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jimsgal05
10-03-2012, 06:43 PM
I just got off the phone with a friend who is there right now, her son has Autism and she is a caregiver of another child a little girl who is non verble with autism. Well the little girl took off they were at allstar sports getting some snacks. just 10 seconds BAMM!! couldn't find her told the CM at resort said she took off and call the security. Well long story short,she boarded a bus to DHS and got off managed to go through security and into the park SHE HAD NO TICKET OR ADULT WITH HER!!! How does this happen I get the getting on the Bus and going trough sec. but into the park OMG meanwhile the police were called and a nice lady who got off the BUS at Allstar sports said she she saw her board the bus...this was 20 mins or so..my friend was causing a MAJOR sceene because she basicly was told find her yourself she must be around here somewhere. Finally they(cm) called DHS and another CM found her trying to get inline for a ride...SHE IS LESS THAN 6 yrs old...and this was 1 hr after she left the cargiver

WARNING parents if you have a child that bolts from you please becareful... because they can get pretty far from you.

Child is okay and the mother and caregiver are still a wreck...the mom was not there she was still in the dinning area with the caregivers son and husband when this all happened.

I am still in hock that she was allowed in the park...

faline
10-03-2012, 06:53 PM
It's very scary when you can't find a child. Having made it to Disney Studios, it doesn't surprise me that she might have made it into the park particularly if cast members thought she was with a group she was near. I would imagine it could be easy to lose track of the number of passes that are coming through the turnstyle and it might have even been through a turnstyle that was unmanned at the time.

I'm so glad this story has a happy ending!

Aurora
10-03-2012, 07:05 PM
What a fright for your friend! Glad she was found and everything worked out in the end.

Just my opinion but if she was able to bolt from your friend's group, get on a bus, go with the flow of people and get in line for an attraction without being with an adult, I can see how she might be able to manage slipping into the park some way or other. She sounds like a very smart and determined little girl. If she was right behind a mom with a stroller and things were busy, I can see her getting in easily.

Years ago I lost my then-3-year-old son at the Boardwalk (long story, I posted it then on Intercot). There are so many ways that kids can get lost and not cause a commotion and adults might not even realize there is a problem. In my case, there WAS a very astute CM nearby who noticed he looked confused and took care of my son until we could get to him. I will always be grateful.

Aurora
10-03-2012, 07:07 PM
It's very scary when you can't find a child. Having made it to Disney Studios, it doesn't surprise me that she might have made it into the park particularly if cast members thought she was with a group she was near. I would imagine it could be easy to lose track of the number of passes that are coming through the turnstyle and it might have even been through a turnstyle that was unmanned at the time.

I'm so glad this story has a happy ending!

Linda, I was writing while you posted but we were of very like minds! :mickey:

BrerGnat
10-03-2012, 07:15 PM
Wow, scary story, although I can't say I'm surprised. Kids with Autism sometimes are VERY good at doing things we assume they might not be able to. ;)

With that said, some kids with Autism have a tendency to Elope (i.e. bolt). It's not something that just happens from time to time; rather it's a tendency a child either has or doesn't have. By 6, it is usually pretty well known if the child is an Eloper. I would think that the parents would have a plan in place to prevent this from happening at a place like WDW, as Eloping can be a VERY dangerous behavior. These kids often have no awareness of their surroundings when they are in this mode...they have a destination and they get tunnel vision.

Sounds like this family needs to put a better plan in place and FAST to prevent this child from doing this again, such as a stroller or harness of some sort, for the rest of this trip. This is one of the many things that an Autism service dog can help with, so perhaps this family should look into this when they are back home.

So glad this ended up okay.

ANG
10-03-2012, 08:15 PM
I, too, and glad this story has a happy ending.

DS1 is ASD and I keep an extremely tight watch on him in any public area. Even more so at Disney.

