Need advise for taking autistic child on a family road trip

[Nik's Mom]

Hi friends. We are planning on going to Yellowstone next summer. It's about a 2 1/2 day road trip to get there. We'll make stops here and there to entertain the kids (a dinosaur museum and a water park). Any fellow parents of autistic children who have done a road trip before? Do you have any advise. I'm a little concerned how ds will handle staying in different hotel rooms. That's a lot of change. We will definitely be taking his collection of rope (he can't go anywhere without it). And since we will be taking our SUV, we can use the dvd player so he can watch his favorite movies while we drive. I was thinking of taking his own comforter from home so he will feel more comfortable. Anyone have any other advise. We really want to take this trip, but want to make our autistic ds as comfortable as possible.
So, anyone have tips out there?

 

[Figment1964]

Hi friends. We are planning on going to Yellowstone next summer. It's about a 2 1/2 day road trip to get there. We'll make stops here and there to entertain the kids (a dinosaur museum and a water park). Any fellow parents of autistic children who have done a road trip before? Do you have any advise. I'm a little concerned how ds will handle staying in different hotel rooms. That's a lot of change. We will definitely be taking his collection of rope (he can't go anywhere without it). And since we will be taking our SUV, we can use the dvd player so he can watch his favorite movies while we drive. I was thinking of taking his own comforter from home so he will feel more comfortable. Anyone have any other advise. We really want to take this trip, but want to make our autistic ds as comfortable as possible.
So, anyone have tips out there?

We did this trip a couple of years ago and it takes about the same time from here (Portland Oregon) to get to Yellowstone.

My son (11 with Asperger's) really does well with social stories so I made him a trip book. I used Mapquest and printed off a map for each days journey. I wrote what we would be doing and what we might do if we could and what we wouldn't be doing. I also wrote the amount of time it was estimated to take and gave us some extra time, just in case. He does better if we're early than if we're late somewhere. I put the pages in page protectors and put them all in a folder that has the clasps to hold 3 hole punched materials. I also made a copy for his brother and they both loved being able to follow where we were on the map and to know that there was an ending to the time of driving. We stayed in our motorhome so they had their toys and stuff they brought in easy reach. We had the TV and they watched movies a lot, too.

I would bring anything from home that makes him comfortable, especially his comforter...nothing like having that to feel secure!

HTH!

(Oh, by the way, I'm originally from Pomona.)

 

[darlingfamily]

This is such a great idea! My oldest who is severely autistic did really well when I did a calendar. I wrote where we were and what we were doing (loosely) on each day that we were gone. This has helped with all of our trips. We went to WDW last Oct and it was a perfect thing for him to follow and know what to expect. We also did a lot of verbal preps for each day and where we were going and when we would be going home.

Portable DVD player was our lifesaver! He takes comfort in his movies and we were able to keep him calm on some of his hardest days with that as well.

 

[Nik's Mom]

Thanks for the great tips! I will definitely do the binder. And he loves studying maps. Thanks again!

 

[BethanyF]

Sam (almost 7) is high functioning autistic and a very seasoned road-tripper (trips ranging from 3 hours to 2 days). We bring the DVD player, his Mickey, blanket and pillow. The DVD helps in the car and the other stuff helps him sleep in strange places. He also loves car tip games (sign ABC's, out of state plates, trravel bingo, etc)
We always talk up the trip and let him get books or look at websites for wherever we are going.
In 2 weeks we are headed to St Louis, but for us this is a short trip (5 hours). He has been studying the travel guide sent from the tourism department. He checked out a library book about Missouri and has been asking all kinds of questions. I think he is more prepared for this trip than I am.
You dont mention how old your ds is, but if he can read (or even if he cant) find some books on the areas you will be seeing and let him spend time studying the books. Order any free travel brochures you can find as well. Maybe you can find a movie he would like that takes place there? If you get the travel channel, keep an eye out for Yellowstone shows.
Basically, do everything you can to get him familiar with the areea. If he sees a lot of pictures beforehand the places wont seem that foreign to him when you get there.

 

[Nik's Mom]

Thanks, Bethany! My son is 6 but can't read. But he loves looking at books and maps. I will head over to AAA tomorrow to pick some up. I was worried about taking a road trip, but I'm so glad to hear from other Parents with autistic children. I feel so much better now!

 

[MBW]

Nik's Mom:

We've taken our two autistic boys (5 and almost 7) on numerous road trips, including Maine to WDW once, and Maine to the Outer Banks twice. As long as we're flexible and tune into their needs, we find they do great. We do use a DVD (previously rigged one between the seats, but am having a permanent one installed in our new vehicle), and stop fairly frequently. Our NT 2.5 year old is a worse traveller than either of the boys .

We head out for a year-long road trip next week, and will be including our experiences and travel tips on our travel journal (listed in sig below.)

Enjoy your trip and share your experience with other parents of special needs kids. I often think that we all as a group travel so little because society in general really doesn't do a good job of accomodating "invisible" disabilities. So we need to do a better job of supporting and informing each other . That's what is so wonderful about this board.

 

[MBW]

Forgot to mention, we'll be in Yellowstone (and throughout the West) next summer as well .

 

[Nik's Mom]

Hi MBW! I remember reading your thread a while back, but I couldn't remember your user name. I wanted to bookmark your website! I'm so glad you responded! I know I'd definitely buy a book on the topic of traveling with autistic children! Good luck to you in your journey. I will keep checking your website!

 

[WDWendy]

We always bring lots of books on CD. My son will sit enraptured listening to them. He absolutely loves them and his behavior is really good when he has a story to focus on.

LOL, back before you could easily find books on CD I read entire books out loud to him during long trips. My husband teases me that it's why I need glasses now (hmmm, it's not because I'm getting older or anything ).

 

[Earstou]

For us these are some things we've taken:
1. anything he sleeps with or uses as part of the bedtime routine: blanket, pillow, stuffed animal, toys, books, etc. My DS sleeps with numerous pillows but is allowed to bring only one (of his choice).
2. Toys he plays with regularly that are appropriate (not too big or noisy!) When my child was little, this was a small wooden train set that he played with daily for years. Now it's Lego!
3. Snacks and drinks that he doesn't know about! If he knows about them, this is all he talks about and pleads for until they are gone!
4. A surprise book about his special interest. I will give this out when things aren't going well and it usually saves the day!
5. A camera! At first it was a disposable one, now it's an inexpensive 35mm film camera. This also helps them after the trip if they tell friends and relatives about their pictures. One trip my DS was fascinated by palm trees and almost every picture was of a tree from underneath it! Took me a while to figure out what those green blobs where when I got the film developed!
6. A surprise bag. This was a small lunch bag with little surprises like a small pack of crackers or nuts (age appropriate of course), a very small amount of candy, some small toy, and activity books (mazes, word search, coloring, etc). These were only given on days when we drove long distances and given out partway into the day when kids were getting bored and noisy. I keep my eye open all year long looking for small inexpensive items.
7. A backpack. Now that he is older, we use a backpack which he fills and we have to approve of the items in it. He also uses this to keep track of anything we buy or give him during the trip.
That's all I can think of right now. We just got back from a plane trip yesterday, so some of this was very fresh in my mind!! Food was a very big issure with him this trip, he would be hungry 15 minutes after we ate, even though he is a skinny kid!

 

[mbb]

about the bedtime stuff - pillows, comforters, favourite plushies...when we fly, and don't have room for the whole pillow, the pillowcase goes with us in the carry ons

Books on CD is an awesome idea DH and I get "movied out" sometimes on the 6.5 hour drive to my parents house (We try to go every 3 months or so)

Thanks!!