Sensory Processing Disorder

[DrummerAlly]

Hey everyone! I've posted in here a few times about trying to plan a new trip with my husband and toddler. We went when she was 3mo old (booked before she was conceived) and had a terrible time. She really struggled more than the typical baby with the crowds, light, sounds, etc. I'm craving a trip back to see the mouse but it's not looking good!

She was diagnosed with a communication delay at 14 months old and is currently in early intervention for it. Now at 19 months she is about to be diagnosed (we think) with sensory processesing disorder. Her brain goes into over drive with loud, crowded environments and she does very poorly near other children. She simply melts down.

Am I doomed to never return for a family vacation to WDW? Does anyone else have a child with SPD who has successfully gone to the world or should I just grieve the loss of Mickey Mouse and move on with my life?

 

[NYwdwfan]

Hey everyone! I've posted in here a few times about trying to plan a new trip with my husband and toddler. We went when she was 3mo old (booked before she was conceived) and had a terrible time. She really struggled more than the typical baby with the crowds, light, sounds, etc. I'm craving a trip back to see the mouse but it's not looking good!

She was diagnosed with a communication delay at 14 months old and is currently in early intervention for it. Now at 19 months she is about to be diagnosed (we think) with sensory processesing disorder. Her brain goes into over drive with loud, crowded environments and she does very poorly near other children. She simply melts down.

Am I doomed to never return for a family vacation to WDW? Does anyone else have a child with SPD who has successfully gone to the world or should I just grieve the loss of Mickey Mouse and move on with my life?

My friend's son is autistic and also has sensory processing disorder. He struggled on dark rides - Imagination was by far the worst. He absolutely loved anything outside - including Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Your daughter is still so young - as she grows and you get a feeling for what she enjoys and what situations are a challenge, you will better be prepared to plan another trip. Best of luck!

 

[Nemo14]

Does your doctor have any recommendations?

Normally I would say to maybe try introducing her little by little to crowded/noisy places (Chuck E Cheese?) and let her kind of build up a tolerance to that, but it sounds like her issues are more serious than that.

 

[deanaandrich]

I am a developmentalist that works in early intervention. Half my caseload is children with ASD and/or SPD. I find most of these children thrive at WDW, much differently than they do at home. I am sure you are still discovering her likes and dislikes. I would discuss with your therapists some ideas that may work for her. For children that dislike loud noises you may start to see if she tolerates earphones. Sometimes playing soft music will help in those environments. Going during less crowded times or early mornings will help. Find quiet areas of the park- even baby care centers to go take breaks at. I wouldn't worry much about how she responds to other children at this point- she wouldn't necessarily need to interact directly with them. If you would like to discuss more strategies, please let me know.

 

[DrummerAlly]

I am a developmentalist that works in early intervention. Half my caseload is children with ASD and/or SPD. I find most of these children thrive at WDW, much differently than they do at home. I am sure you are still discovering her likes and dislikes. I would discuss with your therapists some ideas that may work for her. For children that dislike loud noises you may start to see if she tolerates earphones. Sometimes playing soft music will help in those environments. Going during less crowded times or early mornings will help. Find quiet areas of the park- even baby care centers to go take breaks at. I wouldn't worry much about how she responds to other children at this point- she wouldn't necessarily need to interact directly with them. If you would like to discuss more strategies, please let me know.

Thanks so much all of you! She is really little still and while we knew she had "quirks" with crowds and noise and children along with her communication delay, we are just learning about how to help her cope with her sensory issues. We have her first EI appointment with a occupational therapist next week, so hopefully that will start us down the right track. She's been making great progress with a early learning specialist and speech therapist for her communication.

It makes me feel better to know that all is not lost with WDW! Now I just need to wait til she's a little older and then get brave enough to give it another go. I was just curious to see how parents of kids with ASD or SPD handle the trip.

Hearing that your kid really has a problem that they need help with rather than just being cranky or difficult makes you start to re- think how you approach a lot of things and that's currently where I'm at.

