18/02/2016
A friend of mine is at Disney this week with her husband and 4 children. Two of her children are hearing impaired. Please read the beautiful thank-you she wrote to Disney. It's long, but definitely worth the read.
"I NEED TO THANK DISNEY WORLD.
I am a special needs mom. My two youngest children, four years old and one year old, are both hearing impaired. Their special needs are not as severe as many children's special needs are, and sometimes it is hard to explain to people that they are special needs because other than wearing hearing aids they often seem "normal". However, take my precious little boys out of their routine and out of their familiar environment and those special needs come breaking through loud and clear! So you can imagine that Disney World presents a challenge.
I will admit that I did not give enough thought into how hard this trip would be on my boys and what types of challenges we as their parents would face (I'm still kind of new at the special needs parent thing). So we got here and WHAM - reality. Now, let me say this, we have had SO MUCH FUN. The challenges and hard moments have not made our trip not fun. We have still had a blast as a family and made so many memories!! Hence my need to thank Disney World!
My four year old's hearing loss is more severe than his younger brother's. He tends to get overwhelmed easily in environments with a lot of people and a lot of noise. It becomes very hard for him to figure out what's going on around him because he can't make sense of all of the jumbled up noise coming into his hearing aids. Thankfully we have a Roger Pen which is a device that transmits my voice (or my husband's - whoever is wearing it) directly into his hearing aids. That has helped a ton. But honestly, what has also REALLY helped, is Disney World's services for special needs and patience with these precious children! Disney offers a Disability pass for those with special needs who have a hard time waiting in long lines. You are able to go to guest services and get set up for this. The process is that you go to the ride or attraction you want to experience and speak with the employee there at the fast pass lane. They give you a time to come back. You can go do whatever you would like until that time then show back up (at that time or anytime after). You are then allowed to use the fast pass lane for the attraction. You can us these disability passes in addition to fast pass. So, with these two options we were able to avoid any long lines which was a HUGE help with my two little ones who get so overstimulated so easily. It also made it possible for us to experience more of Disney. We are a slow moving group as you can imagine. There are six of us - kids ages 8, 6, 4, and 1 - and with two who need to be catered to every now and then and melt downs that need to be deal with, it can take us a while to get somewhere. So what a blessing this disability pass has been!! They also have areas within Magic Kingdom (and maybe other parks as well) for families with special needs members to be able to sit and rest in the quiet so that those who are easily overstimulated are able to have some much needed down time.
Another fantastic aspect of Disney - they employ the deaf! At one store that we bought a souvenir in, the person that waited on us was deaf. And it was wonderful. I want so badly for my boys to see that they are not alone with their hearing loss. We also met another employee who wears hearing aids when we went to see Lion King at Animal Kingdom. She immediately signed to my 4 year old (something that I LOVE - he understands sign language fluently). Then she showed us that she wears a hearing aid. After that, she made arrangements for us to sit in the front for the show so that Ezekiel could see and HEAR everything as well as possible. Other employees made sure that we had wonderful seats once we got inside. During the show, a few of the characters come and invite a few children to join them with a dance. One of the cast immediately came to our family and invited our children to join. They were all too shy to go out in front of everyone but as I watched to see what children were selected, I honestly began to cry. They chose multiple children who are special needs. And they were WONDERFUL with them. They held their hands and talked them through everything they were doing. If one decided to wander, they gently took their hand again and guided them back to where they should be, all the while smiling so genuinely and talking so gently with them. It was so apparent that these cast members were truly loving these children!!
We have done multiple character meals and of course met characters elsewhere in the parks. My 4 year old was SO EXCITED to meet Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates. Jake was fabulous with him and when we asked our son if he thought Jake knew how to sign "thank you" (as we modeled how to do it of course), Jake sweetly responded and signed thank you to him. When we met Mickey (who our son was asking to meet the minute we got to Florida), he was wonderful. I forgot in the moment that I should get a picture on my phone of my son and Mickey to send to his school teacher. The little kids in his hearing impaired preschool were absolutely fascinated that he was going to meet Mickey. So after Mickey had already been past our table and on to multiple others, he was willing to stop and take yet another picture with us so that we could send it to the HI class. When we were in Pixar Place at Hollywood Studios we met a Green Army Man from Toy Story. This Army Man got down on his knee and face to face with my precious four year old, signed to him. They were just a couple of simple signs, but my son's face lit up like he had finally found a character to truly relate to. I cried - again. The picture I have of my son and daughter with this green army man is the most relaxed my four year old looks in any picture we have with a character. Thank you, Green Army Man. Thank you.
