Why are holidays and day trips challenging for people with autism?
People with ASD have to overcome several obstacles on a daily basis. When going on a day trip or holiday, these challenges are even more prominent. They have to leave their reliable and safe environment and explore something new which results in stress due to a variety of reasons. Because off their rigid behavioral patterns they have difficulties handling changes.
Day trips and holidays are changes in daily routines and can therefore cause enormous amounts of stress. In addition to this, people with Autism have to overcome their hypersensitivity. Many touristic places are a habitat of noise, smells, flickering lights,… making it very challenging for a person with ASD to navigate these waters. Thirdly, people with ASD have difficulties understanding implicit rules (e.g. be quiet in a museum), because they are not explained to them. Other challenges can be the misinterpretation of others which can be difficult when partaking in a guided tour, negative attitudes of others, etc. Because of these challenges, people will often stay home.
What is Autism Spectrum Disorder?
Autism Spectrum Disorder (i.e. ASD) is a pervasive developmental disorder that can express itself in a variety of ways and degrees. ASD is characterized as a deficit on two domains. People with ASD show persistent difficulties in social communication and interaction, as well as restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior and interests. This can result in literal understanding of language, inappropriate behavior in social situations, resistance to change, oversensitivity,…
Why are holidays and day trips challenging for people with autism?
People with ASD have to overcome several obstacles on a daily basis. When going on a day trip or holiday, these challenges are even more prominent. They have to leave their reliable and safe environment and explore something new which results in stress due to a variety of reasons. Because off their rigid behavioral patterns they have difficulties handling changes.
Day trips and holidays are changes in daily routines and can therefore cause enormous amounts of stress. In addition to this, people with Autism have to overcome their hypersensitivity. Many touristic places are a habitat of noise, smells, flickering lights,… making it very challenging for a person with ASD to navigate these waters. Thirdly, people with ASD have difficulties understanding implicit rules (e.g. be quiet in a museum), because they are not explained to them. Other challenges can be the misinterpretation of others which can be difficult when partaking in a guided tour, negative attitudes of others, etc. Because of these challenges, people will often stay home.
What is Autism Spectrum Disorder?
Autism Spectrum Disorder (i.e. ASD) is a pervasive developmental disorder that can express itself in a variety of ways and degrees. ASD is characterized as a deficit on two domains. People with ASD show persistent difficulties in social communication and interaction, as well as repetitive patterns of behavior and interests. This can result in literal understanding of language, inappropriate behavior in social situations, resistance to change, oversensitivity,…
How we help your organization in becoming autism friendly
How we help your organization
in becoming autism friendly
Developing visual step-by-step plans
People with ASD have a need for structure and predictability. Therefore, unfamiliar situations can lead to stress and anxiety. Tourism for Autism offers them visual step-by-step plans that can help them prepare for their day trip or holiday. These plans explain what the person can expect in a certain situation and how the person is expected to behave. Therefore, they help relieve their stress. In addition, the person is less likely to be resistant to change and will function better in that situation.
Since June 18th 2018, the current 23 plans are available on our website. They have been downloaded 3926 times since the launch of this project. Download an example here (in Dutch)
Tailored advice on autism friendliness
Tourism for Autism screens and analyses the complete customer journey of your tourism activity, whether it is a museum visit or an overnight stay. We offer tailored advice on how to become more autism friendly.
Training, lectures and workshops
ASD is a very complex disorder making it very difficult to understand the full scale of this disorder without the proper training. Therefore, Tourism for Autism offers training to guides and staff on how to communicate with people with ASD. By explaining how ASD works and how you can communicate with a person with ASD, guides and staff will be more confident in handling certain situations. Therefore, people with ASD will feel more welcome.
Developing visual step-by-step plans
People with ASD have a need for structure and predictability. Therefore, unfamiliar situations can lead to stress and anxiety. Tourism for Autism offers them visual step-by-step plans that can help them prepare for their day trip or holiday. These plans explain what the person can expect in a certain situation and how the person is expected to behave. Therefore, they help relieve their stress. In addition, the person is less likely to be resistant to change and will function better in that situation.
Since June 18th 2018, the current 23 plans are available on our website. They have been downloaded 3926 times since the launch of this project. Download an example here (in Dutch)
Tailored advice on autism friendliness
Tourism for Autism screens and analyses the complete customer journey of your tourism activity, whether it is a museum visit or an overnight stay. We offer tailored advice on how to become more autism friendly.
Training, lectures and workshops
ASD is a very complex disorder making it very difficult to understand the full scale of this disorder without the proper training. Therefore, Tourism for Autism offers training to guides and staff on how to communicate with people with ASD. By explaining how ASD works and how you can communicate with a person with ASD, guides and staff will be more confident in handling certain situations. Therefore, people with ASD will feel more welcome.
Do you want your organization to become more autism friendly?
About Tourism for Autism
Sien Depoortere is the founder of Tourism for Autism. She has both a Master’s degree in Psychology and in Tourism. Her dream to integrate both degrees resulted in two applied research papers regarding autism friendly tourism. In addition, she is an ambitious entrepreneur who will strive for growth and improvement. This entrepreneurial ambition combined with her studies and work experience with children with ASD give her an unique profile and the right skills set to make your touristic experience more autism friendly.
About Tourism for Autism
Sien Depoortere is the founder of Tourism for Autism. She has both a Master’s degree in Psychology and one in Tourism. Her dream to integrate both degrees resulted in two applied research papers regarding autism friendly tourism. In addition, she is an ambitious entrepreneur who will strive for growth and improvement. This entrepreneurial ambition combined with her studies and work experience with children with ASD give her an unique profile and the right skills set to make your touristic experience more autism friendly.
Tourism for Autism chooses a world in which people with Autism can fully participate. We offer support to make the tourism sector accessible, structured, understandable, sensory friendly and therefore comfortable for people with ASD.
Tourism for Autism chooses a world in which people with Autism can fully participate. We offer support to make the tourism sector accessible, structured, understandable, sensory friendly and therefore comfortable for people with ASD.
Contact us for more information:
Contact us
Sien Depoortere
sien@toerismevoorautisme.be
linkedin.com/in/siendepoortere