Q&A with Kim Stagliano Autism Author
“.. we’re flexible and can change the plan on a dime as needed. And goodness knows with autism plans can change fast! “
Hi, I’m Kim Stagliano, managing editor of the daily magazine online called Age of Autism.com and the mother to three beautiful daughters on the autism spectrum; seventeen-year-old Mia, fifteen-year-old Gianna, and Bella, who is now officially a pre-teen and is eleven.The girls are in the autism program within our public school district in Fairfield County, CT and doing well academically after years of struggling.
When we go on a trip, I always pack their ‘lovies’ aka favorite items (which can change over time) their electronics (i-Pad, i-Touch, and i-phone), the charging units and extra wires in case they get damaged (as necessary as oxygen!) and favorite books.
In our ‘ladies’ majority household I need to remember to take “feminine” items and extra clothes for occasional mishaps.It took a few months to explain female ‘changes’ to my daughters, but I think they finally understand what needs to be done during ‘that time of the month.’
The result is that I usually arrive at our intended destination with everything they require and forget a whole lot of stuff that I need!
One of the important things we have learned over the years is to keep day trips short – even to a theme park – no more than a few hours at a time.
The times we ignored that we have lived to regret it.
And we always need to we build in ‘downtime’ to help them unwind and not get stressed out. That can set the tone for the duration and outcome of the outing!
I have to say that my kids are easy travelers and transition well as long as I bring their familiar favorite items along, which is helpful for us.
But we’re trained to be flexible and are ready change the plan on a dime as we see fit.
And goodness knows that with autism plans can change incredibly fast!
Overall, it is fun to get a change of atmosphere, even if it’s just grandma and grandpa’s house, so we look forward to our outings.
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