Are you dreaming of a memorable family vacation, whether Walt Disney World, an all inclusive vacation or cruise? Are you also feeling a little unsure of how to plan and prepare your child on the Autism Spectrum and set them (and you!) up for success?
I’m here to help you make your planning as stress free as possible! As a certified Autism Travel Professional and having worked in the field of autism services for almost a decade I’ve combined my knowledge to offer you some expert tips to help in planning your next family vacation to ensure it goes as smoothly as possible!
Disclaimer: You know your child best, not all of these tips/suggestions will work for every child. Take what you think will help support your family and leave what you don’t think you need. Keep your child’s abilities in mind as you are going through the list and determine if the strategy or suggestion would be a good fit for them or not. I’m hoping these tips will offer something for everyone to help make your life a little easier when prepping for vacation!
The Planning Phase:
The first place anyone starts in planning a vacation is, yup you guessed it, the planning phase. In this phase you get to dream about the type of vacation you are looking for; are you wanting some much needed R&R, heading out on the high seas for an island hopping adventure or taking a once in a lifetime trip to visit Mickey Mouse at Walt Disney World.
In this phase you should also be working out your budget and narrowing down your resort or ship, and transportation to your destination.
How to support your child during this phase:
Choosing the right destination.
I would first consider your child’s needs and abilities. For some a long haul flight can go off without a hitch and for other families the thought of getting their child through the airport and on an airplane is enough to call off the whole trip, and that is totally ok! If you are in the first bucket you have a lot more options available to you. However if you fall into the second category don’t fret, there are still great ways to have an amazing vacation that are driving distance.
Find a cruise port close to home. There are cruise ports scattered along the US and even in Canada! Chances are you are closer to one than you may think. Our personal favourite is to sail out of New Jersey, which is roughly an 8 hour drive from us! If you have the flexibility to drive and your child does better in the car than on an airplane this can be a great option! We love the flexibility of being on our own schedule and being able to stop whenever we like. There are tons of rest stations on many of the highways that allow open space to be able to have a body
break and get some energy out! You can also make the road trip apart of the journey. Break it up and stop in places that have child friendly activities, playgrounds etc. to make the journey part of the fun!
Include them in the planning.
This can be at any stage of the planning, from figuring out where
to go to helping to decide on two pre chosen resorts. This will depend on how much control you want to give over and what your budget will allow. However offering a choice between two pre chosen trips, resorts or ships can give them some say and create excitement for the trip and give them some control.
Choose autism friendly vacations.
There are so many options out there when it comes to
travelling it's hard for anyone to know what to choose! However there are some destinations that have taken initiative to become autism certified which make excellent options;
Royal Caribbean Cruises – Royal Caribbean has achieved a Silver level in the Autism Friendly Certification. This means they have been awarded based on their efforts to ensure their products and services are accessible for inclusion and participation, their youth staff have received awareness training in autism and other developmental disabilities. They offer;
Priority check in, boarding and departure
Specialty dietary accommodations; including gluten free options
Flexible kids programming from 3 – 11 (exception on toilet-trained policy) with pagers and phones for parents
Autism friendly films
Autism friendly toy lending
Autism friendly activities
Cruising social story
Walt Disney World - this may initially seem daunting as the crowds, lines and heat can be enough to turn off anyone, I would urge you to reconsider. With their DAS (Disability access service pass) you are able to skip waiting in physical lines and instead wait in virtual lines speeding up or skipping the physical line waiting entirely. With the right planning you can catch a time that has lower crowds too and be sure to take advantage of onsite resorts and early entry advantages to further skip the crowds.
If you're looking for some extra help at Disney World; Once Upon a Nanny offers nanny services in the theme parks. Many of the Nannies are either attending school for an Autism related program or have first had experience working with children on the spectrum.
Autism Friendly Resorts & hotels -there are a few chains of resorts that have achieved autism friendly status the most notable are the Beaches Resorts; however these don’t always fit in everyone’s travel budget! Although not many resorts at typical all inclusive vacations have achieved an autism friendly status I wouldn’t rule them out because of it. Yes they won’t have trained staff at the kids club, so if that is a dealbreaker than I would consider a Royal Caribbean cruise. However if you are planning on staying as a family the whole time, and wouldn’t feel comfortable
leaving your child in the care of others you could choose from many resorts as long as they are the right fit for your family.
So now that you have decided on where you are going on vacation (yay!) it’s time to prepare.
Here are some ways to help prepare your family for travel;
1.) Prime, Prime, Prime.
a. If your child needs to know what to expect look up YouTube videos, watch resort
or ship walk throughs. Going to Disney? You can even find ride walkthrough
videos that will give your kiddos an idea of what the rides are like. Plus they are
super fun to watch and help get you excited for your vacation.
b. Consider writing a Social story outlining what to expect on vacation. You could
even break this down into different parts (i.e at the airport, on the plane, at the
resort etc).
c. Some airports allow you to do an Airport Walkthrough to show your child what
to expect at the airport, security procedures and the boarding process.
d. Walk them through the process, explain what will happen, and outline the
expectations at each stage.
2.) Pack for success - ensure you have all the necessities packed but also consider the following;
a. Flights/Road trips; ensure you have enough activities packed that your child
enjoys. This can be a tablet, colouring books, toys, fidget/sensory items etc. Try
and have a variety and switch it up.
b. Rewards. Pack some of their favourite treat to reward them for good
behaviour/following the rules. Use this as often as you think your child needs.
c. Noise cancelling headphones. No matter where you are going there will likely be
some exposure to crowds or a noisy environment.
d. Ensure you have any special items or comfort items to ease the transition into a
new place.
3.) Pack your patience and flexibility - this is one I tell ALL my travellers. When you are
travelling it is very rare that everything goes off without some sort of issue whether a
flight delay, a forgotten item, getting lost etc. Its best to plan as well as you can but roll with what pans out to the best of your ability. If you get anxious and upset your child will pick up on it, everyone will. Try your best to stay calm, cool and collected, it usually all works out in the end. Remember just because you may be at the happiest place on earth doesn’t mean you will avoid all meltdowns or behaviours, you can do your best to plan ahead but they will happen. It breaks my heart the number of parents I see with tears in their eyes at Disney world because their child is melting down and they expected it to be a perfect vacation. Kids are kids whether on the spectrum or not, it’s all about managing your expectations, you can do this!
Phew, I’m so glad you made it to the end, thanks for hanging in there! I truly hope you found something that can be useful for your family to make travelling a bit smoother and less overwhelming. If you are ever feeling overwhelmed about navigating the world of autism and travel I would love to chat and help you out. As a certified Autism Travel Specialist I can help you navigate the best options for your family. I start with a complimentary consultation call where I’ll get to know your vision for your vacation, but more importantly I want to get to know your family and child’s needs to I can make recommendations that will be the best fit for them, as that is what will make your vacation a success.
I’ll then get to work researching and send you recommendations that I think would be a good fit for your family. Once you have chosen your vacation from your proposals, I’ll get to work booking for you.
Once the trip is booked I’m only an email or phone call away if you have any questions, or need help thinking of ideas to make the trip go smoothly. I’ll be available during travel so if there are any issues I’ll be in your corner advocating on your behalf. I stay with you from consultation until you return home to help
ensure you have the best and smoothest vacation possible!
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