My one year old does not have as severe of a hearing loss but still wears bilateral hearing aids. He can hear volume pretty well but cannot make out the specific sounds he is hearing. So you can imagine how exhausting it is for him (and my four year old) to be in these environments where they are having to constantly work SO HARD to make sense of what anyone is saying to them. And my one year old SHOWED HIS EXHAUSTION. And I mean, he had multiple meltdowns. Not a melt down like a bit of crying and maybe some yelling until something distracted him. But a melt down as in crying and screaming at the top of his lungs and completely inconsolable no matter what was done. Once was when it was just he and I in Hollywood studios waiting on the rest of the family to sign up for the Jedi Academy. We were in a store and he lost it. REALLY lost it. I have had four kids now and consider myself pretty good at handling a fussy baby, but this was rough. He was so inconsolable. At one point in one of the stores there were three, yes THREE, Disney employees trying to help me with him. Two women were helping me try and figure out what to do with him as well as get his jacket off in case he was hot and clean up the stroller tray he had made a mess on, while a male employee was trying to distract him with a light saber. After that I decided I better get some milk and try a bottle for him. The only place to get milk nearby was Starbucks which of course was packed. A kind lady near the front of the line offered to help me and spoke with a Disney employee who of course just gave her milk to give to me and smiled and waved me on so that I could go and comfort him. Thank you. His next MAJOR melt down was in the café at our resort. It was just him and me again and he was in the stroller while I was trying to get food for our family of 6 and take it back to our room. Again, he started screaming. He was in the stroller writhing and screaming and again, inconsolable. And again, MULTIPLE Disney employees came to my aid. A chef came out and tried giving him apples. Multiple others came to help me get food from all over (there were multiple "stations" to get things at) and even to try and play with him while I finished up. They were all SO patient and so understanding and kind. When we finally finished gathering all of the food one of them carried the tray all of the way back to our room for me. Thank you.
In the midst of craziness and trying to help our two little ones and keep track of all that they need, our two oldest sometimes have to sacrifice. They are incredible big siblings and never complain about this. They have such precious hearts and such love for their little brothers. And of course Disney has blessed them also. The other day we were at Chef Mickey and had forgotten their autograph books. Our wonderful waiter brought up paper and pen for them to get signatures. Well, when we left afterwards, we totally forgot the papers. My husband went to try and get them but they had been cleared away with the rest of the things on the table. So knowing that our kids would be devastated, my husband asked if their was any way we could get another autograph from each character. The supervisor was so wonderful and actually went and got an autograph book and asked each character to autograph it three times so we would have one to put into each of the kids' individual books! And of course the character sweetly obliged! Then at Animal Kingdom we had a long day of trying to handle an exhausted and overwhelmed four year old. We went to shows that we had reserved and just had to take things slowly. Our 8 year old asked all day long to go see the tigers. We had to keep putting it off and by the time we finally went to see them, they had gone in for the night. My son and I were both devastated. I felt SO SO BAD that the ONE thing my oldest son had asked to do ALL day couldn't happen. But again, Disney is amazing. There was man standing there to let people know that the animals had gone in for the night and he spent a lot of time with my son. He talked with him about how we need to respect the animals (which totally resonated with my son) and why they need to go in so early. This employee never once made my eight year old feel belittled or embarrassed even though he was quietly crying over this disappointment. He got down and spoke with him eye to eye. He really helped redeem the situation and helped my heart as I watched one more sacrifice have to happen for my precious boy. Thank you.
One other aspect that I have greatly enjoyed about this Disney trip is the connections we have had with other families of the hearing impaired. We have met three other children who wear hearing aids or cochlear implants. We had a young man who wears hearing aids stop us and ask about some of the assistive gear we have for our boys. I connected with a mom who has a special needs son as I was standing in line for security one morning. I realize these aren't technically Disney aspects, but I also realize that Disney creates an environment that encourages people from around the world to feel comfortable connecting with each other. One of the families we connected with is here vacationing from Brazil! It has been such a blessing to come on vacation and be surprised by feeling supported and connected with other special needs families! Thank you, Disney, for creating an environment that makes such a thing possible!
Thank you, Disney, for creating a place that is magical for everyone - even special needs families like us."
