Camp Carnival and Special Needs

[MsSoloTravel]

Anyone have experience with taking a 3 year old nonverbal child to camp carnival? Or advice on where to look on cruise critic for this type of information?

 

We are looking to cruise in Sept 2016 so we have close to a year of development ahead of us. But, thinking of a worst case scenario, if he is still nonverbal, would the camp be a viable option? The activities seem great, but what if he doesn't want to participate and just wants to play with toys? Would that be okay?

 

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

[momof3cruisers]

I would suggest posting this on the special needs cruisers or family cruising boards. You would probably get more people who are familiar with this issue on various lines who could steer you in the right direction.

[singbluesilver1]

Go look at autism on the seas. My non verbal son did great with them and they even do respite for the parents. They even do diaper changes, even for my 14 year old

 

You can even get grants to help pay, plus we got a free iPad

[melcruzer]

My daughter is not nonverbal but, she does not talk in groups or to new people. On our last cruise she was 2.5. At that age group it pretty much seemed like they just played with the toys. She only went two days Hrvatski she's really shy but, her not talking want a problem.

The only thing they were concerned about for us is that she has a swallowing disorder and is high risk for choking so they didn't want her to eat there which was fine with me.

I think your son will be fine and you can always ask for a cell phone from them and they'll call it if there is a problem. Make sure to fill out the special needs paperwork from camp carnival.

[MsSoloTravel]

Thank you so much for the replies. I will check out those other forums and Autism on the Seas. And thank you melcruzer for sharing your experience.

[N2Mischief]

I have an autistic grand daughter that I take care of full time. She is now 4 1/2 and said her first word about 6 months ago. She will say words now, but has echolalia so can't communicate yet, just repeats words we say and can recite and recognize the ABC's, knows all her colors, and count to 25. (proud grandma here!)

 

We are going on a 15 day cruise with her a year from now. I too am worried and wonder if she would even adjust to Camp Carnival.

 

Thank you for asking the question and I will be following to see what people recommend.

[bcsurvivor05]

I took my daughter at the age of 3 who was nonverbal. I put her in camp carnival here and there but not for long periods of time. She did well.

[MsSoloTravel]

I took my daughter at the age of 3 who was nonverbal. I put her in camp carnival here and there but not for long periods of time. She did well.

 

That's what we were thinking. An hour or two here and there. We mainly want to be able to go to a comedy show at night. As long as we can do that we're not worried about the rest of the day. Thank you for sharing.