Movement and sensory stimulation can be calming for some people with autism. Others can sit and watch TV or a tablet or a show for a long time to the exclusion of everything else. Their carers will know what will help and what will distress them.
But if overwhelmed they all have the potential to seriously disturb as nd even frighten other people around them - like those who may have PTSD. I’m using these two conditions deliberately here.
But needing to run and make a noise might be a necessary pre-requisite to be able to sit quietly for 20 minutes. I work with children with autism. Having movement breaks every half hour is needed for some. They may need Impromptu ones too. Others will sit endlessly, focussing intently and get distressed at being interrupted.
Some quiet places to wait would be good though for those who need it.
This is so true. My youngest child has a diagnosed disability where where standing in line in a crowd for a long length of time becomes too much. He can handle maybe 15 to 20 minutes, but as the time creeps up he starts getting extremely anxious, upset and panics. Has to do with being an enclosed space with a lot of people for a long period of time standing. Still. He needs movement.
Rides are different for him- I think he perceives them his movement, because they're not staying in the same place. We can't do shows in general because shows are the same thing- sitting in enclosed dark spaces for too long without movement. Honestly he doesn't even watch that much television because to him shows are "too long". A couple weeks ago we decided to try an IMAX movie at our local museum of Science to see how he would take to it. Being a little older. I had to leave with him 15 minutes into the show.
Our DAS you should just very limited. We purchase G+ and get DAS, but generally only use it for things that would directly benefit him. For example, there are attractions he will not go on because he gets overstimulated from a sensory perspective and finds it upsetting. So let's say we want to go on MF: SR, which is one such ride. What we will typically do is if we have a LL for that, we will get rider swap, so that our older son and my wife and I can have an opportunity to ride it. While one of us is on the ride, we will do something that is particular to our younger son- for example, his favorite attraction in the world is TSMM. We might get a pass for that just so he can enjoy himself. Or, we might get a pass to meet Mickey. We never use the pre-books, and we never really use DAS for headliners- just things that benefit him.
At the same time, our pace for the day is slower. As
@nickys said, some kids need regular movement breaks. That's my kid. We are frequently taking breaks throughout the day and not going on attractions so my son can move. There are times where we have to get out of a line because my son needs to move. So we probably end up doing the same or less number of attractions per day as the average guest.
If a system were put in place where you couldn't overlap Genie plus and DAS, it would completely destroy how we are able to make trips workable for our family. I think it's hard to make generalizations about people's specific disabilities. DAS works fairly well for the people who need it. I think the only logical things they can do is remove the pre-books and increase the scrutiny of those requesting a pass, without negatively affecting those who do need it.