I remember our last trip, I was in the baby center at AK letting DS stretch his legs some on a hot day. A CM brought in a small boy (maybe 3-4?) and he was lost from his family. I felt horrible for that family but was super impressed by the way the CMs acted. One was one her phone talking to others to find the mom and the other was trying to get him to calm down and get his name. His mom walked in about 10 minutes later.

zhemi
10-03-2012, 09:02 PM
Just a tip that has been useful to my family in the past:

Take a SHARPIE marker and on the child's upper arm write the PARENT'S cell phone number along with the words 'Am I lost? Please call my mom/dad.'
Be sure to apply this AFTER sun block has dried or it will wipe off.

We found Lost Kid Tags rip and fall off too easily, but this will stay on the skin until you take it off (again, sunblock will remove it).
My son walked away from our group at Niagara Falls once when he was 4. Thank goodness we had done this because a nice lady found him and called the number on his arm.

Glad your story had a happy ending!

darthmacho
10-04-2012, 04:56 AM
My daughter got separated from us in an arcade for all of 30 seconds when she was about 3, and I still feel it was the longest, most frightening half-minute of my life, so I can only imagine what that poor woman went through. Sadly, I imagine WDW has forever lost some magic for her.

Mousemates
10-04-2012, 09:09 AM
glad things worked out in the end....and I would be willing to bet that when the girl got back a better plan for "eloping" was already in the works by some frantic caregivers.

ransam
10-04-2012, 10:23 AM
One thing we have done is to tell everyone in our group, including kids of all ages from 7 to 49, is if seperated to meet at a specific place. when i say specific, i mean specific. Not "in front of the castle"... that's too big of an area. but to pick out a bench and say we all meet there.

It is scarey. We went a few years ago w/ a child we babysat who had become part of our family and he got lost and you should have seen me running back the trail i had gone until i found him.....

minnie04
10-04-2012, 11:44 AM
WOW!! What a scary thought that this could and did happen. I’m so glad it had a happy ending. I thought I lost my DS once in a store in DTD, he was an infant at the time. I didn’t see him in the stroller and when I looked at everyone in the group. No one had him. I will never forget the feeling that came over me. Thank god my nephew (who I forgot was with us in the store) walked up with him... I was never so scared in my whole life.

They do have tracking devises to track children like bracelets or maybe something that can clip on their clothes for the day. I would defiantly look into something like that. Especially if you know the child has the tendency to run off. I would look into it for any child for that matter….

debbymc4
10-04-2012, 12:08 PM
Similar to the Sharpie idea, I made a tag for my son at one of those kiosks where you can make name tags for your pets. It just clips right on to his belt loops and has our phone numbers.

figgie
10-04-2012, 12:09 PM
No worse feeling in the world than to loose sight of a child, no matter what the length of time. Lost our son for a few minutes at DTD when he was small. I will never forget that feeling! Total Panic! Turns our he was just hiding as a game and was watching me the whole time. We had a long talk after that incident but kids will be kids and it happens.

Love the idea of writing on the arm! :artist:

ANG
10-04-2012, 02:16 PM
We had mini luggage tags embroidered for us (knotted to his belt loop) that not only have our cell number but that he is ASD. So if a CM finds him, they know he won't respond to their questions or actions like most other kids will. Since he looks "typical."

GAN
10-04-2012, 02:19 PM
No offense to the OP, but there definitely seems to be something wrong here. It's pretty well known that Disney has a substantial lost child protocol -telling the family to look for the child themselves is probably no part of that procedure. The fact that a child with Autism gets on a bus without anyone noticing(or being concerned enough) would be beyond shocking. Sure, any child could blend in, but if I even if I had a slight doubt I would ask a question of the child or the very least of the other adults around me. I'm not buying it.

Quadstriker
10-04-2012, 03:18 PM
No offense to the OP, but there definitely seems to be something wrong here. It's pretty well known that Disney has a substantial lost child protocol -telling the family to look for the child themselves is probably no part of that procedure.


What was actually said: "Alright ma'am I've contacted the head of our lost children department and he's sent out a code turquoise alert which initiates our 382 step procedure so that we can find your child and reunite you safely. But in no way should you feel that you can't look for your child yourself if you have an idea of where they might have gone."