 

[Nemo14]

Early intervention can make a tremendous difference, and it's great that you are working with specialists now. That return to WDW will come soon enough.

 

[larryl9797]

My 7 YO DD is Special Needs and has sensory processing disorder. We Took her to the MK when she was 6. Believe me (me and the DW) were super nervous about dropping all that $$ on a trip that she may have a miserable time at, it was a gamble when we booked (Thats for sure) due to the unknown.
We did prep her by going to parades / small amusement parks / and crowded / busy places to get an idea how she can handle crowds, noises and the like. It did take about 2 hours the first day for her to settle down and really start to enjoy.
I think the best advise I can give is be ready to bail out of a ride / event... I thought the Nemo the Musical would be a slam dunk. ( Who dosen't like people singing and dancing around .. right.... ) Wrong! My DD hated every second. So me and my DD bailed out and played in the Dino Boneyard till the rest of the Fam finished up with the show.

Keep in mind that there is so much to do and you will have a full day doing the things your DD can handle. You will have a great time.
You will know when the time is right to go.

 

[DrummerAlly]

My 7 YO DD is Special Needs and has sensory processing disorder. We Took her to the MK when she was 6. Believe me (me and the DW) were super nervous about dropping all that $$ on a trip that she may have a miserable time at, it was a gamble when we booked (Thats for sure) due to the unknown.
We did prep her by going to parades / small amusement parks / and crowded / busy places to get an idea how she can handle crowds, noises and the like. It did take about 2 hours the first day for her to settle down and really start to enjoy.
I think the best advise I can give is be ready to bail out of a ride / event... I thought the Nemo the Musical would be a slam dunk. ( Who dosen't like people singing and dancing around .. right.... ) Wrong! My DD hated every second. So me and my DD bailed out and played in the Dino Boneyard till the rest of the Fam finished up with the show.

Keep in mind that there is so much to do and you will have a full day doing the things your DD can handle. You will have a great time.
You will know when the time is right to go.

Thank you so much I can tell just by the way that you wrote this that you understand very well the level of fear that I have for going down there again! At her appointment last week she was diagnosed with not only SPD but also anxiety (it never occurred to me that a 1.5 year old can have anxiety, but I guess I really should have saw that coming).

We took her to New England Aquarium, Boston Museum of Science, and a local Children's Museum this past week on a mini-staycation and had some limited success. Given the level of difficulty we had at some of these places, our next WDW trip is a ways off. It's tough for me because I desperately want to head back soon, but I guess this is one of those things that you give up when you have children.

When we learned we were pregnant, I often thought of all of the trips to WDW we'd take - every year or at least every other year or so. It never crossed my mind that I would have a child who wouldn't like or would have difficulty with WDW. I guess it also never crossed my mind that I would have a special needs child.

 

[buseegal]

if you have a local theme park in your local area, get season passes so you can go for a couple of hours at a time. start with small doses at a time. find a couple of rides that you all can ride, ride those and then head home. as your child becomes more comfortable, stay a little longer. I would avoid Saturdays if can as those will be the busiest days. it may take over one season but most special kids can learn to enjoy parks. I say this from what I have learned working at Dutch Wonderland in Pa. I know it is not Disney but it is a step toward Disney

 

[RMichael21]

Once your child get older, the melt-down will most likely become less frequent. She will probably learn to control herself a little bit more and not "melt down" as you described. I hope you will be able to return to Walt Disney World someday.

 

[MichWolv]

Hey everyone! I've posted in here a few times about trying to plan a new trip with my husband and toddler. We went when she was 3mo old (booked before she was conceived) and had a terrible time. She really struggled more than the typical baby with the crowds, light, sounds, etc. I'm craving a trip back to see the mouse but it's not looking good!

She was diagnosed with a communication delay at 14 months old and is currently in early intervention for it. Now at 19 months she is about to be diagnosed (we think) with sensory processesing disorder. Her brain goes into over drive with loud, crowded environments and she does very poorly near other children. She simply melts down.

