I decided to look more into traveling with behavior problems as opposed to just physical disabilities. A majority of the information I found dealt with physical disabilities but what about the families who have children with behavior issues. I would imagine the scariest part of travel is the unknown. Children with behavior problems can be set off by anything at any time. I visited a website that I frequently visit for other questions, About.com. I decided to explore what they had to say about behavior issues. They had information on managing your child's behavior while traveling. It wasn't much but it had a list of suggestions on how to keep your child busy to avoid outbursts. THey suggested packing extra activities and such for children to do to keep busy. I think that this would be a good idea when traveling with any child. One of their suggestions was to allow time for physical activity to manage hyperactivity. My first thought was "how can you manage to fit this in if you are travelling on a plane". There was not a response for this unfortunately. Perhaps exploration for another day. One link they had on the site that I found interesting was a link to a list of "101 things to do when there's nothing to do". It had an extensive list of activities that could be fun to do with a child. Some of these ideas could work on a plane such as thumb wars, 20 questions, I spy, counting games, etc. Even though these weren't targeted towards travel, you could use this list to assist in keeping engaged during travel.
Website: http://learningdisabilities.about.com/od/behaviorproblems/tp/backpacksfortravel.htm
101 Things to do: http://specialchildren.about.com/od/behaviorstrategies/a/timewasters.htm
We'll probably be taking Sammy on his first vacation since 1989 this summer. We've decided to try only a long weekend rather than a week until we know how things go. We haven't traveled with him in a long time and aren't sure how it will go removing him from his routine. He's a creature of habit. When the OCD kicks in it can be a trying day. We don't have to do a lot as far as special accomodations. His blindness is limited only by where we can lead him.
ReplyDeleteAmanda I think its a great idea that you decided to look into traveling with children with emotional/behavioral disorders. Its a shame you weren't able to find more specific answers or ideas, but I do agree that having activities and distractions are a good idea (for all children really). I think it might also be helpful to prepare the children before the vacation by telling them what to expect, showing them the plane and/or place they will be staying ahead of time, etc. It might also be a good idea to keep the daily routine as normal as possible by eating meals at the same times while on vacation and incorporating some of the daily routines that many children with emotional/behavioral disorders rely on. I have heard that taking familiar toys/objects from home can also be helpful.
ReplyDeleteAmanda,
ReplyDeleteThis website is very useful! We just took the children to Gatlinburg for a mini vacation and they slept the entire time (which was a five hour trip). As my children get older I know that they may not sleep the entire time. This is something that would very useful for families that may have children without a behavior issue.