Tag: Kids

Disney’s Disability Access Service Card

On By justmymomsenseIn Travel1 Comment

Back in 2018, I wrote about visiting Disney World with Sensory Processing difficulties. If you’d like to check out that blog, click here.

We just recently returned from a trip to Walt Disney World. As mentioned in that June 2018 blog, I knew that the Disability Access Service Card existed. For this trip, we decided we would play out how ‘J’ would do in the parks, knowing that this was an option.

Looking back, I’m wishing we did it from Day 1.

The first two days of our trip, we tried to wait on lines that were not too long, take our time moving around the park and getting in breaks during the afternoon. However, even on lines that we didn’t feel were too long (15-20 minutes), ‘J’ felt otherwise. He was extremely overwhelmed waiting on line, in a crowd and felt it would take much longer than we were telling him.

If you’re a parent with a child that does not have sensory processing difficulties, you may be thinking: ‘ok but no kid wants to wait on a line in Orlando summer heat.’ And you’re right! And I don’t like it either. But for ‘J’ it’s different and his reactions to it are different. Just like any other day to day activities that may appear easy for us, they’re not always easy for him. This goes under that same umbrella.

So what is the Disability Access Service (DAS) Card? According to the Disney Parks Blog:

The DAS Card is designed to accommodate guests who aren’t able to wait in a conventional queue environment due to a disability (including non-apparent disabilities). DAS will be issued at Guest Relations main entrance locations and will offer guests a return time for attractions based on the current wait time. As soon as the Guest finishes one attraction, they can receive a return time for another. This service can be used in addition to Disney’s FASTPASS Service and Disney FastPass+ service.

On the third day of our trip, we headed to Hollywood Studios and went straight to Guest Relations. I explained that ‘J’ had sensory processing disorder and found the lines to be…and then the Cast Member finished my sentence with: overwhelming? She took us over to the side and set us up with a DAS from her handheld device. We were told that we would need to go to a specific attraction to get a return time and that the pass would be good for the entire trip. We wouldn’t need to go to guest relations each day to have it set up again.

This pass was a game changer! I could see a weight lifted off of ‘J’ as we went to different rides. He was calmer, less stressed and more excited. Isn’t that how it should be at Disney?

I’m so thankful to Disney for accommodating all of their guests and for their amazing service helping us to obtain our DAS.

If you’d like to learn more, visit the Disney Parks Blog or reach out to Disney Guest Relations!

School May Not Look Like You Imagined: Part 4

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A Pandemic

In this series, I’ve talked a lot about J in Kindergarten. There was something else that happened that year which affected all of us: Covid.

In the days leading up to March 13th, we started hearing about some local schools closing as Covid cases were rising. We wondered if our school would follow along and second guessed even sending him in the meantime.

On Friday, March 13th, I picked J up from school. He was sent home with a packet of work and some login information for various websites as a “just in case.” At 5:00, we received a call that the school district would be closing for the following week. On Monday, the announcement came that they wouldn’t return until the end of March. As we all now know, in person learning was done for the year.

I’m thankful J had the teacher he did and that we are a part of an amazing school district. There were calls, emails and constant communication. Teachers sent out materials, websites, calendars with suggested activities and learning to get everyone through this time. In April, the staff got together and did a neighborhood parade where they drove through the district, honking the horns of their decorated cars and putting smiles on everyone’s faces. J was so excited to see his teacher again. It brought tears to my eyes.

In May, the staff from the High School drove around placing “Class of 2020” signs in front of the homes of the seniors. We have neighbors that were a part of this and I completely lost it watching the parents and kids hugging as the signs were placed. This was such a crazy time for all kids and senior year is supposed to be the best year. The class of 2020 had it cut short and turned upside down.

We spent the summer wondering what school would look like once Fall came. What decisions would the school make? What decisions would we have to make?

Ultimately the school decided to offer two options. The first was a hybrid model. You could send your child in twice a week (3 days every other week) and on the days they were home, they would learn remotely. The second was a fully virtual model, which is what we chose.

J works best when he’s in a routine and knows what to expect each day. We felt the back and forth of the hybrid model, coming off of a year of tough drop offs, would have had a negative impact. Although learning virtually would be new and have an adjustment period, at least it was consistent.

Prior to the holidays, J’s school returned to a full in person model, for those that were interested. If we had sent J back, he would have had to start with a new teacher, in a new class. This was also around the time that cases were once again rising. We decided to keep him virtual. As the year went on, the option to send him back remained open. There were kids from his class that went back and kids that had been in person, that joined his virtual class. The constant uncertainty among parents was clear. Everyone had to make decisions that worked best for their family.