Am I doomed to never return for a family vacation to WDW? Does anyone else have a child with SPD who has successfully gone to the world or should I just grieve the loss of Mickey Mouse and move on with my life?

My son is hyperlexic and has some SPD tendencies as well. When he was young, loud noises and overstimulation sent him into melt-down. Nonetheless, he did great on every trip to WDW ever, except for one when he was 2 1/2 years old. That trip was at a bad time, and any dark ride, no matter how calm, and no matter the ride system, he freaked out. We had to stay with mostly outdoor things on that trip. It was tough for my wife and I, but we adjusted the schedule and our expectations (more time at Animal Kingdom, a few long walks around property and less time in the parks, etc.) and hoped that he'd be better next rip. And he was.

He's 10 now and most of his sensory processing issues are gone. He loves dark rides now.

So, take the trip, and see what happens.

One tip that helped our guy a little was a set of headphones/earmuffs. Yes, it does make the attraction audio hard to hear so she might miss a few things, but it's a good trade-off if it helps. Another thing helped our boy a bit was the baby centers. They are quiet and cool, so a good place for a little break from the constant stimulation.

 

[DrummerAlly]

My son is hyperlexic and has some SPD tendencies as well. When he was young, loud noises and overstimulation sent him into melt-down. Nonetheless, he did great on every trip to WDW ever, except for one when he was 2 1/2 years old. That trip was at a bad time, and any dark ride, no matter how calm, and no matter the ride system, he freaked out. We had to stay with mostly outdoor things on that trip. It was tough for my wife and I, but we adjusted the schedule and our expectations (more time at Animal Kingdom, a few long walks around property and less time in the parks, etc.) and hoped that he'd be better next rip. And he was.

He's 10 now and most of his sensory processing issues are gone. He loves dark rides now.

So, take the trip, and see what happens.

One tip that helped our guy a little was a set of headphones/earmuffs. Yes, it does make the attraction audio hard to hear so she might miss a few things, but it's a good trade-off if it helps. Another thing helped our boy a bit was the baby centers. They are quiet and cool, so a good place for a little break from the constant stimulation.

Thanks so much for your response! I sent you a PM.

 

[gaga4disney]

One tip that helped our guy a little was a set of headphones/earmuffs. Yes, it does make the attraction audio hard to hear so she might miss a few things, but it's a good trade-off if it helps. Another thing helped our boy a bit was the baby centers. They are quiet and cool, so a good place for a little break from the constant stimulation.

Earmuffs are a must. They made a world of difference to our son who has sensory issues to sound.

 

[LondonGopher]

We took her to New England Aquarium, Boston Museum of Science, and a local Children's Museum this past week on a mini-staycation and had some limited success. Given the level of difficulty we had at some of these places, our next WDW trip is a ways off. It's tough for me because I desperately want to head back soon, but I guess this is one of those things that you give up when you have children.

When we learned we were pregnant, I often thought of all of the trips to WDW we'd take - every year or at least every other year or so. It never crossed my mind that I would have a child who wouldn't like or would have difficulty with WDW. I guess it also never crossed my mind that I would have a special needs child.

OK - without going into the whole boring story of DS's sensory "issues" - one of the things that really helped us get him used to aural chaos was the cinema. We have a couple of second-run cinemas not too far from us. The first time (Fantasia 2000) he lasted 40 minutes (I was still delighted) but since then he's been able to watch all the way through. I started taking him when he was just gone 2, so not old enough to actually "get" anything out of the film. I used it purely as "therapy". LOL!

We then progressed to (free) museums, LEGOLAND/Chessington in low season and an on-his-own schedule trip to DLP (age 34 months). Last year (DS age 6) we went to FL (in early December). It was fab! We took it easy, didn't go-go-go - he loved every minute of it. Not one freak-out.

