Autism and Airplanes - AutismWonderland Goes to Walt Disney World (part 1)

So last week was our first trip to Walt Disney World, Florida.  I took The Boy out of school for four days, and cancelled our home-based therapy sessions.  Without any kind of guilt.  We all needed a vacation.  We all needed to let loose, have fun and make memories.  We needed time to just be a family.   

It was our first vacation that required plane travel. The Husband and I haven't flown in more than five years.  Needless to say I was nervous. I packed books, legos and gum.  The Husband made sure the iPad was fully charged.  I explained (several times) to The Boy that we were taking a plane to go the Nickelodeon Hotel.  I was expecting the worst.  I was expectating tantrums and melt downs and kicking and screaming and crying. I was expecting dirty looks from other passengers,  I was thinking of snarky one liners for anyone who said something about The Boy.

I shouldn't have bothered.  All we needed was gum and the iPad.  The Boy was AMAZING!  He took all the waiting, lines, security checks and even the teeny airplane bathroom all in stride.  Truth be told - I was more nervous than The Boy. 

And upon landing in Florida, The Boy spotted a little girl standing with her mother and said "Hi there!"  I mean, The Boy looked at this little girl - a girl he'd never met before - right in the eye and said, "Hi there!"  I was beyond estatic.  This was major! Because he hardly says hello first without prompting.   

That's when I knew: it was going to be an amazing vacation.  And that The Boy needed it, more than I could have ever imagined.    

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So what happened when we checked into the Nickelodeon Hotel or when we entered the Magic Kingdom for the first time?  Posts to come later in the week :)