Pin Trading Qustion

Hi!

I'm thinking about getting my son Jack started with pin trading. I can see pros and cons to trying this.

I'd like to hear from you: does your child enjoy it? Why? Do you have any tips to share? Have you experienced a down-side?

Some background on my son:
Jack will be celebrating his 8th b-day at WDW this spring. He has moderate cp and epilepsy. He has very low muscle tone in his mouth, so he uses a g-tube for nutrition and a speech-generating device to speak.

Jack is very social and enjoys interacting with everyone. This can be frustrating for him because he is hard to understand. He just got a super-sophisticated new talker and is learning to use it. I'm hoping that using it for pin trading and autographs at WDW will be great motivation.

My concern is the "closure" aspect to pin-trading. Jack has difficulty transitioning from one activity to another, especially if he's involved in something he likes a lot. He doesn't pick up on the social cues when an interaction is "over." I'm concerned that I may "create a monster" by introducing pin trading into the mix. He really enjoyed collecting autographs last year, but characters are few and far between compared to CMs with lanyards! I'm worried Jack will fixate on pin training and not enjoy everything else around him!

Do you think I should make a picture schedule and practice at home?

Also, do you think Ebay is the best way to get a lot of pins on the cheap? I don't think Jack will be attached to the pins at all--it's going to be about the interaction for him!

As always, thanks for all your input!

Tess
Poly 07
Poly 08

There are CMs that trade exclusively with children, and I imagine they would be pretty good. I'm sure many kids, regardless of special needs, can have a hard time "keeping it moving" and that the CMs are used to it.

If you think it would be something he would enjoy, I say go for it. Like you said, you can practice ahead of time. Maybe you can help him come up with his own "closure cue", like a goodbye phrase or handshake. That way, he is ending the experience, rather than feeling like the CM is ending it before he's ready.

I also would suggest starting out by trading only with the CMs. The CMS who can only trade with kids have a special colored lanyard (I think it is green?) so you could tell Jack he can only trade with CMs with that special color. That should help limit the options. If you stick with trading only w/ CMs I don't think you will have any problems.

My son started pin trading at 7 and it was a great way to help him learn interactions, manners etc (he is not special needs but still needed help with those things at 7). He is still really into it at almost 11.

Ebay is a great place to get a pin lot to trade. Make sure whomever you buy from has a lot of positive feedback (I usually don't buy from anyone with <99% positive). Make sure to figure in the cost of shipping. I usually try to get lots for about $2.50/pin inc shipping.

One thing that can also help limit trading is to trade for special characters Jack really likes. My son collects pirate pins, sports pins and ride pins now. My dd (4) likes to collect Chip &Dale pins and princess pins. It helps if there are a few characters he really likes. Makes it kind of an adventure to see how many of that character he can find.

Good Luck and have a great trip!!!!:mickey:

CMs with green lanyards only trade with kids 12 and under.