Five years ago my kid couldn't go into a restaurant, a public bathroom, CHURCH (!) without screaming the place down. It was HARD. Here's the good news...he outgrew many of his challenges (he is now 7). Some things/places will always be more difficult to manage, but if your child is verbal, once she is "properly" talking - she can explain the problems she has with particular places. At 7, my son still checks the hand driers in public lavatories as some brands "short out his brain" (his words). He can't be in the airplane bathroom when the toilet is flushed (I have to wait outside and then duck in...that'll look great when he's a teenager ). He must have his own seat on the Underground or he has a complete mental collapse (I PRAY that one will eventually go away!). But in MOST ways, he's a "average" kid. And YOU know that I mean that as a good thing!

Sorry for the long post...

 

[DrummerAlly]

OK - without going into the whole boring story of DS's sensory "issues" - one of the things that really helped us get him used to aural chaos was the cinema. We have a couple of second-run cinemas not too far from us. The first time (Fantasia 2000) he lasted 40 minutes (I was still delighted) but since then he's been able to watch all the way through. I started taking him when he was just gone 2, so not old enough to actually "get" anything out of the film. I used it purely as "therapy". LOL!

We then progressed to (free) museums, LEGOLAND/Chessington in low season and an on-his-own schedule trip to DLP (age 34 months). Last year (DS age 6) we went to FL (in early December). It was fab! We took it easy, didn't go-go-go - he loved every minute of it. Not one freak-out.

Five years ago my kid couldn't go into a restaurant, a public bathroom, CHURCH (!) without screaming the place down. It was HARD. Here's the good news...he outgrew many of his challenges (he is now 7). Some things/places will always be more difficult to manage, but if your child is verbal, once she is "properly" talking - she can explain the problems she has with particular places. At 7, my son still checks the hand driers in public lavatories as some brands "short out his brain" (his words). He can't be in the airplane bathroom when the toilet is flushed (I have to wait outside and then duck in...that'll look great when he's a teenager ). He must have his own seat on the Underground or he has a complete mental collapse (I PRAY that one will eventually go away!). But in MOST ways, he's a "average" kid. And YOU know that I mean that as a good thing!

Sorry for the long post...

Great suggestions! Thank you! I have to admit, I can't wait until she can explain to me why the vacuum cleaner or the phone ringing is so traumatizing (though by that time it probably won't be).

We actually met with her occupational therapist yesterday who finally put the whole picture together for us. She is hypotonic (low muscle tone), which has caused her oral motor, gross motor, and sensory processing problems. Finally, a reason! What was interesting about this is that we learned she benefits from and really enjoys intense physical motion, so she'll probably love the rides once we get down there! We went to a mini park a few months ago and she couldn't get enough of the kiddie rides, so that really jives.

I can do a trip of dumbo, TTA, and the speedway, thats totally fine - anything to get my dose of Mickey! Just probably going to have to get ear muffs for all the indoor things and pray that another kid doesn't come with in arms reach of her.

 

[Mamaof2QTs]

Although I'm probably a bit late posting our experience to help you, it may help the next family that stumbles upon this post.

Our youngest is also hypotonic among a few other things. She is in PT, OT and did 4 months of speech.

We took her at 21 months and she really freaked out on half the rides. We didn't realize before we went that she also had sensory problems.

However, we're going again soon. We split up and take her 3-year old sister on rides while she runs around outside.

I worry more about her hypotonia and drop foot. With hypotonia, she gets slung around a lot more. She struggles to walk without falling; long lines can be treacherous! Splash pads are an accident waiting to happen. Although we have not gotten genetic testing, she appears to have an overgrowth syndrome. We had to avoid the temptation to take her on rides that she was technically tall enough for because she wasn't strong enough for them.

Rides I won't take her on again include noisy, dark, rides that sling you around. No Pirates of the Caribbean, little mermaid, finding nemo, buzz light year, toy story, Winnie the Pooh, haunted mansion, fireworks (even from the wilderness lodge)

Rides she enjoyed include dumbo, Aladdin, train, petting zoo, carousel, baby center, most everything at Animal Kingdom except the dark shows. Characters were hit and miss.