We’re now weeks away from the last day of 1st grade (I can’t believe it)! J did amazing with virtual learning, probably too well. I have no words for all that his teacher did for a large class of remote learners. He had a schedule of google meets throughout the day, independent work and extra work if he was up to it. He is always up for extra work. Since Kindergarten, he has always created his own “extra homework.” He’s reading almost two grade levels ahead of where he is and has learned so much this year. There was an adjustment period in the beginning of not wanting to see himself on the screen during his google meets, not wanting to talk in front of everyone, etc. That went away quickly and he now loves to participate.

No one could have predicted the craziness of the 2020/2021 school year. I’m so thankful to teachers everywhere that went above and beyond for an experience no one was prepared for. Parents – you all made it through! The days were long and sometimes stressful, but we did it!

J’s school is Kindergarten through 2nd grade. His first year was cut short and now he’ll be returning in September for one year before moving on to a new school. It makes me sad that he didn’t get the normalcy and the amount of time he could have in a school we love.

Sometimes it’s not about sensory processing or anxiety, sometimes school doesn’t look like you imagined because of circumstances outside the home. The same can be said for parenting. We need to remember to expect the unexpected, go with the flow, do the best we can and take things one day at a time.

School May Not Look Like You Imagined: Part 2

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Holiday Assemblies

I hate attention. I say this as someone who co-hosts two podcasts and does YouTube Lives. Guess you could say I’m a bit of an introvert/extrovert. When I was in school, I never liked public speaking, performing in a play, answering questions just in case I was wrong even when I knew I was right, etc. I was way too nervous. A little shy. Was there more to it than that? The early stages of my own anxiety? Probably.

I mentioned in the previous blog how much ‘J’ loved Kindergarten and that is 100% true. HOWever, once he started practicing for his Holiday Assembly, things started to shift. Especially when he went into the auditorium for rehearsals. The size of the stage, the bright lights, the echo, he was not feeling any of it. He didn’t want to sing the songs he had been singing all month long in and out of school. He didn’t want to be up on stage in front of everyone, he wanted nothing to do with it.

On the day of the performance, it was an extra hard drop off. His teacher was amazing and in the days leading up to it, she told him that he could stay with her until he was comfortable to go up on stage. Since this was December, 2019, we were able to go to the school to watch. There would also be a gingerbread house decorating activity after the performance for families.

The three of us walked into school to sign in for the show. I looked down the hall to ‘J’s” classroom, his teacher made eye contact with us and waived us down. I knew things weren’t good. We walked down to the end of the hallway to his classroom and saw him behind a desk, eating a graham cracker with puffy eyes. His friends were around him, checking in on him and telling him everything would be ok. He looked up to see us and ran right into my arms crying. All four of us went to the auditorium together and took our seats, right in front of the stage, behind his teacher.

His class walked in and took their spots on stage. We asked him if he wanted to go up with them and he said no. His teacher asked if he wanted to sit next to her and he said no. He stayed on my lap the whole time, watching his friends sing the songs he grew to love.

The thing about ‘J’ is, when he gets himself worked up to the point of not participating in something, he never feels like he’s missing out. He feels relieved, happy and content. He was happy to be watching his friends and cheered them on. Afterwards, we were all at one long table, building gingerbread houses together and all his anxiety was lifted. He returned to the happy boy he is, laughing with his friends.

Our heart breaks watching him struggle with new situations. His anxiety spikes, he wants to run away, he cries. As parents, we want the best for him and for him to be able to branch out and try new things. At the same time, he knows what he likes and what makes him comfortable. Sometimes he does need that nudge, like going into school. But other times, if something is overwhelming him to the point of tears, is it worth the push? We’ve seen the outcome of that and it’s typically not good.

Seeing your child on stage for the first time may be something you’ve thought about with excitement. And it may turn out exactly how you imagined. But there is that chance that it just may not go according to plan.

In Part 3, I’ll chat about taking the Bus.

School May Not Look Like You Imagined: Part 1

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The First Day of School

During my blog hiatus, I thought about a lot of different posts I wanted to do and this was one of them.

‘J’ is coming up on finishing 1st grade.

<Excuse me while I go cry.>

When starting Kindergarten last year, ‘J’ was so nervous. While most kids were posing in front of the big “First Day of School” signs in front of the school, I was focused on just getting him out of the car and through the front doors. I asked if I could take a picture of him, but I already knew the answer – no. In the world of social media, I knew all these parents would have pictures of their kids with the signs, posting them everywhere, and showing off those “perfect” moments.

