Travelling with autism/food issues

[woodwaj]

My DS is 10 and autistic. He is full of fears (flying, eating, theme parks etc) he has agreed he would be willing to try a holiday this year August time. We'd like a short flight, some sun and a pool. Making it tricky is the only thing I'll be able to get him to eat abroad is mcdonalds. I dont drive so it'll need to be close by. Does anyone have any advice travelling with SEN Children. Do you think a travel agent would be able to help me be this specific? 🤔

Its mcdonalds nuggets, and 1 brand of tinned hotdogs. We have plenty of variety in snacks but you obviously want them to eat one thing thats filling and not full of sugar!

Hi op, I didn't see your post originally so haven't been able to give any advice but I LOVE your update! We used to take asd ds to Disneyland Paris when younger and he loved the characters and parades and the happy, safe atmosphere. He wasn't so keen on the rides but he would do a few of the tamer ones. We didn't push him out of his comfort zone but let him take the lead. If it is within your budget your should consider a Disney cruise they are fabulous and you can sail from the UK or from the Med if hes feeling extra brave. Hopefully this will be the start of a new travel chapter for you.

There's a risk he won't eat the McDs because they tailor them to each country so it could be different

Aw this is amazing, so happy for you! Glad you all had a fab time! What an achievement x

I feel you - my middle daughter asd will literally only eat chips and cucumber abroad. She will eat a little more at home. Not ideal but one week is okay. I create her an itinerary with our plans mapped out, which I print in a photobook so she can see our plans daily. Always have her ipad and headphonrs so she has some way of switching off.

My tip is to constantly build on these experiences, we went from only drinking milk and eating chicken nuggets and fries to eating a reasonably wide diet - don’t think it was fast, took 15 years to get to the point where i didn’t worry if there were suitable foods but we made it. As for trips abroad, the key was places where there wouldn’t be lots of other children so we chose inland destinations, business hotels where nobody used the pool and went to restaurants where children were allowed but rarely went.

I am glad so many others have positive experiences too! I knew it would be something he loved once he was there, the fear of flying seems to be gone, saying that I dont think we'll be off to Orlando any time soon 😂 but its all a start and great progress!

I think im going to plan the same again next year so not to overwhelm then try and expand it a little (nothing to do with me loving Disney myself!)