Legoland is spectacular for this age group and this set of special needs. It's only an hour drive from DW. you park strollers right by a Lego play area. The kids play with Legos while parents wait in line. Legos are good for OT/fine motor. The rides are slower and surrounded by Lego duplo animals, which we use to learn new sounds (you will learn animals sounds are pushed heavily in speech therapy). Plus they have toddler size playgrounds both inside and outside.

 

[Mamaof2QTs]

Aurora was a hit. Ariel was in a deep cave, so she flipped.

 

[Mamaof2QTs]

Quiet time in the baby center. Legoland play while waiting.

 

[Weather_Lady]

Am I doomed to never return for a family vacation to WDW? Does anyone else have a child with SPD who has successfully gone to the world or should I just grieve the loss of Mickey Mouse and move on with my life?

I don't, but one of my best friends does, and they visited WDW last year (he was 5, almost 6). They tried to plan their visit during a lower-crowd time, and they took afternoon breaks in the hotel room during the times of day with the most people and noise (e.g., 12-4pm). They scouted out "quiet" areas in the parks ahead of time, and if their son started to show signs of being overstimulated, they'd simply duck into the nearest quiet area -- a gift shop or an out-of-the-way bench, for example -- and give him a few minutes to calm down. In his case, wearing a hat with a big visor that sort of acted like "blinders" and limited his field of vision (so he could focus on the ground, or just one what was ahead of him, instead of everything in every direction also helped. He is very small, size-wise, so they also spent some time with him in a stroller, with noise-canceling headphones and a blanket he could drape over the front if he wanted to "shut out the world" for a little bit. Regardless, they all had a wonderful time.

I'm sure the medical and educational professionals working with your daughter will also have some good suggestions. You are certainly not doomed never to visit Disney again -- you just may have to do it differently, which is always the case with kids, anyway. I wish you all the best!

 

[DrummerAlly]

I don't, but one of my best friends does, and they visited WDW last year (he was 5, almost 6). They tried to plan their visit during a lower-crowd time, and they took afternoon breaks in the hotel room during the times of day with the most people and noise (e.g., 12-4pm). They scouted out "quiet" areas in the parks ahead of time, and if their son started to show signs of being overstimulated, they'd simply duck into the nearest quiet area -- a gift shop or an out-of-the-way bench, for example -- and give him a few minutes to calm down. In his case, wearing a hat with a big visor that sort of acted like "blinders" and limited his field of vision (so he could focus on the ground, or just one what was ahead of him, instead of everything in every direction also helped. He is very small, size-wise, so they also spent some time with him in a stroller, with noise-canceling headphones and a blanket he could drape over the front if he wanted to "shut out the world" for a little bit. Regardless, they all had a wonderful time.

I'm sure the medical and educational professionals working with your daughter will also have some good suggestions. You are certainly not doomed never to visit Disney again -- you just may have to do it differently, which is always the case with kids, anyway. I wish you all the best!

Thanks! This is a pretty old thread. My daughter is 3 now and we still didn't think she was ready to go so my husband and I actually just booked a vacation leaving her and her 1 year old sister with my mom back home for a long weekend. We'll see how she's doing when she's 4 and consider giving it a try. You have some awesome suggestions there and when she's closer to that age I think those things will definitely help.

Aside from her sensory processing disorder, she also struggles with hypotonia, which is very common with these kids, as @Mamaof2QTs mentioned with her little girl, which will make park touring difficult. She also struggles with very severe GI issues, also common with these kids, that limits our ability to do a lot of things when she feels sick. I think the biggest thing that I'm waiting for is for some growth and maturity in coping skills. For example, the maturity to be able to drape the blanket down or put on headphones when she becomes overwhelmed. When we get to that point, I think we'll be ready.