A Word from One of Our Parents About #FamilyVacations – 5/26/17

Today I am sitting on a plane with my severely autistic son, you think that would be a disaster but my kid flies great, just more proof that all autistic kids are different. My son cannot stand the sound of the vacuum, but this incredibly loud plane is like a vacation for his senses. I don’t know if it is the constant hum of the engine or maybe he understands that this metal tube is delivering him to warmer weather where he can swim everyday. Either way I am grateful for this small blessing. I wish I could say that the rest of vacation was as easy as the plane ride, as anyone traveling with kids knows you have to bring a lot of stuff along. If you are traveling with an autistic child multiply that by 10. You bring not just clothes, but preferred toys, electronics, favorite foods you may not be able to get at your destination. You bring anything that may help your child feel like he is at home. You keep the routine the same (as much as you can away from home). Breakfast, lunch and dinner; Bedtime, bath time; Whatever it is you do, you try to make it the same as it would be at home. If you are as lucky as I am, you vacation at the same place every year and have a kitchen available to you 24 hours a day. All of this makes me wonder, why do we vacation at all? I can tell you it is not restful, but we go anyway, why? For me it is a small slice of normal, Spring Break get away just like all the neuro-typical families, and the hope that someday soon, all the hard work will pay off and we can have a restful family vacation like everyone else. The again, maybe no one has restful family vacations, I don’t know, but I will keep going because I’m an #autismmom and that’s what we do.