Next week is going to be awesome for me...
My son was diagnosed as significantly autistic a couple of years ago. After two years of doing all the things that the AMA says not to do, or at least says are not helpful, he is now on the high-functioning end of the autism spectrum. His official diagnosis is now Autism Spectrum Disorder according to one doctor, Pervasive Developmental Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) by another doctor. My own reading of the DSM-IV leads me to believe that PDD-NOS is just a subset of ASD, but I digress.
My son is totally hung up on Mickey Mouse. If you think your neurotypical (normal) kid likes Mickey, multiply that by a billion and you might be able to wrap your mind around how an ASD kid is with the things that push their buttons.
Getting back, at long last, to the point of this thread; next week my wife and I will be taking him to Disney World to see Mickey "in person". He doesn't know about it yet. He is finally at a place where he will be able to handle Disney, sensory-wise. Now that he can handle it, seeing him enjoy Disney for all its worth will be the second best experience of my life.
The best experience will be the following Saturday when I drive the family to the Tampa area, drop them off with the in-laws, then head down to the Buffalo Wild Wings in Brandon (location is in the Alumni Game Watch thread) to see the Buckeyes Bludgeon the Bejeebers out of Big Blue.