any of the programs, so that may be an issue.

 

There are Open House times every day that you can join her in the club to participate with her.

[cantgetin]

September can be good as most traditional schools are in session--that means fewer kids in the OC.  But as above, the CMs are not permitted to have any role in toilet or cleaning up issues--they will page you if she needs attention.  You can find many reports of kids sitting in an area being ignored.  That depends on how busy they are.  In general, the CMs MIGHT alert kids that an activity is starting, but they can't assist her in participation any more than they can any other child.  They are very clear that one on one assistance is not available.  

[CruisingAlong4Now]

Most of the posts on the Disabled board are about adults, but you might want to post this on the Disabled Cruising board or the Family Cruising Board under Special Interest Cruising.  I know your question is Disney specific, but someone there may have had an experience that will be helpful.

[Rubicon55]

Thank you all for you insight!   Just got the word about no cruise's though September 15th ( at least by the association and another the mentioned RCL, Norwegian, and Carnival.. I assume Disney will announce it shortly also)...   Hoping the our September 18th cruise still goes down!

 

I have been watching the ships anchored out off the Space Coast; a number have arrived and/or left (into the port area?  not sure) this past weekend.  It makes sense the some of the other comments were different cruise lines bringing ships in to port to shift CM;s around; much less for a provisioning upload.    

 

Time will tell.  Worse case we will reschedule for later if this cruise is cancelled.

 

Not sure who is looking forward more...  the kids or my wife and I!

[Shmoo here]

2 hours ago, Rubicon55 said:

Hoping the our September 18th cruise still goes down!

There are no September cruises on the DCL website.

[Rubicon55]

Hi Shmoo!,

 

It must be full load then.  I just got my confirmation yesterday when we made our final payment.   With a holdback of 50% passenger loading during COVID 19 , I am not surprised.

[jmspk19]

On 4/3/2020 at 2:02 PM, Rubicon55 said:

Though we have taken two older children on a cruise, this will be our first with a 9 year old non-verbal Down syndrome/Autistic child.   Being small for her age and with her disabilities, last year she was placed in a Kindergarten class; though now home schooled.   The one aspect is that she is not toilet trained, so she does wear pull-ups.  We know she can't wear swim diapers in the pool.   We will be on the Dream in September.  Does anyone have experience in how we will be able to use the Kids Clubs for her?  She has a great temperament and loves to watch movies, spin , and dance.  The primary question will be the pull-ups...   she may be too old for one group but the pull ups keep her out of the older group!    Thank you for any insight!

 

We are WDW Passholders and she will always be found in a Disney shirt or dress and with her Princess doll. 🙂

 

Thank you!!

2881ECC8-2060-4E9B-A174-50394E0822B8.heic 856.26 kB · 3 downloads

Hi There! We have a daughter with autism as well, and we have been on many disney cruises with her. They are her favorite! Disney goes above and beyond to work with her...not just in the kids club, but in the dining rooms, character meets, etc. I would suggest when you get on the ship (or even at the terminal) meet with the kids club crew and explain your concerns to them. They will do their best to make it all work for you. With the potty training, like others said, they will let her in (my had the same issue for a while) and they will ask you to come by and check on her occasionally, or call you if she is in need. Also, I would suggest letting her try it out for shorter times first, to see how she likes it. One more thing I like to tell everyone is about Autism on the Seas. They have been a lifesaver for us! They go on cruises with professionally trained staff, and we sign up to be part of their group, and they help sooo much! We get respite times during the day to go do our own thing, they help with meals, they get us private activites...they do it all. Check out their website if you get a chance. Disney is the only cruise we would go on without them at this point, b/c DCL is so great with disabilities...but man, they are great to have around!

[Rubicon55]

Thank you for your reply!  We have known about Autism at Sea; jut haven't been able to make it fit our schedule yet.