Autistics Traveling

Transcript

Autistics Traveling

November 3rd, 2024

Episode Preview

Traveling can be exciting.  Thanks to the internet age we can look through a list of flights on any number of airlines and travel sites and select the dates and times we want for transportation, car rentals and hotel reservations.  Yet, for many Autistics, traveling escalates anxiety because of the sensory processing needs such as loud and crowded airports, bus and train stations.  Many Autistics loathe having to go through TSA security checks because of the rush and personnel being unreasonable.  Shalese Heard the Autistic Travel Goddess is here to share the stories they have of traveling with some helpful ideas to help reduce anxiety and stress for Autistics Traveling.   

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Segment 1

Welcome everyone to Today’s Autistic Moment: A Podcast for Autistic Adults by an Autistic Adult. My name is Philip King-Lowe. I am the owner, producer, and host; and I am an Autistic Adult. Thank you so very much for listening.

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After this first commercial break Shalese Heard and I will talk about Autistics Traveling.

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Commercial Break I

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Segment 2

Philip King-Lowe 

Shalese Heard, it is my privilege to welcome you to Today's Autistic Moment. Thank you for stopping by today.

Shalese Heard 

Yes, thank you so much for having me here.

Philip King-Lowe 

You're welcome. Well, I'm excited about this particular topic to talk about Autistics Traveling, because boy is that a mouthful in and of itself.

Shalese Heard 

Yes. Oh, my God, it is,

Philip King-Lowe 

You know, and this past Labor Day weekend, my husband and I did some traveling, and, you know, I was reminded of a lot of the things that happens to me being Autistic and traveling. And so, I really want to have this conversation because, you know, travel is one of those things that many of us do, sometimes chosen, sometimes not chosen, necessarily. But you know, there's so much to discuss about this topic, everything, from sensory issues to routine changes, to all the plans that need to be made, the crowds and all. So, we're going to dig into this topic, and we're going to talk about how we can give some great tips for Autistics when they're traveling, to be able to prepare and do some self-management here. Let's begin exploring this topic about Autistics Traveling, and maybe give us a little bit of your background and your experience in traveling, and you know some things you've learned and some things you've learned to cope with, so.

Shalese Heard 

So, one of the things that I've had to learn to cope with when traveling, and I can't say that I was surprised by this, because I already knew that I struggled with this. I definitely had to learn to accept that things aren't going to go as planned all the time, because I would get so fixated on setting a schedule for myself, you know, I'm going to see this excursion. I'm going to go here. I'm going to do this. You know, I would have a set schedule. And every time I have a set schedule, and I could not adhere to it, something would happen. I would get upset. And so, I had to learn to just accept that things always happen. Things are always going to change, especially when you're talking about things like delayed flights and canceled flights like certain airports, is always something when it comes to a flight. And so, I've had to learn that I had to be more flexible. And another thing that I had to learn as well is I had to get comfortable being uncomfortable with changing my routine, because the thing about travel is it does take you out of your routine. You know, you're not in the same place. You don't necessarily get to have breakfast at the same time or do things at the same time. And so, it just took practice for me to accept that part of it. And I think that my desire to travel, just having this obsession with seeing the world, supersedes, you know, my struggle with changing a routine like it. I wanted it bad enough to the point where it didn't really bother me, in a sense, to have to change my routine, or, you know, get used to being adaptable and being flexible. And so, what I tell people all the time is because it's something that I'm passionate about, changing routines and, you know, having things come up, and those things don't bother me as much as they would if I was at home, because it's something that I enjoy doing. And I guess part of the reason does not bother me as much as because I come to expect it when I travel versus when I'm at home, and these things bother me.

Philip King-Lowe 

Yeah, well, let's discuss some of the things, such as we've already talked about sensory needs, the crowds at airports, bus and trains, and of course, we talk about just going through a security check, how that can just be just, you know, and then, you know, we'll talk about things on the planes and trains and all that. But let's start with that. I think you know, let's also, let's clarify one thing anxiety before travel, that's, that's valid.

