As soon as we walked through the gates C was trying to run the opposite way we were going. If you didn't know this already, public places are extremely hard to keep him with us if he isn't in a stroller or buggy. We have to physically hold his hands, sometimes he is willing, and he manages to wiggle out of our tight grasps. If we aren't holding his hand then he takes off running, no matter how dangerous the area is- This has given me multiple heart attacks in parking lots where he starts running towards moving cars!
As soon as he sees the fun little train that travels around the park, he screams. When I say scream, it is like a scream and a growl combined, not a pleasant sound by any means. Of course we had onlookers immediately as he screamed. We were able to distract him enough to go feed some of the animals. He was most interested in the deer, after that it was hard to get his attention on the other animals.
As soon as we made it to where all the rides were, he growled and screamed again. I guess the sounds, lights, smells, and movement was just too much for him. I was determined to get him on a carousel though! He had never been on one so we decided we would all sit on the bench. The bench doesn't move like the horses do, so I figured that would probably be a better place for the first time. We placed C in between us but that didn't last long! As soon as the carousel started to move, he flipped out. I placed him in my lap and tried to distract him by counting all of the horses in the ride, all the while he was screaming and crying. Thank goodness we were the only ones on the ride, but we gained many stares from around us. As soon as the ride stopped, Connor said "bye bye" in a pitiful whimper and we quickly got off.
As we walked around and saw all of the other children having an amazing time, smiling from ear to ear, my heart started to break. Every parent wants their child to enjoy typical things but yet those typical things may not interest him or scare my child to death. It is tough because we never really know what he will absolutely love or hate, but I knew one thing...he was not a fan of this theme park! We found a basic slide and ladder and let him play on that for a good while before we left.
I am glad we got to try a smaller park out first with less people, but the stares that some people gave us was ridiculous! With children that have sensory processing disorder or autism spectrum disorder, they have meltdowns. Meltdowns aren't because their child needs more discipline, discipline isn't going to cure the meltdowns or unique fears. I just wish I could tell those people that stare just a little too hard that it isn't polite to stare, and I am sure they were taught that at some point in their life!
Needless to say, we won't be going back to any theme parks anytime soon but it was good for us to learn more of what is difficult for C to handle. We continue to expose him to things and places because you just never know what he will absolutely love! He did love the aquarium that we went to in Gatlinburg, TN. That made Mommy feel better watching him run up to the tanks and say "fish!" while he did the sign for fish with his hands. It is the most heartwarming feeling ever to watch your child have a good time and not show any fears :)
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