What hysterical woman heard: "Look for your child yourself."

BrerGnat
10-04-2012, 03:28 PM
No offense to the OP, but there definitely seems to be something wrong here. It's pretty well known that Disney has a substantial lost child protocol -telling the family to look for the child themselves is probably no part of that procedure. The fact that a child with Autism gets on a bus without anyone noticing(or being concerned enough) would be beyond shocking. Sure, any child could blend in, but if I even if I had a slight doubt I would ask a question of the child or the very least of the other adults around me. I'm not buying it.

Eh...it's always possible that this didn't happen QUITE as relayed here. We all know how stories can be quite exaggerated when being retold.

However, I am inclined to believe the majority of this story.

I have read more than a few stories of things Autistic kids have been able to pull off that sound, on the surface, to be absolutely unbelievable. The one that sticks out in my mind involved a 10 year old boy with Autism who got online, purchased an airline ticket, took his father's car keys, got in the car, drove to the AIRPORT, parked the car, and was able to board a cross country flight BY HIMSELF to go visit his mother after he was told he could not do so. So, yeah. If a kid can get away with that kind of stunt, I have NO problem believing this story.

Now, I can say that my OWN son was able to walk through the turnstiles at Disneyland once ahead of me and without a ticket. He simply walked in the stroller gate when another mother and her child went though it. He wasn't paying attention and he thought it was me. I had to call him back and tell the CM he was with ME, not the lady in front of me. So, I can see a child being able to slip into the park without a ticket fairly easily. All she would have had to do is walk in the stroller gate. It takes just one CM who is really not paying attention as carefully as he/she should. It happened to us, after all.

So, to be fair, maybe this story is made up. But, it could just as easily be true, and it does bear reminding parents (especially of special needs kids) that you really, REALLY have to be on your toes with watching them.

Aurora
10-04-2012, 03:49 PM
If she was right behind a mom with a stroller and things were busy, I can see her getting in easily.



Now, I can say that my OWN son was able to walk through the turnstiles at Disneyland once ahead of me and without a ticket. He simply walked in the stroller gate when another mother and her child went though it. He wasn't paying attention and he thought it was me. I had to call him back and tell the CM he was with ME, not the lady in front of me. So, I can see a child being able to slip into the park without a ticket fairly easily. All she would have had to do is walk in the stroller gate. It takes just one CM who is really not paying attention as carefully as he/she should. It happened to us, after all.

When I had the same thought above, I was pretty sure it had probably happened to someone along the line. And it was you! Great story and example of how things can happen that you don't expect.

Having had to deal with all three kids being lost at some time or other and managing a sister with developmental needs at the parks, I have no problem believing the OP's story.

GAN
10-04-2012, 05:56 PM
I have read more than a few stories of things Autistic kids have been able to pull off that sound, on the surface, to be absolutely unbelievable. The one that sticks out in my mind involved a 10 year old boy with Autism who got online, purchased an airline ticket, took his father's car keys, got in the car, drove to the AIRPORT, parked the car, and was able to board a cross country flight BY HIMSELF to go visit his mother after he was told he could not do so. So, yeah. If a kid can get away with that kind of stunt, I have NO problem believing this story.



Not to change the topic, but could a child actually get a boarding pass(without ID), get through security(without an adult or ID), and get on a plane without an Airline "escort"? My guess is that this particular story is an Urban Myth. Of course, anything is possible.

jimsgal05
10-04-2012, 06:06 PM
the little girl had a tag with her name and her condition. I forgot to say that she wears it even to the food store. while the caregiver was looking for her in the store the child was long gone on the bus. what upset my friend was the CM's were not in a hurry to do anything the whole family was looking for her... well just wanted to "put in out there" great suggestions about the sharpie and tags...

jimsgal05
10-04-2012, 06:10 PM
this isn't a made up story my friend was Hysterical on the phone when she told me this. She is also travel agent as well for Disney.
I just want to make people aware that a small child can get in without a ticket on a busy day with out having their own family right there with them.