Did the fact that I wouldn’t be a part of that bother me? No. Because it doesn’t matter! Social Media is not real life. It shows real moments in the midst of life but at the end of the day it’s not what matters. I say this as someone that incorporates social media into her daily life, so I’m not judging others that do the same!

The thing that mattered most to me was making sure ‘J’ was ok and had the best 1st day possible. We arranged a walk through of the school the week prior. He got to meet his Vice Principal, see his classroom, check out the cafeteria, specials classrooms and got a feel of the school. We made a social story for him that we read in the days leading up to school. Anything that was going to help with this transition, we were all about. The Vice Principal and I had a chat about how he may need some help on the first day.

And he did. He was so nervous, even after seeing a friend. As soon as the doors open, he was crying and clinging to me. I made eye contact with the Vice Principal, she came right over, pulled him off of me and walked him into school. I turned around, held my breath and cried in my car.

The tears were a mix of things:

Relief – I did it! He’s at school, he’s going to love it, I just had to get him there. (Just as a note: my husband read him his social story and pep talked him along the way. But we decided for drop off, it would be best for just a 1:1 instead of all four of us.)

Mom Guilt – Oh my God, I just left my baby boy in a new school with strangers! Knowing this was silly and I’d laugh about it later, in the moment, it was hard letting go.

Nervous – Knowing he would be fine, but hoping I wasn’t going to get a call during the day that the tears hadn’t stopped.

As the year went on, some drop offs were better than others but none were perfect. He never walked into school excited. BUT he absolutely loved everything about school. His teacher, friends he made, what he was learning, his specials, all of it. He was so happy during the hours of 8:10 and 2:15. From 8:09-8:10, not so much.

If your child has sensory processing difficulties and anxiety or maybe they’re shy and want to approach school experiences differently, my best advice would be to follow their lead. Go with the flow. Don’t feel the pressure of other parents, your own family, social media or what someone may see as “normal.” If you get that perfect picture in front of their new school, great! If you got one at home (like we did), fantastic! If you get none, oh well! As long as they were happy, you got through the first day as a parent and they got through the first day as a kid, that’s all that matters.

In Part 2 I’ll chat about Holiday Assemblies.

Happy Earth Day!

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Picture it: 5 AM in my house (said in my Sophia Petrillo voice):

‘J’ wakes up, comes into our room and excitedly whispers IT’S EARTH DAY IT’S EARTH DAY!

Do I love how into Earth Day he is? YES

Do I love how he wants to learn more about helping the environment? YES

Do I love that he wanted to buy the Earth a gift? YES

Do I love that he acted like it was Christmas morning and woke everyone else up? No, no I don’t. But hey, ya win some ya lose some.

‘J’ has been learning about Earth Day this week in school. He’s learned all about reducing, reusing and recycling. Watching all of this reminds me that each generation gets smarter. It’s awesome being a fly on the wall to watch it all.

‘J’ and his sister were all in for some Earth Day photos. We worked on arts and crafts by reusing various materials and planted some flowers in old coffee cans. How did you celebrate Earth Day?

L to R: Creating the earth with a paper plate, paint and a ziplock bag, Making flowers out of recycled paper, planting flowers in old coffee cans

2 Years and 2 Months

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That’s how long it’s been since I’ve blogged. I’ve taken some breaks before, but this one takes the cake. Especially because 2020 was about 10 years long alone, right?

Some changes from the last 2 years:

  • ‘J’ is now 6 and his sister is now 4
  • Last year, ‘J’ ended his Kindergarten year on March 13th and since September has been 100% virtual through his school for 1st grade. His sister is doing homeschooling for nursery school.
  • Just prior to the shutdown last year, we had an outside evaluation done to confirm (once again) that ‘J’ does have Sensory Processing difficulties and we were about to start working with an OT outside of his school.
  • Through the ups and downs of the pandemic, my kids are resilient, thriving and learning new things everyday.

I’ll be getting into more details regarding some of these changes, along with many others. Just wanted to say hello and let you know that I’m back!

A Paw Pa-rrific Halloween

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Over the last 6 months, J has gone through different phases of characters he’s into. WeIMG_3764.jpg were way into Spiderman (he kind of still is), Sid the Science Kid, Super Wings and Paw Patrol. I wanted to wait on buying a costume this year until I knew one of them was sticking. Paw Patrol was the winner and tomorrow J will be dressing up as Marshall.

This time last year, more red flags of a possible sensory issue were coming to light. One of them was how bothered J was by his Woody costume. He seemed so uncomfortable with the feel of the costume and absolutely hated the sound of the velcro on the back of his neck. Every time he moved he would beg me to cut the tag out. I would assure him I already had and this was velcro which helped the costume stayed on.

