Q&A with Laurie Robinson Autism Mom

Alyssa, my middle Child, was diagnosed with autism and bipolar disorder as a toddler. Alyssa likes a lot of routines and tends to obsess on the topic of time. She needs to know ahead of time what the plan for the day is and gets anxious when it isn’t followed.
She is in a special class called Foundations in High School where she has assistance with her work. WE are thrilled that she is quite an independent and doesn’t require a lot of help. The teacher works with her time issue, and she is allowed to leave a few minutes early from classes and at the end of the day to accommodate her needs.

Our family likes to travel, and Alyssa has gotten excellent at it.
When we do travel, we start talking to her about the trip and get her to help with planning the activities well ahead of time, so she always feels included.
She is very much a pre-packer and likes to start packing her things earlier than the rest of us to make sure nothing is left behind.
She always brings her teddy bear with her on the plane; that one is an absolute must!.
I always make sure to call ahead and arrange for a pre-board as she doesn’t like to wait in the lines with too many people.

She also doesn’t like going through security.
We need to remind her to listen to the security each time we pass through the airport security. We’ve come up with a plan where  I usually go through first, she goes next, and then her siblings with my husband follow. This way there’s always an adult family member by her side in case she needs someone. Once she passed through the checkpoint, she is usually fine. I carry a PRN of Resperidol medicine in case she becomes anxious.

My personal tip for flying with autism is to book flights with longer connection time, so we don’t have to feel rushed which usually gets her unnecessarily upset.
Once we arrive at our intended destination, we remind her of any planned activities so that she can memorise the sequence and feel ‘in control.’

Throughout the years traveling with our daughter has become a lot manageable and much more enjoyable for the entire family.
Nowadays we’ve pretty much reached a point where she knows what to expect, and we are aware of how to plan our trips accordingly.