GAN
10-04-2012, 06:56 PM
What bothers me most(if the story is in fact true), is that a child with a tag that said she was autistic gets on a bus and not one person on the bus thought that it was odd that she wasn't paired with an adult. On a bus that is less than full it should be fairly easy to recognize a problem -so I assume it must have been relatively full. One thing I notice when sitting on a Disney bus is that it is hard NOT to notice who is with who, especially with younger children. So if the bus was full, the child had to be sitting near one or maybe two families(with children of their own, most likely) -not one of those people was curious as to who she might be with? Not one person thought to strike up a conversation? You know, the child with the Autistic tag! Maybe I'm the only one who pays attention to these things. This is the part that makes the story totally unbelievable to me.

BrerGnat
10-04-2012, 08:32 PM
What bothers me most(if the story is in fact true), is that a child with a tag that said she was autistic gets on a bus and not one person on the bus thought that it was odd that she wasn't paired with an adult. On a bus that is less than full it should be fairly easy to recognize a problem -so I assume it must have been relatively full. One thing I notice when sitting on a Disney bus is that it is hard NOT to notice who is with who, especially with younger children. So if the bus was full, the child had to be sitting near one or maybe two families(with children of their own, most likely) -not one of those people was curious as to who she might be with? Not one person thought to strike up a conversation? You know, the child with the Autistic tag! Maybe I'm the only one who pays attention to these things. This is the part that makes the story totally unbelievable to me.

Are you suggesting engaging a NON VERBAL autistic 6 year old in conversation on a crowded WDW bus? Good luck with that...

In fact, I challenge you to engage my 8 year old high functioning, completely verbal autistic son NOT on a bus. Say "hi" to him. Ask him what his name is. How old he is. Good luck with that. Unless you start in on discussing electric circuitry or the ins and outs of Dyson vacuum motors, you will get NOTHING back from him. He won't even acknowledge your presence.

Aurora
10-04-2012, 08:57 PM
What bothers me most(if the story is in fact true), is that a child with a tag that said she was autistic gets on a bus and not one person on the bus thought that it was odd that she wasn't paired with an adult. On a bus that is less than full it should be fairly easy to recognize a problem -so I assume it must have been relatively full. One thing I notice when sitting on a Disney bus is that it is hard NOT to notice who is with who, especially with younger children. So if the bus was full, the child had to be sitting near one or maybe two families(with children of their own, most likely) -not one of those people was curious as to who she might be with? Not one person thought to strike up a conversation? You know, the child with the Autistic tag! Maybe I'm the only one who pays attention to these things. This is the part that makes the story totally unbelievable to me.

Gan, I know it seems hard to believe, but imagine this: You are sitting on the bus, facing toward the middle of the bus. Your kids are on your right. Next to them is another child, and next to that child is another child and her parent. Isn't it possible that you would assume the child is with that family, and they would assume the child is with yours? In fact, it wouldn't occur to you otherwise.

Now multiply that by a dozen or more families on a crowded, busy bus. People don't necessarily get in and out of a bus with spaces in between families to denote who is with who or to alert people to an unsupervised child. How is this not believable?

Before we lost my son at Disney, my mother (who was with us at the time) said she could never understand how a child could get lost. After that, she said she would never say such a thing again. I guess it's just easier to understand when something like that has happened to you.

GAN
10-04-2012, 09:46 PM
Are you suggesting engaging a NON VERBAL autistic 6 year old in conversation on a crowded WDW bus? Good luck with that...

In fact, I challenge you to engage my 8 year old high functioning, completely verbal autistic son NOT on a bus. Say "hi" to him. Ask him what his name is. How old he is. Good luck with that. Unless you start in on discussing electric circuitry or the ins and outs of Dyson vacuum motors, you will get NOTHING back from him. He won't even acknowledge your presence.

I understand what your saying, but I wouldn't recognize the child to be non-verbal -so the answer is yes. If I was that child's parent I would probably speak for him, acknowledging that he is with me. I have a nephew with Aspergers so I'm familiar with a lesser form.


