When people think of Autism, they probably think of Dustin Huffman's rememberable portrayal in Rainman. I have two boys with autism - one very mild and the other very very mild. They are so mild that if you met them you might not even know they had it. But they do. And traveling with autism presents some unique challenges.
One of my sons has eaten the same flavor of store brand oatmeal since the age of one. He will not eat any other kind of oatmeal nor anything else for breakfast. And the day isn't right without breakfast! We are going to Florida for five weeks, so, can you imagine what that means? We have to bring along 120 packages of this oatmeal with us!
He also enjoys Knorr's chicken flavored rice. I don't know if I can get that in Florida, so, we are packing fifteen packages of chicken rice. The boys will only eat a certain kind of chocolate pudding, a certain kind of chocolate chip cookies, etc. And God forbid if the corn chips are in circles instead of triangles! We basically have to pack five weeks of groceries for them.
The real fun starts when we enter Disney World. Luckily, they will eat hamburgers and french fries (so long as the French fries do not have black specs of pepper on them). They will also eat pizza... sometimes. We often don't know until we buy it. The pizza has to pass the look test, the smell test, the crunch test, and finally the taste test.
Many parents (who are not parents of children with autism) suggest curing this by letting the child starve. What they do not understand is that our children are perfectly happy starving. Eating is not a major consideration in their life when there is so many other things to be occupied with. Chocking down food that has a bad texture or smell isn't even a consideration for them. As parents, it is up to us to make sure they stay nurished.
I remember having a reservation in Epcot's Mexico, and I had to run all the way to the Electric Umbrella to order hamburgers and fries so the boys could eat with us. Or the time we went to Ohana for dinner and the chef brought out two giant platters stacked high with burgers and fries - the boys were in heaven!
Food is just one challenge for children with autism. Another challenge is to avoid unexpected changes to the schedule. They need to know the park's ride schedule and understand it, and then we need to avoid disturbing it. For example, if the Haunted House follows Pirates of the Carribean, we had better not stop off at the Hall of Presidents in between! The boys are generally pretty good. They just don't like the schedule changes and become stressed or unhappy and sometime mad. They don't blow up or have a melt down. But they will let you know (and anyone in ear shot) they they are displeased with the change.
Another aspect that some with Autism have is compulsiveness. This manifests itself as: if I have a bottle of water in my hand, it is there because I need to drink it. Drink all of it. And once I drink it, I must put the empty bottle into my back pack. Oh look! There is more water in my backpack. It is there so I can drink it. So, I will get another.... It is very common for us to pack half a dozen water bottles for the family in my oldest son's backpack and half the way through the day, he is empty leaving the rest of us wondering what we are going to drink. With all that drinking comes the continual runs to the restroom. I understand it is hot, and I am glad he is staying hydrated, but really?
We take all these items with a sense of humor, and the boys are good at laughing at the situations. As parents, we can either be frustrated or we can find enjoyment. We decide to have a good time with it. We understand the challenges but we don't let the challenges get in the way of having a great vacation.