When we got home from the store a couple of weeks ago and tried on his Marshall costume, I saw him immediately cringe. We cut any tags out and I reminded him of the velcro. He’s not a fan but pushes through in order to wear it. We’ve worn it twice so far for other Halloween activities this month and there’s been a meltdown associated each time. Normally because he does not want to wear the costume in his car seat. He is visibly overwhelmed. Talking it through with him, taking some deep breaths and giving it some time usually does the trick. He tugs at it here and there but overall accepts the costume since he so badly wants to wear it.

Most people around him wouldn’t notice it, unless they witness the major meltdown. But there are looks he gives me when he’s uncomfortable and looking for reassurance. There are various situations where I’ve seen that look and Halloween season is just one instance. Overall, he loves pumpkins, Halloween decorations and the idea of dressing up. He’s looking forward to his Halloween parade at school tomorrow and Trick-or-Treating in our town.

For those with sensory difficulties, so much is going on behind the scenes in order to get through different situations and daily activities.

Sorting Fun

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Impromptu sorting game for a lil TGIF fun!

My kiddos are 4 and 21 months, so we worked on a variety learning objectives with this one. Each plate had the name of the color written uppercase in that color. I also wrote it out in lowercase on the bottom. I grabbed random toys from around the house and threw them in a big pile in the middle.

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This ended up being a great success!

  • I had them sit on the couch to listen to the instructions. #listeningcomprehension
  • They worked together to sort random toys on the correct plate. #teamwork
  • ‘J’ was able to read the words on the plate. #reading
  • When there was more than one of any item, we worked on counting. #math
  • Speaking candidly, ‘Baby J’ was over the sorting portion a lot sooner than ‘J,’ so she started putting the mega blocks together. Working on those gross motor skill, right?

Sometimes I forget how easy it is to create games with things you already have in the house. They both had fun and we’ll definitely do it again soon!

 

Change of Weather

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I have horrible allergies and sinus issues. These get worse when the seasons are changing or if there’s rain. I’m also not myself if it’s a rainy day. I think many others are like that too, right? How many times do you hear ‘it’s a perfect day to stay in and watch movies.’ Knowing all of this, I shouldn’t be surprised that I notice a change in ‘J’ on non-sunny days.

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When trying to pinpoint when I noticed the shift, I think it was last year during a windy day. He was having more meltdowns, seemed tired and overall was not himself. I couldn’t quite figure out what was going on until the next windy day when it happened again. Over time, I picked on cues from him on cloudy days, rainy days, a major shift in temperature, etc.

For those with sensory processing difficulties, a change in weather also means a change of clothing. Many people don’t enjoy socks on their feet or sweaters. They may feel overwhelmed in a jacket or get overheated easily with too many layers. We have these experiences on a smaller level, as ‘J’ is not a fan of tags in his clothing.

Sometimes what may not be a big deal for us or something we’ve gotten used to, will be a much bigger deal for someone with sensory processing difficulties. I hope all those that experience more difficulties during weather changes, have a smooth transition as we go from Fall to Winter!

One more thing: I should also mention that almost everyday, when we open the front door to leave the house ‘J’ will say “wow! it’s a beautiful day outside!” even if it’s not. Sometimes he can be a glass half full kind of kid.

 

Breathe, Think, Do

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We often hear that screen time is bad. It’s detrimental to a child and their learning process. I’m of the belief that there’s a great balance between personal interaction, reading, playing and screen time. For me screen time includes TV, movies and apps.

One of my favorite apps I have come across is: ‘Sesame Street Breathe, Think, Do.’ This app has children help a Blue Monster through challenges. For example, the Blue Monster has trouble tying his shoes and becomes frustrated. First, the child helps the monster take three deep breaths. Then, the child can pop bubbles which helps the monster think of three possible solutions. Finally, the child gets to choose which of the three options may best help the monster.

‘J’ really enjoys this app and it’s great at teaching him to stop and think through his challenges or frustrations. He breathes along with the monster. He has fun popping the bubbles and learns how different choices can be made when approaching a challenge.

There are so many great learning apps out there. You can learn letters, numbers, shapes, spelling, the list goes on. ‘J’ has loves playing these “games” and doesn’t even realize how much he learns from them.

What I love about Breathe, Think, Do is that it addresses daily challenges and feelings, which is a lot harder to teach. Especially for someone who has sensory difficulties.

Then again, I wouldn’t expect anything less from Sesame Street.

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