Does your child handle travel well? Given how children with autism tend to cling to routine, vacations can be mine fields for them. I heard of a child who will not sleep in a hotel room unless there are two double beds with a table in between with a lamp on it. If the room is arranged to his satisfaction, he will happily go to sleep.
Jack's routine is that there is no routine, so he travels really well. He enjoys long car rides and traveling by plane, and is generally very patient. Once at the destination, he is happy for a few days, usually, and then starts asking to go home. He won't eat at restaurants (except McDonald's, of course), so we carry a jar of peanut butter and juice boxes with us everywhere. Servers look at us funny when we say all he needs is a spoon. He detests tours. Two years ago, we went to Vermont for a vacation, and I had to pull him out of the Vermont Teddy Bear Company tour, but we did get him to cooperate (grouchily) at the Ben and Jerry's tour by promising him ice cream at the end. Overall, travel with him is pleasant, but we are careful to make sure he has his Thomas trains and cars to play with.
How does your child travel?
1 comment:
Noah seems to travel well in the car or on a plane. He loves to eat in restaurants and can order for himself. He's bored by shopping, but like museums (they are quite.) He's not happy in noisy crowds, particularly if they include crying babies. He checks out the parking lot of restaurants to see how full they are and from this can determine whether they will be busy (noisy), so we can go to popular places during week nights and not so popular places on weekends.
Post a Comment