Autism and Travel

Hi guys, my name is Dylan and I am on the autism spectrum. I really like traveling to new places and want to do more overseas traveling soon. My problem is I have a difficult time with airports, flights, customs, language barriers and such. I traveled internationally a few times before and had some really embarrassing experiences due to my autisticness. I prefer driving in the closed comfort of my own car but cannot do this if I want to travel to Japan or Europe or some other far away locale. Do you have any tips for reducing anxiety and surviving international travel as a person on the spectrum?

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  1. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    >Do you have any tips for reducing anxiety and surviving international travel as a person on the spectrum?
    Beer
    Drugs
    Growing up and writing better b8

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      What kind of drugs? Alcohol and weed only amplify my autism

      >had some really embarrassing experiences due to my autisticness.
      Please elaborate. If you can't even navigate through the airport in your home country you're honestly going to have a lot of problems anywhere overseas.

      The embarrassing situations were at my destination not at the airport. Flying is just uncomfortable for me having to spend hours next to people I don't know. I'm not super social and have anxiety. Also flight attendants are rude to me for no reason.

      • 2 years ago
        Anonymous

        >Flying is just uncomfortable for me having to spend hours next to people I don't know. I'm not super social and have anxiety. Also flight attendants are rude to me for no reason.
        Quite literally grow up

        • 2 years ago
          Anonymous

          Thanks I'm cured!

          • 2 years ago
            Anonymous

            Literally though. Strangely people did not have these problems 30 years ago. Fragile generation, indeed.

            • 2 years ago
              Anonymous

              They did. It just wasn't as widely detected and reported.

              Autism is a lifelong affliction and there's no growing out of it. You can only manage it. That's what this thread is for.

              Do you have any more helpful tips?

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                If you legit diagnosed with autism then the answer should be painfully obvious, go to the doctor or practice that diagnosed you and explain your anxiety. They will write you something for this instantly as you are certified autismo.

                That is assuming you are actually diagnosed by a doctor and not Dr. SighSee degree from /LULZ/

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                How can I be certain that the prescribed meds won't have damaging side effects? I was prescribed risperdal as an adolescent and developed moobs because of it.

                >having to spend hours next to people I don't know
                The plane ride is no different than a bus ride except for time taken. You don't have to talk to anyone. I personally don't talk to anyone except cabin crew. Put on your headphones and watch movies back to back.
                Sometimes people are just rude and you have to deal with it. You don't need to talk to them other than to say what you want to drink and eat, with a please and thank you of course.

                Listening to music was one of the things that caused the flight attendants to be hostile toward me. The woman raised her voice angrily when I "ignored" her request to put my backpack underneath the seat. Except I didn't ignore her. I was listening to music. These are the types of social protocols that raise my anxiety levels.

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                0/10

                blew the troll

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                >The woman raised her voice angrily when I "ignored" her request to put my backpack underneath the seat. Except I didn't ignore her. I was listening to music.

                in this situation I would respond very politely and apologetically say that I couldn't hear her, which would make her look like an impatient butthole (which she is, if she actually got angry and its not in your head (which it probably is))

                I might not be as autistic as you but I definetly have a little of the 'tism myself.
                My advice is to be as kind to other people as you possibly can, so when someone socially upsetting happens you can be certain that the event was undeserved, and instead of putting yourself down, you can pity the person who did it, whose meanness was motivated by their insecurities and life issues. Works for me :^)

                Also stop being scrawny (or fat) and hit the gym, people treat you better if you have a little muscle

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                >you can pity the person who did it, whose meanness was motivated by their insecurities and life issues. Works for me :^)

                Does this also work on SighSee?

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                People also treat you much better if the spaghetti isn't falling out of your pockets. The answer to OP is therapy that deals with anxiety and learning social cues.
                >But I can't afford to
                Then you can't afford to travel. /thread

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                >How can I be certain that the prescribed meds won't have damaging side effects?
                Perhaps you could pose this question to a professional instead of on SighSee

                People also treat you much better if the spaghetti isn't falling out of your pockets. The answer to OP is therapy that deals with anxiety and learning social cues.
                >But I can't afford to
                Then you can't afford to travel. /thread

                agree

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                The same professionals who receive kickbacks from pharmaceutical companies?

                More questions:

                Would going with friends help?

                Where can I find other people who also want to visit Japan? I'm too socially awkward to attend anime conventions by myself.

                What are the most autistic-friendly countries to visit?

                Which countries should I avoid?

              • 1 year ago
                Anonymous

                >The same professionals who receive kickbacks from pharmaceutical companies?
                you have a dogshit snarky attitude and you completely miss the point of every reasonable post in this thread.
                maybe you shouldnt travel. maybe you should stay locked up in your house to save the world from the unpleasantness of interacting with you.

              • 1 year ago
                Anonymous

                >every reasonable post in this thread
                by "every" you mean 1 or 2 posts, right?

            • 2 years ago
              Anonymous

              >Strangely people did not have these problems 30 years ago. Fragile generation, indeed
              Yes, there were no autistic people in 1992. The 1988 film Rain Man also doesn't exist

      • 2 years ago
        Anonymous

        >having to spend hours next to people I don't know
        The plane ride is no different than a bus ride except for time taken. You don't have to talk to anyone. I personally don't talk to anyone except cabin crew. Put on your headphones and watch movies back to back.
        Sometimes people are just rude and you have to deal with it. You don't need to talk to them other than to say what you want to drink and eat, with a please and thank you of course.

  2. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    >had some really embarrassing experiences due to my autisticness.
    Please elaborate. If you can't even navigate through the airport in your home country you're honestly going to have a lot of problems anywhere overseas.

  3. 2 years ago
    Anonymqus

    I go traveling to get rid of anxiety because i'm really good with organizing travel and planning itinerary, both before hand and on the fly. My autism is pretty bad and have bad social anxiety, so I don't really think they are related at all it's just a personal preference of what hobby's make you happy

  4. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    Try popping a few l-theanine capsules before going to the airport. You could also get a proper anti anxiety drug. But the theanine might be sufficient. It works for me

  5. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    >My problem is I have a difficult time with airports, flights, customs, language barriers and such.
    Everyone does to various degrees you fricking plonk
    >Also flight attendants are rude to me for no reason.
    No they aren't you must be dressed poorly.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      >No they aren't you must be dressed poorly.
      Or BO, bad breath, making inappropriate sounds or comments, etc. Autists by definition have a hard time understanding how others judge them.

  6. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    >autism
    >Japan
    like clockwork

  7. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Reminder that this thread is for providing helpful tips for traveling with autism, not for posting your own personal judgments about those of us on the spectrum

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