Gan, I know it seems hard to believe, but imagine this: You are sitting on the bus, facing toward the middle of the bus. Your kids are on your right. Next to them is another child, and next to that child is another child and her parent. Isn't it possible that you would assume the child is with that family, and they would assume the child is with yours? In fact, it wouldn't occur to you otherwise.

Now multiply that by a dozen or more families on a crowded, busy bus. People don't necessarily get in and out of a bus with spaces in between families to denote who is with who or to alert people to an unsupervised child. How is this not believable?



Again, if a child is on a bus with a sticker acknowledging their autism and on the ride, with children everywhere, not one parent gestures toward that child -that would seem HIGHLY unusual(to me). I don't think I've been on a Disney bus where there wasn't someone holding a hand, carrying, leaning, sitting on a lap, talking, scolding, or a myriad of other interactions that would indicate "this child is with me". Just seems a little too unusual to me.

The other thing that struck me as odd was the lady who got off the bus and said she saw her getting on the DHS bus. Seems kind of convenient(maybe just luck) but most people get off the bus and move on, not stick around to see who is getting on the bus they just got off. The child would have been surrounded by dozens of other families -I'm thinking she would have blended in quite well. Why would the lady have given it a second thought?

Seems to me there are too many lucky circumstances to be convinced -but I respect the opinions of those who believe. I don't want to turn this into a flame session!

DisneyDawgette
10-05-2012, 01:41 AM
This summer we took a large group of kids to Disney, and by large, I mean 47 not including leaders. I had a group of 8 girls and they were all split into partners. This system worked flawlessly in all of the parks (they were to walk two-by-two with the same partner in the same order... I would know if I looked up and someone was missing, and so would their partner).

However, we went to DTD one night which was the most CHAOTIC night of the trip, and keeping them all together in World of Disney was simply not going to happen. So I kept up with them by giving them room boundaries, and they would be allowed to wander with their partner in a given room but we would all move to the next room together. They knew that they were NEVER to cross the "boundary" that I had given them under any circumstances. Until I had one pair of girls who just got a little too excited and ended up on the OTHER side of the massive store completely ignoring any and all boundaries I had given them. It was so crowded and the concert going on outside made the noise level intolerable. Losing someone else's kids was not helping the matter. It took me ten minutes to find them and it's safe to say that I was not happy with these more than capable 5th grade girls. Relieved, but very unhappy. :-o

Sometimes it's not determination to get away, but pure excitement that overcomes all sense! Even in older kids!

VWL Mom
10-05-2012, 07:30 AM
The most important part of this story is the child is safe, thank goodness for that!

IMO this post serves two purposes: a reminder to watch your children and a reminder that if you notice something wrong, report it! No one had to approach the child but someone should have mentioned to the driver or a cast member that the child was alone. I am 99% certain that someone on that bus noticed and it only would have taken a few minutes to report a suspicion.

ANG
10-05-2012, 09:19 AM
This seriously gave me a belly laugh. Cause this is my son as well!


Are you suggesting engaging a NON VERBAL autistic 6 year old in conversation on a crowded WDW bus? Good luck with that...

In fact, I challenge you to engage my 8 year old high functioning, completely verbal autistic son NOT on a bus. Say "hi" to him. Ask him what his name is. How old he is. Good luck with that. Unless you start in on discussing electric circuitry or the ins and outs of Dyson vacuum motors, you will get NOTHING back from him. He won't even acknowledge your presence.

Mrs Bus Driver
10-05-2012, 10:10 AM
The thing that really concerns me is the cast member at the beginning who told her to find the child herself. No report of a missing child should ever be treated like that. Better to have a quick happy ending then having a child missing long enough to get into a park. All cast members should have been told at once to look out for the child.

My own experience tells me that cast members and most people would not notice a calm child going about their business. Really most of us would only notice an upset child. So you can hardly blame the bus driver or cast members at the parks for not noticing when they are already busy.