Shalese Heard 

It is. It really is, yeah, and it is very real. Because, like every time I’m on a trip, the anxiety is very high. Yeah.  Because no matter how well prepared, I am, I'm always afraid of missing a flight. I'm always afraid of missing out on, you know, the departure, whether it be a flight or a train or what have you. So that anxiety is high, and then the anticipation of getting through the crowds, the anticipation of going through security checkpoints, like just I'm thinking about all those little steps that I have to go through, and just anticipating that is stressful.

Philip King-Lowe 

Yeah. You know. You know, just, just in some cases, you know, starting with that check encounter, where you're encountering personalities that are all going to be in a rush, yeah, and they're going to be hasty. And, you know, quite frankly, thinking about Autistics having needs that may not, probably not going to be on the on the top of their list of priorities, you know? And so, you know, you know, I have been traveling since I was six years old, and I still find it, you know, it can be stressful. And like, yeah, you know, that sort of thing. So, let's, let's just talk about going through some of those initials, you know, what might be some things that you've learned to do to prepare yourself for some of those situations?

Shalese Heard 

For me, one of the things I've learned to do was have something, you know, like, have a protein snack, handy like, have some nuts. Have, you know, either a piece of fruit, some popcorn, tuna packets. Have something handy that's going to help me to ease my anxiety, because I find that when I have that in my system, I'm less likely to get overwhelmed and have a meltdown. When that happens like it helps me to calm down. Also, having plenty of water on hand helps me as well. And another thing that I'd like to do is I listen to some soothing or calming music on the way, just so I can take my mind off of the pending stress that I'm about to encounter. Yeah, so I try to distract myself on the way in anticipation of the travel.

Philip King-Lowe 

Yeah, you know, one of my tactics has been, always leave a little earlier than you expect. Yeah. Because we know that going through those security, security checkpoints, it's gonna take a little longer. Oh, yes. Um, yeah. And then, you know, I like the idea of taking your favorite beverage or a snack or something, obviously a fidget or something to distract you, give you, give you some soothe, that sort of thing. You know, by all means, take the moments that you have. You know, I will say that, and I don't know about anywhere else, but I believe The Autism Society of Minnesota has worked with the Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport to develop an app for Autistics to use to navigate that airport. Yes. Now I know some not every state and every organization has necessarily done that, but it's basically an app that also includes things like a social narrative about how you can navigate entering the airport and whom you're going to talk to, all these things that are about to happen and that sort of thing. But as I say, and actually some of the airlines have started to implement having quiet spaces in their airports. But like I say, if you go, not yes, all done, but nonetheless, leave early. Pack the stuff that you're going to take with you, and if necessary, read a little bit from the website like the TSA, bring what you can't bring, so that you are prepared for what's coming.

Shalese Heard 

And also read the TSA. Read the security requirements if you're leaving the country, make sure you read what their TSA requires. Because I found out the hard way that in Scotland, for instance, or in Canada, the security clearance allows different things. I can't take as big of a bag through Canadian TSA as I can in United States. And so, I had to learn that the hard way.

Philip King-Lowe 

And another, another thing that I have, I've read about, some that have done is you don't always know what they're going to serve on an airplane and in terms of foods, comfort foods, or anything like that. And you know they may very well serve something that you can't know if you clean stuff, as in having small packages of certain things, normally, your security folks won't bother you too much. So, you can always, like, pack a small thing of your favorite crackers or whatever, and have them in your bag. So, like, if you're on the plane and they're serving whatever snacks, that might not work for you, you can always have those snacks with you. You know how to do that.

Shalese Heard 

And that's something that I practice all the time, because I'm a sensitive eater, and I don't always like the plane is serving. So, I pack my own snacks. I bring them from home, and I just pack them in zip box or containers and whatnot and bring them all to me. Now I actually was able to bring home cooked food as long as it's dry. I can actually bring home cooked food on the plane through TSA.

Philip King-Lowe 

Okay, yeah, definitely, yeah, okay, um, yeah. Security checkpoints. That's a topic in and of itself. In many cases, you talk about checkpoints in the in Canada, you know, you'll have to, you know, remove all your jewelry, phones, everything. If you carry a medical device of any kind, like a CPAP machine, they're going to want to see it. Take it apart. Take a look at it. And then there's the matter of, you know, anything that you have with you that can't be removed. For example, I have a Libra three for monitoring my blood sugar. That's one of those things that you are at least going to want to be able to see, you know, and those sort of things. So, we know it can be really stressful, because they're kind of trying to move people along. And, I mean, you know, let's talk about how, you know, some suggestions as to how people can manage their stresses through that, especially for Autistics, when you have got so many stresses already just going through your system, you know? So go ahead, let's talk about that.

