Travelling as a family is always an adventure, but when you’re travelling with an Autistic child, the journey may present challenges as well as incredible opportunities for growth and connection. With a little extra preparation and understanding, family travel can be an enjoyable experience for everyone. Whether it’s navigating sensory sensitivities, sticking to routines, or finding moments of calm in the chaos of travel, this guide is here to help. Drawing on practical tips, real-life experiences, and a focus on creating positive memories, we’ll explore how to make family travel more manageable, inclusive, and fun for families with Autistic children.
Start small: When considering travelling, it’s important to know that as with non-Autistic children, some Autistic children will take to travelling like a duck to water with minimal supports, whereas some will find it more challenging and require more supports in order for it to be an enjoyable experience for everyone. It’s hard to know how your child will take to it before trying though.
Due to this unknown, where possible, it is important to start small with an initial holiday in order to see how it goes with a smaller commitment of time and resources, as well as for parents to learn what they may need to do to support a longer trip. For families who aren’t out and about in their own community much, a starting point might even be a ‘staycation’ in their own city and visit local attractions. Families can learn from this initial trip and use it as something to gradually build on.
Know your child: Autism is a very broad spectrum and the supports one child may need, might vary significantly from the next child. It is important to think about the holiday you are planning to take and try to pre-empt which parts may be tricky for your child, as well as what you can do to proactively manage those challenges. If your child works with an Occupational Therapist, they can be helpful in creating a plan with you.
Planning together: When planning a holiday take into consider the interests of everyone in the family and try to find a destination and activities that everyone can enjoy. Interests are such a strong motivator for many Autistic people, and if they are included in the itinerary it can be helpful in creating excitement about the trip.
Similarly, some Autistic children may be really interested in the planning process of the holiday as it can help them feel as though they have some level of choice and control over something that is very unfamiliar. A great way of doing this is by creating a shortlist of destinations/accommodation/activities (all of which you would be happy with), and letting them investigate and make the final selection. It’s important to not present something as a choice that you are not happy to follow through with.
Schedule adequate downtime: When planning travel, many of us try to pack as much into our schedules as possible particularly when travelling to somewhere new or really interesting. This is only natural because you want to get the most out of a destination. Going somewhere new can be really exciting for an Autistic child, however unfamiliar places can also be exhausting and induce anxiety, so it is crucial to schedule in significant portions of time dedicated to rest. This might mean only scheduling activities for the morning and heading back to accommodation in the afternoon to read, game or swim (whatever activities are ‘restorative’ for your child). If everyone is rested and well regulated, a much better time is likely to be had by all.
Preparation and predictability: After an itinerary has been booked, it is helpful to turn this into a visual story and read with your child. The level of detail required in the visual story will be determined by how much detail is generally required by your child to feel well regulated and comfortable about doing something new. At a minimum this visual story would include information and visuals about where you are staying, how you are getting there, how long travel takes and what you are doing on each day. Individual visual stories about different modes of transport, accommodation and attractions can also be helpful. An additional resource for preparation and predictability is YouTube. Take some time ahead of your holiday to show your child YouTube videos of where they will be staying, how they will be getting there and what they will be doing.
It can also be really helpful to also keep this focus on predictability as you move through the holiday. A good way to do this is before going to bed each night, reminding them where they are up to in the visual story and what is planned for the next day. Then going over the plan again before setting off the next day.
Keep them entertained: No matter how you are travelling to your destination whether it be via plane, train or automobile, this can represent one of the most challenging parts of travel. It is important to keep children entertained. A great way of doing this is having a bag containing many different little toys, activities and their favourite treats. Give them the contents of this bag bitby-bit, not all at once. This means as boredom starts to kick in, you can be like a magician and magic a solution out of your hat. Also, don’t forget to charge the iPad! A long plane/car/train ride is probably not the best time to insist on tech-free time.
Sensory needs: Ensure you have packed the appropriate sensory tools for your Autistic child, so if they are sound/light sensitive bring ear defenders and sunglasses. If they are tactile, remember to bring fidgets.
It is also important to remember to work in movement breaks. Travelling can involve a lot of very prescriptive procedures, such as queueing or existing in small hotel rooms. It is important to find play areas, parks, or even an empty gate at an airport where they can move freely.
Routine: Travel is full of new experiences and routine tends to go out the window. This can be really difficult for Autistic people if they really thrive on routine and certainty. Whilst it is not going to be possible to replicate your Autistic child’s complete routine when travelling, it may be possible to keep some parts, for example, if they have a shower at 7pm every night, followed by a story and bed, and they enjoy that particular routine, then try to do that. When sticking to routine is not going to be possible, let them know ahead of time and what they will be doing instead.
Access to same/safe foods: For some Autistic people, access to same/safe foods can be the difference between eating and not eating, and a hungry child is not going to be a well-regulated child. Ensuring that your child has access to foods that they will eat in a new environment is important. This can be a simple as packing a few boxes of their favourite cereal, with some plastic bowls and spoons, just in case they can not eat the food in a new place. This way they can try new things, but still have something familiar and comforting just in case. It’s also worth noting that same brand foods taste different in different countries, so even if you think their safe food exists overseas, pack it from home.
Safety first: If your child is likely to wander, make sure to have a safety plan in place and discuss it with all family members or carers. The plan should include emergency contact phone numbers and may include a wearable ID or carrying an Autism Alert Card.
Sunflowers: The Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Scheme increasingly operates in major airports, public transport, museums, art galleries and zoos in Australia. Wearing the sunflower lanyard alerts trained staff that the person has a hidden disability and may require some additional time, support or understanding. You can find out which organisations provide and recognise the sunflower lanyard here.
Have fun: Most important of all, have fun and build memories together. If everything doesn’t go perfectly to plan, take a deep breath and use it as an experience to learn from.