I drive a school bus and if a child is reported missing after school they will call every school bus from that school. Even though we try to know all our students and new students and friends going home must have a pass, it only takes a moments distraction for a child to slip on board with friends. I had one years ago, I knew all my students (80 of them) and I didn't know he was there until his friends playing around pushed him out in the aisle. If they had sat there quietly I wouldn't have seen him until we got to the bus stop. He of course didn't have permission to be there and I had to take him back to school where parents were called. But at a busy resort where cast members and bus drivers don't know the children unless an alert is sounded it is easy to see how this child got so far.

The cast member at the beginning should have sounded the alarm. I know most of the time children are found right away (Thank Goodness) but there is always that one child and time is of the essence.

Long vent I know but just had to put in my :twocents:

disneynarula
10-05-2012, 10:44 AM
I am just glad she got back to her family safely. How scary would that be? We lost our DS at Legoland in Germany. It was just a matter of miscommunication between DH and I. We are totally to blame. We are very clear now about who is in charge of what child.

I would never have noticed a child without a parent unless that child acted scared or upset.

Mrs Bus Driver
10-05-2012, 10:54 AM
BTW I now drive special needs and just want people to know that unless they have a deformity, they look just like every one else. Only in most cases they are smarter.

Dulcee
10-05-2012, 11:24 AM
What was actually said: "Alright ma'am I've contacted the head of our lost children department and he's sent out a code turquoise alert which initiates our 382 step procedure so that we can find your child and reunite you safely. But in no way should you feel that you can't look for your child yourself if you have an idea of where they might have gone."

What hysterical woman heard: "Look for your child yourself."


This. Having worked in an aquarium we routinely had lost child incidents. Trying to tell a hysterical parent NOT to go look for their kid is next to impossible. We usually told them that if they felt the needed to look that they could. Most parents feel more helpless just standing and waiting, even if that is the best thing they can do.

Gator
10-05-2012, 01:07 PM
This is exactly the reason I'm bringing a double stroller and a single to accomodate all my kids. As long as they're in the strollers, they don't take off and get lost in the sea of people. Yeah, they're all the way up to 7, but I don't care. If I can take the worry of "where's my kids" out of the equation, my trip is that much more enjoyable.

TheVBs
10-06-2012, 09:32 AM
So glad this turned out well!

I have to agree that it would be very easy for CMs and other guests to assume the child is with one of the families packed around them. Most families are focused on each other, talking about what they're going to do for the day, getting out their tickets to get into the park, etc. If the child was calm and looked like she was supposed to be there, she could easily escape notice that something was wrong.

And, I agree that it seems unlikely that the original CM only told the parent to look for the child. It was obviously called in if other guests were questioned and there was probably the additional suggestion of the parent continuing to look on their own.

Sam&Alex&Josh'sMOM
10-07-2012, 08:59 PM
I am just so glad this worked out ok.

Our daughter was "lost" in the boneyard at AK for about 5 minutes when she was 4. She made it up the net climbing thing and slid down before I could get down there to see where she was, then it was pure hysteria on my part looking for her. There was a CM at the gate, but he was manning the in and the out, but really just chatting with someone at the IN (which I am pretty sure is just wrong) and I knew she could have run out. I was so lucky that she had been crying and a really nice Mom found her and just sat down right in the middle with her and said"We arent moving until your Mommy finds you!" Sammy wanted to go, and was crying to find me, but the mother was insistent that she would stay right there with her. I found them. We all shed tears. It was all of a 5minute process, but the scariest 5 minutes of my life. I still can't thank that other Mom enough for just SITTING STILL with my daughter. It was the perfect thing to do. To this day I HATE that play area. And if the kids insist on going in, I make sure one of us stays with the youngest (the 4 year old is now 8 and has siblings who are 5 and 2) So one stays with the baby, and the other stays at the gate. CM's are great, but they get distracted too, and I would rather make sure the gate is guarded myself. I KNOW my daughter would have been headed out that gate all those years ago, and the CM would never have known because he was watching the IN not the OUT.

Now I always try to be observent of kids that might be lost to help out.