My oldest son had one of the best kindergarten teachers in the world and she had a saying that encouraged the kids to use nice words when speaking to each other – to give ‘warm fuzzies’ instead of ‘cold pricklies’. It’s stuck with me all these years so I’ve decided to write about the things that give me warm fuzzies and grrr. . . cold pricklies.
A heart-felt warm fuzzy goes to Universal Studios. We recently purchased season passes for our family as we’ve moved to a location that’s very close to the park and all our boys love the rides, shows and characters. I asked about the availability of express passes for purchase. Express passes allow you to enter a separate line, cutting the wait time for most rides and attractions to less than 10 minutes, even if there’s an hour wait or more in the ‘regular’ line. For many kids with autism, waiting is EXCRUCIATING. It’s painful. It’s impossible. And it goes without saying that we try to avoid places where we will be required to wait in one place for an extended period of time. To my delight (and amazement), Universal offers express passes free of charge for families of children with autism. Had we been required to purchase the passes, it would have cost $125 for our family per visit. And if we were unable to get the express passes, we would probably never visit. I’ve heard of similar programs at other theme parks and attractions so it never hurts to ask. We will now be enjoying many days at Universal with all of our children thanks to their foresight and generosity.
I don’t have any cold pricklies yet, but next week will be my sons’ IEP and placement meeting with the new district so I’ll reserve the right to revisit this soon.
Happy New Year and Peace.
Filed under: autism | Tagged: autism, Universal Studios
