Bypassing the Roadblocks of Autism

1.5 million Americans are diagnosed with autism. Unfortunately, many families allow a child’s autism to keep them from experiencing family vacations. Luckily, times are changing Many hotels, cruise lines, and travel destinations are offering programs specifically designed for families with autistic children. They have structured programs so that the autistic child is never left guessing about what is going to happen, which is often times very disturbing to them. Even in unstructured environments like airports, parents and doctors are more inventive with methods for keeping the experiences in these places going well. Doctors are able to issue a form for autistic children allowing them to move directly to the front of the line while going through airport security so that it is over quickly. At home before the trip, some families act out scenes from the airport so their child feels more comfortable when they are there. Overall, our society is becoming more aware of the challenges presented to autistics and is working hard to allow these people to enjoy vacations.

I am so pleased that our society is making improvements in travel so that people with autism are able to have the same experiences that I do when I travel. My cousin is autistic, and he does have difficulty adjusting to a new schedule while on vacations. I think that these new programs will allow him to be more comfortable and confident while traveling. One can learn so much through travel, so travel should not be limited to people without autism. I would like to applaud the companies who are starting programs so that people like my cousin are able to experience travel relaxed and safe. I would also like to ask that when one sees an autistic child poorly reacting to travel, please do not judge the child or the parents for not being able to control their child. People with autism are prone to being set off or upset by little things out of anyone’s control. The parents are accepting a lot of responsibility in taking an autistic child on vacation. I am so proud of the companies and organizations that are giving autistic children and adults the opportunity to experience travel.

Original Source
Margolies, Jane. "Bypassing the Roadblocks of Autism." The New York Times. 14 Sept. 2008.The New York Times Company.22 Sept. 2008 .

HOLA/GUTENTAG/BONJOUR/HELLO

Hello everyone and welcome to the first entry of Hannah's English Blog! This will be used for outside reading and writing literature reviews for my Enriched English class. This quarter I will be updating this blog at least once a week with reviews of short stories, poems, song lyrics, etc. I will be dishing out my opinions on the things that I read here, so sorry if you do not agree with my thoughts. Keep checking back for the latest reviews!

Adios!