Tips for Traveling with a Special Needs Child

Traveling with special needs children can be challenging, but the reward of seeing the world runs deep and the experience is like no other. While the urge to stay home may take over your conscious as a parent, it’s important to remember about your own desire and urge to explore while you are young, too

Your child may be a stickler for routine or want all his foods separated. He may take medication and need an early bedtime. For all these reasons and more, you may be hesitant to take him out of his rhythm, but there are tactics to help cope. We’ve made a list of twenty-one tactics to keep in mind before, during and after your trip:

1. Realize the trip isn’t about you or only what you want to do.  There will be future visits, other times when they’re older when you can travel the way you want to travel.
2. Have an agenda, but be prepared to change it. Be flexible and spontaneous as plans can change at ANY time.
3. Give your child time to adjust to the time difference. Allow later bedtimes and later wake-ups.  After all, you’re on vacation.
4. You know your child best.  If your child has sensory issues, know their triggers and try to avoid them.  For example, if they don’t like noise, try to stay out of crowded places. If they need to eat at a certain time, watch for antecedents.
5. Don’t freak out about what your child is eating.  Give it time and realize that they won’t eat like they do at home.  But their habits will improve as the trip progresses.
6. Don’t react negatively – positive reinforcement will help any situation. Special needs child are all about praise and it will take your trip further.
7. Playgrounds break up the tediousness of going to museums and sightseeing.  Have fun at a landmark by letting your kids run around. Sensory kids will enjoy the exercise and it will calm them down for museum (quieter) experiences.
8. Make sure your kids wear comfortable shoes.  Blisters on their feet will send you right home.
9. When your kids start to complain about sightseeing, take a detour.  Get an ice cream.  Sit down.  Be flexible and do something more child-friendly or something that they like. If they are obsessive and stuck on seeing one sight or doing one particular thing, take time out.
10. Remember that certain behaviors are for attention purposes only.  Try to figure out what they are so you can spot them and nip them in the bud when they occur.
11. If a meltdown occurs, try not to let it ruin the rest of your trip. March forward.
12. If you do experience a meltdown, remove your child from the situation.  Maybe it’s time to go back to the hotel, and start fresh the next day.
13. Carry things they might need. Be prepared for accidents or anything they may want that would upset them if you didn’t have it on you.
14. Bring snacks.  Keep staples in the room and keep them fed on day trips.
15. Keep your child hydrated, particularly if medication is involved.
16. Ease up on restrictions on electronics. If playing with the iPad or iPod relaxes your child and will enable you to have more enjoyable days, let it be.
17. Pick up souvenirs as you go to make the trip memorable, letting your child pick them out.
18. Make the trip fun and they’ll have fun.
19. Have a back-up plan.  Make a list of things to do, and be prepared to change according to evolving moods.
20. Again, be patient.  It will get you further than you will ever know.
21. Lastly, plan activities your kids like to do, but don’t forget to try to squeeze in some time for yourself.  That will also make you a better parent.

There is nothing better than showing your child the world.  Don’t be afraid to do it; embrace it. Your kids will come back more aware, more educated and more enlightened from your travels.

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