Life with Aspergers

This is part two of a two part series intended to help autistic adults travelling and sightseeing.  Part one deals with Logistics and Risk Management. I also wrote a post on travelling with autistic children . Travel is essential for relaxation and exploration but more importantly, as the phrase goes, it broadens the mind.  Travel gets us away from our day-to-day routines and out of "ruts". It forms a cornerstone to understanding the world as others see it. While there are various types of travel ranging from day-trips to globetrotting, this series focuses on longer getaways and particularly on visiting new and interesting places. As explained in my previous post, I have a strong preference for group travel with tour companies so a lot of what is presented in this post will be particularly relevant to that.  The Daily Plan Whether you are travelling alone, with a partner or with a large group, you still need to have your own individualized daily plan. Many autistics stru...

Part one of this two part series Autism & Travel, a series about traveling as an Autistic Adult, will focus on what happens before you travel. Preparation, Planning and Safety. Part two will focus on the actual trip, Group Dynamics, Self-Regulation, and Unmasking. There can be no underestimating the value of travel in shaping our minds and experiences. Just as young children benefit greatly from interacting with the world around them in the form of local shopping centers and schools, adults benefit from being taken out of their day-to-day local community and spending time in a much larger world.  Travelling gives you a unique opportunity to see the world around you from a different perspective, to experience different cultures, how different people live and communicate, what they eat, what they value and how they celebrate life. It also gives you an opportunity to delve into history and to understand your own place in the world.  Sure, the prospect of travel can be dauntin...

I really enjoy travel and I know that I'm not alone in that regard. I know many autistics who love to travel. My next two posts will cover travelling with autism, this one will focus on travelling with autistic children and the next will focus on travelling as an autistic teen or adult .  While all travel is difficult, in this series I'm particularly thinking of bigger holidays. Travelling with children is always difficult but travelling with autistic children presents its own set of problems. Autistic people struggle with change and it's often hard to describe to your children, the intense changes that travel will bring.  You have to be ready to deal with issues "on the fly" and with limited time and limited resources. After all, you can't take everything with you on your trips and stopping or slowing down midway through your holiday may not be an option. There are three key stages to travelling with autistic children. Preparing for the journey - which includ...