Vacations with a slice of autism . Vacations can be very difficult for individuals with autism . All the chaos , the change in routine and the unfamiliarity can be trying . They have to be exposed in order to learn to tolerate it . Exposure is everything ! It will always be hard at first but the more they are exposed the easier they will adapt ( and you too) We have had some rough experiences believe me , and some great experiences with some really tough moments . My girl is made for vacations . She loves them ! She understands and remembers and is now knows what to expect . We either do social stories or look things up on utube , and on websites to help prepare her . It has taken a long time to get her used to it and we still have our guard up to a point . This summer her sisters danced in Disney and we went for 10 days and she loved it. She is truly happy when vacation and it makes my heart full to see her this way . This year my two year old niece Who Alyssa loves came with us . My niece loves Mickey Mouse so we were excited for her to meet him . Alyssa doesn’t really love anyone character or movie or anything in particular with the exception of Barney who is pretty outdated by now . She likes stuffed animals and animals in general but not any specific characters. Well she suprised me again. I took her along with us to meet Minnie and Mickey mostly as a spectator . She doesn’t really know who Mickey is . Of course I ask her do you want to meet Mickey and she nods yes , but she says yes to lots of things and doesn’t always get it . I was just trying to include her. Well we in to meet Mickey and Minnie , most of the focus is on my niece which was so cute .
Then Alyssa just lights up ! She is so excited smiling and laughing . Minnie Hugged her and she was so happy .
It was the best thing . I figured she wouldn’t even care , I don’t even know why I brought her in with us . She loved meeting them and when I show her the picture and ask who it is she will say LuLu ( her nickname ) and then say Mickey , her version but I’ll take it. Sometimes you don’t know until you try ; what you see isn’t always what you get when it comes to autism . You don’t know what can be lurking under the surface . You have to get through the hard stuff first . But then you get the rewards and it’s all worth it in the end ~ This was one of the highlights of the whole vacation for me .
Autism adventures with Alyssa 