Last fall, our youngest son was diagnosed with autism. While it has created some obstacles for our family, we have also learned to full embrace his differences!
As you may know, our family loves to go to theme parks and travel. But it can be overwhelming going to a new place with our autistic son. It has gotten better as he gets older, but he likes to elope when he is feeling overwhelmed in a crowded place. We never want that to hold our family back from traveling and experiencing new things though! So planning and preparing him ahead of time is key for our family and helps a lot.
5 Tips for Planning Ahead
Here are 5 tips that help us prepare before going to a new location with our autistic child:
- YouTube – We watch a lot of videos and look at pictures of the place we are going. This helps him visualize the location before we arrive so it looks and sounds more familiar when we get there. YouTube and Google Images will be your new BFFs before going to a new location!
- Read the Menu – I always read the menus ahead of time of the location we are traveling to. Make sure there is something your child will eat, and if not, pack some safe foods. I always keep protein bars and applesauce pouches with us. If we are going longer than a weekend, we usually are at a location with a refridgerator so we will go to a grocery store when we arrive and stock up on a few of his favorites.
- Take Breaks – Especially if you are heading to a theme park, take a break mid-day and follow their lead. No one likes to feel dysregulated, so find a quiet spot when needed or head back to the hotel. If we are at Disney for multiple days, we like to go early, then head back to the resort for pool time after lunch, then go back to the parks late afternoon or dinner time.
- Comfort Item – Bring an item(s) from home that will make them feel comfort. For my son, this is usually some of his favorite animal figurines so he can line them up or toss them into water.
- Another item for us is our BOB double stroller. I don’t plan on giving this up anytime soon, especially at a theme park! Whenever he is feeling overwhelmed, he will say “big stroller” and jump right in. I know it can be a pain traveling with your own stroller, but having that comfort of familiarity can really help. We had this Joovy double stroller forever (highly recommend for smaller children, the large basket was amazing!), but we were maxing out on weight last summer and knew we still needed a stroller for years to come, so that’s when we got the BOB. I did a lot of research on strollers, and the BOB can hold the most weight! We actually found ours on Facebook Marketplace, I didn’t love the price tag of a brand new one. But now using it, I get the hype and wish I had purchased one much sooner!!
- Low Expectations – I can’t stress this one enough… go in with low expectations! If you plan to do alllll the things, have multiple activities planned each day, and reservations for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, you are setting yourself up for disappointment. Don’t get me wrong, having a general plan is a good idea! I would stick to maybe only one or two reservations the whole trip, and one or two “must-dos” each day. Keep in mind, your day at a water park or theme park is going to look different than other families and that’s ok. Just going can be a huge step for your family, so celebrate that! Our unplanned days of finding food and activities as we go, based on our needs that day, always works out better for everyone!
I know it may be hard and scary to travel with your autistic child because you just never know they are going to react. Are they going to meltdown? Are they going to elope? Will there be something for them to eat? The list goes on, but in our experience, we’ve always said it was worth it in the end.
Watch my Tik Tok here of our day at Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon water park. I mean look at the excitement on that lazy river!
I hope this encourages you to take the day trip, go to the new park you’ve been wanting to try, or plan that big Disney World vacation you’ve been dreaming of. Just take your time, prepare as much as possible, and breathe. You got this!