"Different-abilities" List! About This Page:

[Laughaholic]

Passporters,

I have (finally!) gathered all of your posts and read them one by one from the "WDW Disabilities List" thread. I have counted up and posted all of your unique experiences in this thread. All of the data is in an easy to read PDF file in alphabetical order.

Hopefully, if you are debating planning a WDW (or even DLR) vacation due to your medical needs this will help convince you that WDW truly is the place for you to be accommodated.

If you would like to read through the thread that houses all of this information in long form, please visit this link. WDW Disabilities List.

Let's try not to think of these are disabilities, but "different-abilities"! We all can enjoy Disney no matter how we can do it.


If you would like to download the PDF (from an outside uploading site), please click here.
To open/download the PDF from the attachment upload to this board, follow this: wdw dis.pdf.


Please feel free to keep contributing to this list and I will update it as soon as I can.

[sdcanuck1998]

We are traveling to WDW in 9 days. My DD has Usher syndrome (deafness, non-functional vestibular system (no balance) and retinitis pigmentosa). We are going now because her vsion is still good. The retinitis pigmentosa will cause her to become legally blind in 7 to 10 years. Now she only has night blindness. But we will still go to Disney, only with a white cane or a service dog Annie

[Jolin]

wow, your daughter and I have much in common in terms to disabilites! :P well besides the age difference, I have Usher's and thankfully, my vision hasn't changed much since i were diagnosed at 15! I use a cane at wdw( for crowd control mostly) and use GAC a lot, just to use it, but at night I legitmately use it to bypas the stairs at splash and other rides that I have a hard time seeing. I also have a hard time dealing with crowded queues, but I put up with them to see the cool queues with good preshows like HM

[sdcanuck1998]

Wow! I'm thinking you probably have Usher type II? My daughter, Katya, has Usher type IB. We noticed the night blindness this summer. She has bilateral CIs (Advanced Bionics) and she does wear the BTE processors. We will have to use a clip to keep from loosing them on the rides!!! I'm really happy to have found you... Not enough role models around for these kids. We could not even find a single adult (or kid) with Usher in this part of the country... Thanks again and take care. Annie

[Jolin]

well, I were born deaf.. so yeah probably so, been a while since I thought about it :P

[bbyee]

I haven't been on here in a while (we took our last WDW trip in May, 2009 and we moved from NJ to AR in Jan, 2010.....) but thought I'd take a peek in since our last trip was a complete washout (it literally rained the *entire* time...and not just rained, it POURED!). My disability is a rare skin disorder called Epidermolysis Bullosa (which isn't on your list ), which, for the record, is not water-friendly

[Tabitha34]

I am new to the Passporter Community and have never posted but I found this list very interesting as I have 2 children with special needs. I have a son with OCD and ODD but everything is very well controlled with him. Then I have a daughter with Epilepsy, Developmental Delay, Autism, Cortical Visual Impairment and she had brain surgery a few years back. In your list I did not see Cortical Visual Impairment. In dealing with different issues with her I have found that this is a relatively new term that people either do not understand or have not heard of. One that might could be added to your list though

[Eeyore Tattoo]

Welcome to Passporters & our Special Needs Forum

[Sunshine Family]

Originally Posted by Laughaholic

Let's try not to think of these are disabilities, but "different-abilities"! We all can enjoy Disney no matter how we can do it.

I am traveling with one that is not on your list:
PTSD - due to sexual assault and working on the pile after 9/11. We've already been once, and I realized looking at this thread, I have something important to contribute.

The America show at Epcot contains images of 9/11 and the aftermath. (reduced us both to sobbing)
As did the Hall of Presidents (but we were more prepared for that one and covered our ears & hummed our way through that part)

[BritDisFan]

I have not travelled with this condition before as I have only had it since I became pregnant with our daughter. I have Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction, which means my pelvis separated too much when I was pregnant and hasn't returned to it's normal state. I sometimes have to walk with crutches, am in constant pain and have to take a lot of very strong painkillers to get through the day.

I can currently only walk for short periods so I imagine that I would possibly have to hire an ECV on our next WDW visit, we are hoping to go when Alice is three.

[Eeyore Tattoo]

Karen,
So sorry you are having this issue, I am sure a ECV will help you. What is your prognosis for the future? Can the doctors repair the damage?
Alice is a very pretty baby girl

[BritDisFan]

It usually corrects itself six months after birth but there is a small percentage of people where it doesn't, I am one of them! I am seeing a Consultant in London who hopes it will almost right itself by the time Alice is two, if not there is an operation where they can fuse the pelvis back together but this only fixes the front, it affects both the front and back of my pelvis, which is quite rare apparently!

My Consultant has been working on an appliance which he has been developing for six years to help women with SPD, it is now undergoing clinical trials so if I need the op, I will be one of the first in the country to have this new operation. I hope I don't need it though and it fixes itself. Everytime I see the consultant I have Xrays to check whether the joints are moving in the right direction.

Thank you so much for the compliments on Alice, I think she is too, but I am biased!

[queen2]

bad knees, pain in both legs. I'm able to walk, just take frequant breaks.

[Granny]

Hyperparathyroidism is excessive production of parathyroid hormone (PTH) by the parathyroid glands. Symptoms include: Back pain, Blurred vision (because of cataracts), Bone pain or tenderness, Depression, Fatigue, Increased urine output, Increased thirst, Itchy skin, Joint pain, Loss of appetite, Nausea, Muscle weakness and pain, Personality changes, Stupor and possibly coma.

This is usually due to a tumor in one of the parathyroid glands. I had surgery in February to remove one gland with a tumor. I had almost every symptom and was to the point of staying in bed most of the day. I rarely left the house because I was so tired I couldn't walk very far and I did not want to be around anyone including my family. When you go back thru my blood tests it was evident I had this for at least 2 years prior to being diagnosed.

Everything should go back to normal immediately following surgery. Actually your pth anad calcium levels go down to normal while you are still in surgery. My pth and calcium were normal right after surgery but within a month my pth had risen to 3 times the normal level. I'm on my 2nd specialist and so far all I've gotten was "this is puzzling". Will be at DW in 2 weeks so I'm trying to come up with ways to limit myself but still enjoy.

There is also Hypoparathyroidism but I'm not as knowledgable about it.

[docusmc1]

PTSD combat related, MS from agent orange, TBI combat related. Use wheelchair as well as a service dog. Go to WDW 3 times a year. DVC owners and love it.