Shalese Heard 

So, first of all, the TSA is my least favorite, because it's just the fact that it always feels like, okay, like when there is always a rush getting through TSA, because they're asking you to do so much, and they're expecting you to rush while you're doing it, you have to take off your clothes, you have to take off your jewelry. You have to take off your well, not your clothes, but your shoes, your outerwear coats and things like that. And then they want you to take out your laptop, out of your laptop bag, and your phone, and they just want you to take certain things out of your purse. And it gets to be a lot, and they're expecting you to do that, you know, in such a hurry, and then there's all these people behind you, and that is something that I've had to learn to get stuff done as I was standing in line. So, in order to be prepared for when I finally do reach the checkpoint, I would already start, you know, taking out my laptop. I would already start taking off my shoes and just getting stuff prepared, you know, just so by the time I get there, it's not as much of a rush, because otherwise it feels like a rush as they're bringing those like, what do you call those things, those cart things, through the checkpoint.

Philip King-Lowe 

Yeah, well, I am a part time wheelchair user, and I have had to ask for some assistance from the check-in point to the gate and that sort of thing. And I have often discovered that that is extremely helpful for me. Now, sometimes there are airlines that will give you some help from the gate, from the from the checkpoint to the gate, and sometimes they'll help you through security and that sort of thing. Sometimes, sometimes it's not okay. But you know, among the things that does have to happen as much as possible is if you can walk a ways, then they may say okay, because they want to put your chair through a checkpoint as well as your wheelchair, and, you know, anything like that, but I'm able to, but if you're not actually able to get up, then they do have a way of moving that wheelchair through. And then, you know, if I've had somebody, they've actually helped me with getting my stuff into those bins to send through, you know, and they've been very helpful to me. I know also that one of the things that people are understandably worried about is the possessions that they put into those things, so thefts and that sort of thing. I'm not saying you don't have a right to be concerned. I'm saying yes, it can happen, and that’s what you need to be, you know. I know it's not always easy to communicate with professionals who just aren't even thinking about these things, people who are Autistic. I mean, they're, you know, they're not, they're not thinking about that. They're really thinking about getting people through the checkpoint and on into the into the main terminal. Yeah, that's their priority. Yeah. So, I'd like to tell you that there's easy ways to get around it. Sometimes there is, sometimes there isn't.

Shalese Heard 

It’s a hit or miss, and it depends heavily on the airport itself. You know what kind of traffic they're having that day. It just really is a tossup.

Philip King-Lowe 

Yeah, one little tip that when you're planning your travel, and I know that time is not everyone's a friend, but as best as possible, maybe try to schedule things so that you could be there early enough with the least amount of foot traffic. Yeah, because that can be a really important issue for helping with some of that crowd.

Shalese Heard 

And that's what I do. Like, I try to schedule everything to where it is either super late at night or super early in the morning, just so I can avoid all that foot traffic, and I like to schedule my travel, because, you know, I have a flexible schedule. I schedule it on days when it's not as busy. I try to schedule flights and travel. So, they say Tuesday is a really good day here at my Airport, where it's really, you know, less crowded, it's less busy. So, I try to schedule things on days like that, yeah, to avoid crowds.

Philip King-Lowe 

Yeah, yeah, I hear you and I Yeah. I have found that, you know, if I'm going through a checkpoint, and you know, this is one of those places where it's difficult to always understand what the people in the security checkpoint are asking you to do. And again, a lot of them, they're just asking you to get things done so that they can move everybody in through there and all that. But you know, sometimes you may have Look, I may need some help to understand what I'm supposed to do. And you know, how do I say it? Sometimes you need to be blunt, appropriate, but blunt enough to say, I have to do this and feel free to ask a question. Do you need to see this in they'll sometimes tell you. But you know, always have your plan B about how you're gonna do some things. And you know, one of the things about traveling airports and otherwise is that some things are predictable, some things are predictable, and then they change within a second because of something that's happened that needs to be dealt with. But, you know, going through the security checkpoints is not simple, and it's, you know, even for people who are not disabled, it's challenging, but it's important that you follow instructions as best you can. Always ask for clarification if you're not sure, and keep asking, you know, that sort of thing. But the other point that can be very difficult for many of us is that you know, if you do go through the camera, and then you get to the other side, and they have something to ask about. You know, they may want to pat you down and see if there's anything they need to be worried about. And I know a lot of us being touched is this not something we're comfortable with. By all means, if they touch inappropriately, speak up. You know, again, they're just, they're looking for things to be sure that everybody is safe, and sometimes it will mean allowing yourself to be uncomfortable for just a few seconds, you know, that sort of thing.

