Travel

As parents of children with autism, the word "travel" can trigger nightmares. The nightmares of public restrooms, restaurants, lodging, and traveling itself. We are faced with the stares and comments of others not understanding our situations. But, it is also an opportunity to raise awareness.

I recently took my son on a trip to Walt Disney World. We were scheduled to be gone for 2 -3 weeks depending on how he did with the trip. On day 1 of the trip we began experiencing some car problems, but I had promised him a stop at Hershey World to see how chocolate was made. As we got out of the car, I gave him the same choice he was given every day of the trip - holding hands or a harness. He chose the harness, as he wound up doing almost every day. A few people commented that they wished they had one for their children or mentioned they were considering getting one and asked why I chose to use it. I explained it was his choice and shared the statistics that a typical child has a 12% risk of wandering off and one with autism has a 49% risk of wandering off, with the risks increasing to this percentage as a child's age approcahes 7- 10. A few people glared or looked at us like we were crazy. Many of these people were ignored or more often than not, educated. If a child was asking a parent why or if we were waiting in a line, we would often offer people around us autism awareness pins. We also shared them with cast members in the parks.

I had planned on driving from upstate New York to Florida and back, however due to the issues with the car, plans changed. I remembered the Auto Train, run by Amtrak. It runs once a day from Lorton, VA to Sanford, FL. We called and were able to get on that day. My thought was that it was cheaper than a tow truck and a motel if we had more problems. Plus, if parts were needed, we would be safely with my sister-in-law in Orlando. By the time we got on the train, James was close to melt-down mode from having to wait in a very crowded train station. The car we were on was mostly families, compared to the other cars that were primarily couples. We did have a few older couples on the car with us. One of them across the aisle from us headed to the lounge car and was there most of the trip. Another, in the seats in front of them, was freqently making comments "hush" or grumbling about kids making noises. When it was time for us to eat dinner, we were placed at their table. I could feel a knot in the pit of my stomach. Meal times are particularly rough for my son. As we introduced ourselves, I explained that James has autism and also about our car problem. It turned out that they were both retired teachers. I mentioned that if he got noisy during the night, I would take him to the lounge car, so he would not disturb others. As the meal progressed, he started getting antsy. I ordered our desserts to go, so they could eat theirs in peace. When desserts came, James had calmed back down a little and we wound up staying at the table. The other couple encouraged me to give him a try. When breakfast was being served the next morning, James was sound asleep in my lap. They offered to bring me back food and mentioned they were impressed that he did so well. He had been awake from 2:30 - 4 am, but even so, he was one of the quieter kids on the train. As we were leaving the train, they thanked me for sharing some of my experience with them.

Have you been able to take a particularly stressful situation and turn it into a positive learning experience for others?