8 Tips for traveling with an autistic child without all the stress

Many families would love to travel more with the child with autism but find it to be a stressful (at best) experience. Rather than letting fear get in the way of making wonderful travel memories as a family, follow these tips for traveling with an autistic child to cut out the stress and increase the fun.

mom traveling with an autistic child in front of a plane

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The stress of travel for ASD kids

Travel can be a stressful experience for kids on the autism spectrum for many reasons.

A change in routine.
New and unexpected experiences, foods and sensory experiences.
The sensory impact of travel (bright lights and loud noises, to name a few).

Tips for traveling with kids with an autistic child

1. Get your child used to wearing headphones before you leave the house.

It may take some time to get your child to accept to wear headphones but once the work is done, your family travel experiences will be so much easier. You will be able to offer noise-cancelling headphones to your child while you’re in the car, on a plane or traveling by train. This will make travel with your autistic child so much easier.

Related : Autism Chew Toys

2. Toilet train your child.

So many kids with autism have trouble with toilet training and wear diapers much longer than necessary. This should be one of the first program goals to tackle as soon as your child is ready to work on it. Once your child is toilet trained, you will be able to propose toilet breaks while on the road rather than having to carry diapers and wipes and figure out changing your child’s diapers while you’re traveling.

3. Bring snacks.

Finding appropriate snacks for your little one can be no easy feat. Between your child’s picky eating, food aversion and possible allergies, it is difficult to find appropriate snacks while traveling. Often having a snack with you can be the difference between enjoying a family travel experience (like a short hike or trip to the cinema) and a full-on melt-down.

Related : Gluten Free Snacks

4. Your magic bag.

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know how important it is to select the right materials to engage and teach your child. Select some of your child’s favorite learning materials and have them hand when you travel to make sure that your travels go smoothly. Don’t forget to pack your child’s sensory break cards to make sure that you continue giving your child regular breaks to avoid meltdowns.

Some ideas?

One or more sensory boxes for autism.
A few play dough mats such as this fish bowl play dough mat and play dough.
My printable sensory communication workbook.
A favorite book or quiet book.

5. Ask for help.

I cannot stress this enough… ASK FOR HELP! You don’t need to be supermom and you shouldn’t be doing everything yourself. Ask your husband/partner/sister/friend/babysitter to help you as you are traveling with your child.

Don’t hesitate to ask the chosen person to stay with your child for an hour while you go get a quiet coffee on your own, get a massage, for for a walk or whatever activities you need to do to recharge your batteries and enjoy your trip.

6. Leave extra time to travel.

Make sure you leave your family enough time to get from point A to point B comfortably. Arrive at the airport or train station early. You don’t want to be running through the airport or train station and worried about missing your plane or train.

Rushing creates stress for everyone and that is the last things you need when traveling with your little one on the autism spectrum.

Instead of rushingbetween places and activities during your trip, treasure every moment of your travels.

7. Travel more.

Some families avoid traveling with their autistic child and then dread the trips they must make together when an extreme situation comes up. The worst times to prepare your autistic child to travel is when a family member across the country is sick and you must fly to be with them or your spouse’s job requires your whole family to relocate to another country.

Take short, frequent trips and consider it exposure therapy. Spend one night away 30 minutes from your home. Take a one hour flight to explore a new place as a family.

Your child can learn to love exploring and travel just like any other child. The more you travel, the more your child will be used to traveling and the more your family will enjoy your travel adventures! Traveling is also one of the absolute best learning experiences for your little one with autism, forcing him (or her) to stretch outside of his comfort zone, experience new things and become more flexible.

Consider planning specific, autism friendly vacations and asking for extra help from TSA.

8. Keep a journal.

Journaling is a fun to keep track of experiencing while also building new language skills.

Keep a trip journal with your child to get the most out of your trip together. beyond the immediate benefits of journaling, it will also become a family keepsake from your trip together.

Pro tip : bring your journal along on the trip as well and use these daily journal prompts to feel calmer, happier, document parts of your trip and alleviate stress.

More Autism Resources

The Successful Interaction with a Child with Autism Course – learn to better understand your autistic child or students with this complete course.
Autism Activities Workbook Bundle – build communication skills, fine motor skills, sensory play skills and daily living skills, while helping your child or students to successfully manage any difficult behaviors, with these fun, educational, printable activities.
Sensory Communication Workbook – Build communication skills with simple sensory activities.
How to Make a Communication Binder Guide & Workbook – Learn how to create a Communication Binder for your child or student with autism using real photos. Follow my expert guide to learn how to use it to increase communication skills.
Zoo Animals Play Dough Mats Bundle – use these printable play dough mat to work on the names of the animals, build language skills, and increase fine motor strength and precision in a fun, sensory way!

Join the Monthly Autism Activities Membership!

Join us in the Autism Activities Membership! You will receive printable, monthly activities to engage your child while increasing communication skills, fine motor skills, sensory play skills, imitation skills and more.