Traveling with Asperger's Syndrome Advice - Page 2 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
After my sons were dx with Asperger's I struggled with figuring out how to do Disney without losing my mind. I learned lots of lessons there. However, one things I've done (and doing it again for my upcoming trip) is create folders with pictures and write ups about what they will see and do. For example, this trip we are staying at a resort that he is not familiar with so I'm printing pictures of the rooms, the pools, and other views of the resort so that he'll feel a little more relaxed when we get there. Now with FP+ I'm going to also put in there our plans and reservations. (This will be our quick guide we will have the PassPorter as well to write in and mark off what we've done and what he wants to do. )
Ok everyone, we leave tomorrow!!! You have given me some awesome advice. Now just one more questuon.
What do I tell the cast members so we can get his DAS? Do I just tell them that he has been diagnosed with autism?
Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk
No. Since people with autism have different needs, some may have little trouble with waiting in line and not need DAS, while others have a lot of issues.
Think of what sorts of issues being in the regular line waiting will cause for him- that would be what you would tell the CMs at Guest Relations to explain why he needs DAS. Since everyone is different, think of his needs.
Hidden Mickeys are a hit with my son (7-Aspie too). I actually tried to record him answering your questions, but he does the deer in the headlights thing once the camera is on him.
* Definitely pick up the hidden Mickey guide.
*Also, have his parents contact the local (or look up online) autism organization and get an autism card. My son is high functioning too, but we keep the card in his pocket just in case he needs it.
*Also, consider his sensory needs, my son is a seeker so we keep fidgets and whatnot in the park bag.
*Get the DAC and be ready to use it, but don't feel like you have too. I used ours 2 times with Camm in December, both in EPCOT, because for whatever reason that was the park he had the most trouble in.
*Hope for the Best and plan for the worst. There is no reason to assume that he will be any worse in Disney than he is every other day... No reason to assume he won't be either. Disney is something new. Kind of unstructured, and I know Camm needs the structure and planning. He needs to know whats next, and he needs to know (his new thing lately actually) is "how long, how much, how far..." SO at least have a somewhat plan if not a touring plan ready.
Hope this helps
__________________
~~~ If you do what you love for a living, you never work a day in your life~~~
~~~ I'm from the school of thought that if Lights Motor action ever got boring a Monster truck show would be stellar~~~
~~~ I guess it's Da5Blueys now ~~~
My son is on the Autism Spectrum and we bring snacks (cheerios, for him) and a drink for him to pass the time. You might consider this as well for your Nephew along with the other items. I find that my son burns off everything so fast that he is always willing to eat. This seems to keep him happy and less anxious. We use the DAS in conjunction with the FP+ and it has worked very well. You can only have one attraction on the DAS at a time and you can't get another one until you use that one. The return time on the DAS is any time after the time the CM writes down. It is open ended so if you need to come back to that DAS ride 3 hours later you can. You just can't get a DAS return time on another attraction until you do the one currently on there. I hope this helps.
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
~~~
,
Linear Mode
