Turtle Talk with Crush Impairment Accommodation Question

Hi all! First time to start a new thread in a very long time for me!
At our last trip to Disney, our kids fell in love with Turtle Talk with Crush. Our youngest was still a year old, but our older two were kindergarten age (not twins, just very close in age!) They are looking forward to interacting with Crush again at our upcoming trip this spring. But I am very worried. Our youngest has a cleft soft palate, which impairs her speech severely despite surgery. She can hear mostly fine, but when she speaks it is usually difficult for those who don’t know her, to understand her. She does use some sign language, although isn’t fluent in it because she has been encouraged by her school to use other communication means. She also uses an Augmentative and Alternative Communication device (AAC) which is kind of like a tablet that can “speak” for her. I am wondering if anyone knows whether or not she can be accommodated for Turtle Talk? Is there someone there to act as an ASL interpreter if she wants to sign and speak? Can I interpret into the microphone for her? (although I think that would make it less magical) Would the microphone be able to hear her AAC? I’m so afraid Crush is going to “call on her” to interact and she’ll be embarrassed to speak if he doesn’t understand her. Is there a way to notify cast members that she shouldn’t be called on? She’d be more happy to watch, I think, than to be called on and embarrased when she can’t answer Crush’s questions. I know there have to be families out there that are like us :slight_smile: She is six years old, and LOVES Nemo and Dory.

From what I understand, there’s a person talking for Crush whose voice gets immediately transformed by the computer. He has a video and microphone to see and hear the audience. So I would think it would be easy for him to hear the tablet if the microphone was held up to it. I would notify one of the casts members as you go in that she uses the tablet to speak.

3 Likes