Our family recently took a trip to Walt Disney World. You know the drill. The years of saving, the 9 months of planning, the talking in code cause you haven’t made the big announcement to the kids. All of that for that once in a lifetime trip!
I can tell you from personal experience that it’s even harder for parents of an autistic son. Packing the gluten free snacks, making sure we have his fidget at all times, not booking any rides on fast pass because we don’t know if he will enjoy it, hoping people don’t get bothered when he has his sensory breaks.
But alas, all the planning came to an end and we were off.
Magic Kingdom was the first park we visited. And I can tell you it lived up to it’s name, the whole trip was truly a MAGICAL experience. I mean, where else can you get siblings to hug and love each other with big smiles 🙂
There where several times throughout the trip that Nolan needed his time ‘off’ to have his sensory break. We call it his ‘blanket time’ at home. He goes into full football mode rolling around, throwing his fidget and talking football. Games, stats, plays, anything football that he has on his mind at that time. It takes about 5 – 10 minutes and he’s reset and ready to go.
That’s where Disney’s nickname came in………it really is the happiest place on earth. NO ONE, batted an eye when he was having his breaks. Breaks that sometimes took place in the middle of the sidewalk. No one gave us a dirty look wanting us to ‘settle him down’. Everyone went about their own business and didn’t even bat an eye.
The entire trip was spent with nothing but smiles all around us no matter what.
The trip before we knew it was over just as fast as it started. We where in the airport and that’s when I knew we where ‘back to reality’. Nolan needed his time. He reached his point and needed to go in a corner to write his thoughts down. And that’s when the looks began again. The looks of disgust from some around us because he was screaming at his game or his sisters for saying the wrong thing. He was clearly tired of sitting and needed to move.
Now granted most of the looks where probably (as they always are) from people who don’t have children. Who don’t know all the teaching that needs to go on when kids are learning how to handle certain feelings. The even more patience, love, understanding and teaching that needs to occur with a child who has autism.
That’s where you can help! As one of my favorite movie characters talks about, the world can really be all be cupcakes and rainbows. But it starts with you.
Don’t we all have a little OCD over a certain person, place, or thing that we want to fill our world with it? That thing that takes over our thoughts so much that we have to have a release and talk about it in our own little world by ourselves for a few moments?
Don’t we all wish we could say what we really wanted to say to someone who says something wrong about something?
Don’t we all have those moments when the store is just a little too crowded, or the hand dryer in the bathroom is too loud and we’re uncomfortable and just want to scream?
Aren’t we all just a little shy and a bit quirky at times but just want people to love us for who we are?
Autism doesn’t come with a big flashy sign. It is found in boys, girls, children and adults.
I plead with you now the next time you see a child who’s in his own little world twitching his fidget. See a child who’s so uncomfortable and upset because it’s too bright or loud and he doesn’t know what else to do but scream cause he held it in for so long. See a child yelling and screaming because he just lost a game that he’s been working really hard to master. Take the time to put yourself in their world. OUR world. We’re all different. We all think, act, and care differently. Don’t stare, don’t glare. Be compassionate, help out or move on. We all have our quirks, that’s what makes this world so beautiful.
Live, Love, INSPIRE!
