My child is developmentally disabled and I was wondering if he would be able to participate in the activities at Camp Carnival. He is 15 but mentally equal to a 5-7 year old. He gets along great with my nephews that are between 5-8. They all play well together. The usual problem is that the nephews have figured out that it is very easy to take toys ect from him we have to talk to them about taking advantage of him because he is so easygoing and laid back. He will let you have just about anything but his food and he won't hit or be aggressive but usually just cry out if he doesn't like something.

The other question I have is about the babysitting services for like $6.00 an hour or whatever it is. Do they come to your cabin or do you take them to the camp area? I was just thinking if the hubby and I wanted to have a dinner just the two of us could we use those services?

Thanks alot,
Dayla

dandj:

Our 15 year old son has a form of Autism called Asperger's Syndrome. He has been in Camp Carnival since he was 5 years old and will soon be sailing on his 15th cruise.

All through the years, we have been blessed to have wonderful Camp Carnival staff to care for him.

He is high functioning and not agressive (as some AS kids can be), so he has been able to stay with his age group over the years. However, he has severe panic attacks around mascots...so when Funship Freddie was introduced...we thought we would have to stop sailing Carnival. The staff has done an excellent job of providing me with Freddie's schedule on each cruise so we could avoid him. However, our son refused to go to Camp Carnival since that time because he knows that is where "Freddie lives".

We just got off the Miracle and for the first time, our son felt comfortable enough to go to the Club O2 teen activities. He had a wonderful time. He stayed at each activity alone and Dad or I would pick him up at the end of each event. We had a long talk with the Club O2 director (Angie) and she kept an "extra" eye out for him.

If you have not booked a specific cruise yet, I believe the level of success you will have will depend on booking the best cruise for you.

1. If possible, book a time when most children are in school. The fewer children on board, the more attention the Club O2 director can dedicate to your child.

2. Have realistic expectations. Even when our son was in Camp Carnival...if they had a swim activity, I was always there because he can not swim and I thought it would put an burden on the staff to try to watch him and all the other kids as well. So I would go with him. That way he got to participate and I was assured of his safety without placing that burden on the staff.

3. Do some research. Some directors are better than others. Angie on the Miracle is wonderful. She kept an extra eye on our son during the activities so that he could have the freedom to spread his wings a little without Mom and Dad right there. Dan is also going to be on the Liberty starting in December and while he is only 18, he is a wonderfully mature director.

4. I would contact Carnival's disability department and have an honest discussion about your child's needs.

Camp Carnival can not give one on one care. And of course their main concern is the well being of all the children in their care...so (because I don't know your child) I can not say for certain what they will or will not do.

The $6 per hour you are referring to is for 10pm - 3AM. The children stay in the Camp Carnival room and watch videos etc. I am not certain if there is an age limit...that would be an excellent question for the Carnival disability department.

I would also try a shorter cruise at first, to see how he does.
We have really been blessed to be able to use cruising as a teaching tool for our son.

Good luck to you and your cruising endeavors.

I don't know what to say except you are good Parents. I was on a cruise and the Parents left a challenged young man to himself for entertainment. I mean we figured out they were in the casino after a few days of him walking up to people asking about his parents.

I asked him the last day where are your Parents? He said they were hiding today in the cabin. It was like they knew He could not go very far as being on a ship and left everyone else to tend to him.

It was pretty sad.

quote:

Originally posted by IslandCruz:
I don't know what to say except you are good Parents. I was on a cruise and the Parents left a challenged young man to himself for entertainment. I mean we figured out they were in the casino after a few days of him walking up to people asking about his parents.

I asked him the last day where are your Parents? He said they were hiding today in the cabin. It was like they knew He could not go very far as being on a ship and left everyone else to tend to him.

It was pretty sad.

Oh man...that just makes me sick to my stomach. Even though our son is now 15, he is always with Dad or I (or now at Club O2, whenever he feels comfortable)....or in the cabin taking a nap. He loves to take an afternoon nap. He says it "recharges his batteries" so he can "hang with Dad" until 11:30 at night! Usually Dad will "nap" as well. Seems like our little one isn't the only one that needs a battery recharging to go the distance. LOL

We are very blessed. Our son is high functioning. He can stay at home by himself for an hour or so at the time. I will allow him to do that as long as I am not more than 3 miles away. (as long as there is no bad weather in the area) He can use a cellphone. He won't be attending high school, but (hopefully) will be getting his GED. For some reason he does very well on standardized tests. And the GED can be passed one section at a time.

But best of all is that he is a well mannered young man that will just con your socks off in about 3 seconds!!

We have a saying around the house, that he is a great con and horrible at math...so he would make an excellent politician~!!~

Thanks for your help. I wonder if I am a little over protective at times. I have work with the developmentally disabled for 11 years and have seen the same situation several times from parents and staff that work with the individuals. When I worked in a group setting if we went on outings I was constantly doing a headcount so I would miss alot of the scenery or ect because of that. But I would rather pay to do the same thing again than have one of my individuals injuried or worse. I like the one on one of working through wavier so we can both enjoy what is going on. When we did our group cruise last year me and my supervisor didn't see eye to eye a could of times because I was always checking up on everyone to see if they were ok or if they needed help with anything. I wasn't to the point of annoying them to death but I know I got turned around a couple of times on the ship and wondered around for a while til I found my way back. But I will say that I was very impressed that our group seemed to be very accecpted by the other guests and the staff was simply wonderful. Here at the states I have ran into several occasions where our group has been discriminated against for thier disabilities. But nothing like that on the cruise.

quote:

Originally posted by dandjwarner:
Here at the states I have ran into several occasions where our group has been discriminated against for thier disabilities. But nothing like that on the cruise.

I know what you mean. The cruise staff have always gone out of their way to be supportive. Sadly here in the "good ole USA" it can be a lot different. When our son was 2, a "woman with a child" (I can't say mother, because no real mother would act like that) wanted my son removed from the Mom's Day Out program solely because she did not want her son going to school with (as she put it) a retarded child.
No aggression issues , no behavioral issues, he had never ever had to "move his bear" in school. She just did not want her son to be around my son with his disabilities. The interesting thing is when our sons were tested later on in life, my son's IQ was 119 and her son's was 98. The only reason I know his score was because she was pitching a fit about how they must have done the test "wrong" for her son not to have scored well "above normal".

Karma!!

I have always believed in the saying - "there are parents and there are breeders"

Just because you are capable of having childern does not make you a parent.

I know what you are saying Jim C. I have been told be a few doctors that I will never be able to have a child of my own due to having polycystic ovarian syndrome. It took me a while to except this and I struggled mostly when I saw those type mothers. I have caught myself saying several times to my husband why does she or they have kid(s) and we can't? I can't say that I have completly given up the idea of being able to have a baby but I am very happy with my adopted son. I only wish we could have done it before he was subjected to the abuse he has had to indure. But we are showing him how it is to be loved and trying to make up for the years of abuse.(I know we can never totally do that so maybe correct)

I just wanted to say that you all sound like such wonderfully generous and kind people. My first cruise is this December. It's seminars at sea, so I'll be getting some CEU's and hopefully some much needed R and R. My son is 19, and not developmentally challanged, and I wish I appreciated him more when he was little. You all sound like your not making the same mistake. That's wonderful. Happy cruising.