Re: Child with HFA on a 3-4 day cruise?

December 30, 2004

Meg,

I've never been on a cruise so I can't offer any advice, but it sounds

wonderful. Go! Enjoy! And be sure to 'go with the flow' with your

son....good luck.

Maralee

>^..^<

Child with HFA on a 3-4 day cruise?

Has anyone ever taken their child on a cruise? My mom has generously

offered to take us on a short cruise (3-4 days) from Los Angeles to

Baja Mexico. We've just lost several family members in our extended

family, so I know my mom is trying to create a nice family experience

for us to remember.

I am wondering if anyone has done a cruise with an ASD kid? If so,

was it okay for your child? We would be a party of 6 adults and 5

kids (ages 5, 8, 10, 13 and 15).

My son is 5, high-functioning, pretty adaptable, but then will have

strong reactions about certain things. For example, during our recent

holiday travels, he was very concerned about using public toilets

since the automatic flushing of a toilet had really upset him in some

prior encounter. My husband ended up having to carry him into the

restroom while he yelled and cried. I had to coach him into the

restroom a few other times, explaining that these toilets did not

flush themselves. It's so hard to predict what might upset him, and

I'm worried about many new situations on a boat.

Thaks for your advice!

Meg

mom to , PDD-NOS, age 5

December 30, 2004

I've never taken any of my kids on a cruise, and while I'd welcome the opportunity at some point, I think I'd be really hesitant with my youngest. While he doesn't like to swim or get in the water, he doesn't have an appropriate fear of danger, and the rails of the ship would scare me. (I took a 7 day cruise of the Alaska passage in August, and at times, it creeped me out...dark, deep, gorgeous, but full of sea life and at times, no shore to be seen.) I'd also be concerned how the movement of the boat would affect him. He's not one of my two that get motion sickness, but he's so sensitive, rough seas would worry me.

I'd check to see if the cruise offers activities for children, and if yes, if you can accompany him. We used Royal Caribbean, and while we didn't have our four kids with us, we still checked out the children's area. It was really nice, but adults had to sign their kids in and leave. There was also a video game room and other areas to just sit with kids, in addition to a children's pool area, but they can be pretty crowded and noisy, and if Ds didn't go into shutdown from it, he may not want to really go into it.

I'm admittedly overprotective with Ds, even before this dx of HFA -- he is the result of a tenuous pregnancy after several losses, and he almost came very early, so we consider him our miracle baby. My over-protectiveness has to take a backseat now but I still don't think he'd be ready for a cruise, and I think I'd be too stressed worrying about him to enjoy it as much.

Food-wise, there's so much to choose from, you can probably find a way to make dietary needs work, though a strict diet or GFCF could be a bit harder to manage. Food's available pretty much 24/7, and the rooms have fridges for the most part, if not all.

That said -- this is just my thoughts, and my concerns with my little guy, who may very well be completely different from your HFA child. How wonderful that your mom wants to take you all on a cruise!!Donna

Child with HFA on a 3-4 day cruise?

Has anyone ever taken their child on a cruise? My mom has generously offered to take us on a short cruise (3-4 days) from Los Angeles to Baja Mexico. We've just lost several family members in our extended family, so I know my mom is trying to create a nice family experience for us to remember. I am wondering if anyone has done a cruise with an ASD kid? If so, was it okay for your child? We would be a party of 6 adults and 5 kids (ages 5, 8, 10, 13 and 15). My son is 5, high-functioning, pretty adaptable, but then will have strong reactions about certain things. For example, during our recent holiday travels, he was very concerned about using public toilets since the automatic flushing of a toilet had really upset him in some prior encounter. My husband ended up having to carry him into the restroom while he yelled and cried. I had to coach him into the restroom a few other times, explaining that these toilets did not flush themselves. It's so hard to predict what might upset him, and I'm worried about many new situations on a boat. Thaks for your advice!Megmom to , PDD-NOS, age 5

December 30, 2004

Have you thought about mentioning the Autism Cruise that is coming up

soon. Check it out at www.autismcruise.com

Jean

>

> Has anyone ever taken their child on a cruise? My mom has

generously

> offered to take us on a short cruise (3-4 days) from Los Angeles to

> Baja Mexico. We've just lost several family members in our extended

> family, so I know my mom is trying to create a nice family

experience

> for us to remember.

>

> I am wondering if anyone has done a cruise with an ASD kid? If so,

> was it okay for your child? We would be a party of 6 adults and 5

> kids (ages 5, 8, 10, 13 and 15).

>

> My son is 5, high-functioning, pretty adaptable, but then will have

> strong reactions about certain things. For example, during our

recent

> holiday travels, he was very concerned about using public toilets

> since the automatic flushing of a toilet had really upset him in

some

> prior encounter. My husband ended up having to carry him into the

> restroom while he yelled and cried. I had to coach him into the

> restroom a few other times, explaining that these toilets did not

> flush themselves. It's so hard to predict what might upset him,

and

> I'm worried about many new situations on a boat.

>

> Thaks for your advice!

>

> Meg

> mom to , PDD-NOS, age 5

December 30, 2004

Has

anyone ever taken their child on a cruise? My mom has generously

offered to

take us on a short cruise (3-4 days) from Los Angeles to

Baja Mexico. We've just lost

several family members in our extended

family, so I know my mom is trying to create a nice family

experience

for us to

remember.

Meg

mom to , PDD-NOS, age 5

Hi Meg, I really don’t know but I

would suggest taking lots of books as you may end up in your room reading to

him more than you would like. He will most likely need a lot of breaks from the

activity. When my son, As., very high functioning was

5, and we went to Maine, I would have to spend part of the day in the room reading…just

my experience. I think you should go, but hopefully there are others we will

share the down time with you…..Gail

January 2, 2005

If you live near water you could go out on a short boat ride to see how he handles it. I'm not sure how my would do. She gets overwhelmed so easily. Also, she gets freightened easily. She might spend the whole 4 days worried about the safety of the boat.

CarolGail Africa <lilies@...> wrote:

Has anyone ever taken their child on a cruise? My mom has generously offered to take us on a short cruise (3-4 days) from Los Angeles to Baja Mexico. We've just lost several family members in our extended family, so I know my mom is trying to create a nice family experience for us to remember. Megmom to , PDD-NOS, age 5

Hi Meg, I really don’t know but I would suggest taking lots of books as you may end up in your room reading to him more than you would like. He will most likely need a lot of breaks from the activity. When my son, As., very high functioning was 5, and we went to Maine, I would have to spend part of the day in the room reading…just my experience. I think you should go, but hopefully there are others we will share the down time with you…..Gail

__________________________________________________

January 3, 2005

Hi Meg,

Our son is an AS/HFA and he loves water, he does well in speed boats

on the lake and has even been towed in an innertube but when he was

on the ocean his face was blue within 15 min and his body just went

limp after about 25 min he looked like he was dying, it didnt agree

with him at all. I would do what you can to test him out beforehand.

We were fortunate to be able to go back but the way he reacted wasnt

a reaction that any distraction could releive. But as you know all

our children are quite different.

>

> Meg

> mom to , PDD-NOS, age 5

January 4, 2005

Hi Meg

We live in Shetland so travel to the mainland is either by boat or

plane(expensive) so we tend to go by boat for holidays. That involves 14

hours overnight on a ro-ro ferry. The cabins aren't big and the berths

aren't all that comfortable- but the bairns like the excitement for

travelling. I've given them seasickness tablets once - the ones which make

them sleepy, and they worked on both counts. Our boat has some disabled

cabins - available on request - which have more room and a bigger bathroom