Autism and holidays can make it stressful for someone with autism. Therefore, it is necessary to take steps to make sure that they do not grow anxious as the holiday period grows closer.
Going on holiday can be fun and exciting, but it can also be stressful for those with autism. The build-up to the holidays are full of packing and sorting out, something that has to be completed. However, this, along with the actual going on holiday, being there and coming back can be stressful for someone with autism.
Autism and Holidays – Big Outings
It is hard to stop the stress from rising when packing up and leaving to go on holiday. However, when you are there, there are steps you can take to make holidays more fun for your autistic loved ones. One of these is to limit how many big outings you take while they are on holiday. Autism and holidays make it stressful, so people with autism need a lot of downtime. By limiting the big outings, this reduces the stress that the autistic person feels as they can relax while in an enclosed environment, such as the hotel room or the flat you are staying in as strangers are not around and judging them.
Autism and Holidays – Location
Autism and holidays make it stressful if the autistic person doesn’t know where they are going. It is important to show them what the town is like, possibly through street view on google maps if this is possible. It is also important to give them a rough travel time and the time you are planning on leaving so that they can try and get some downtime before you have to leave for your holiday.
It is a good idea to take your autistic loved one somewhere that they know relatively well as this will allow them to settle down quicker. An example of this is that my family and I are going back to Temby where we have been going for the past few years. My brother and I know the area where we are going very well, and Mum can take some time out if need be. Going on holiday in the same area reduces the stress level as we know that we will be doing the same as last year, and have been doing it for several years.