Shalese Heard 

Yeah, and that that is, I do acknowledge that that's really uncomfortable, yeah, yeah. I just, when I, when I go through it, I just, you know, close my eyes when it's happening, just so I don't dwell on it too much. And then, you know, it just feels like it makes it go faster,

Philip King-Lowe 

Yeah. You know, don’t you also don't. Don't be afraid to take some sunglasses or something, to dim lights, because they will be brighter in those spaces.

Shalese Heard 

Oh yes, sunglasses. And another thing that I recommend is noise canceling headphones.

Philip King-Lowe 

Noise canceling headphones or ear buds that can really fidget toy, digit toy. Carry one of those. And, you know, I actually have one that is attached to my belt loop on my pants, so that way I can just reach it's a pop, you know, oh, so you just attach it to your belt. Just attached to the belt, and just if I'm feeling anxious, I can just, you know, pop the little things in there, just, you know, sort of give my hand something to do and my brain something else to think about.

Philip King-Lowe

Following the next commercial break in segment 3 Shalese and I will talk about some websites for people with disabilities to travel, issues that occur in hotels, answering surveys honestly,  and how to empower our intersectional Autistic Adult Communities to travel given our socioeconomic limitations.

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Segment 3

Philip King-Lowe

Now let's go past the checkpoint part, and we're going to be talking about engaging and empowering, of course, but um, some of the airlines, and I'm not going to name any others because, but I am going to say I have been flying Southwest now for over 10 years. If you when you schedule your flight, and you have, you know, you may have a disability of any kind, you can request priority boarding. Which means that as long as you're at the gate at the time that you need to be, they will let you board the aircraft first among the few people. Okay? And there are other lines that will let you do that. They'll say you need priority boarding. We'll give it to you. While I hated the term when I had to use it, I mean, they have Autism classified as a comprehensive disability of some kind, I don't like it, but that's how it is worded. But like I say, they have always been very good to me about letting me board ahead of everybody and that way, and I can find my seat. I can find a seat that I am comfortable with. if you do have some physical disabilities, like if you do need a wheelchair or a mobility device, if you're taking it with you, it will have to be stored in in the cargo area, and there's a lot of concern, justifiable concern, about wheelchairs being stolen or broken. And I'd like to tell you, that's an easy thing to handle, but I can't. In my particular case, I happen to have a spare wheelchair that I use for travel only because I won't take one that I use regularly because it was paid for by insurance that I don't want to have to try to replace it. But the thing is, is that I was very impressed with how they handled my wheelchair. They made sure it got from point A to point B to point C and everything like that. Like I said, I can't speak for other airlines, but I can say that like, I say Southwest Airlines has been very good to me. Here's one of those things. Let's say you are going to be using a mobility device of any kind before you actually book your flights, you might want to do some checking around. There's some great blogs out there about, you know, wheelchairs and airlines that will give you the list of the best airlines that will accommodate you and others that will not, that are, that are, have a have a poor reputation that way, you know, you can kind of be prepared for certain things.

Shalese Heard 

I follow quite a few wheelchair, wheelchair travel blogs, and they talk quite a bit about preparing ahead of time for those.

Philip King-Lowe 

Yeah, yeah. And over time, there's become some websites. I think one of them is called Accessible Go that you know is made for disabled travelers, that you can do some looking for some things that you know, and that sort of thing. Continuing with our conversation, but moving into our second question about, you know, how do we get our intersectional Autistic Adult communities engaged in traveling? And this is where now we can move into lodging, you know, scheduling, where you're going to stay, and maybe a few things you might prepare for.  You know, speaking for myself, I have often found that, oftentimes, hotel rooms have the worst bed sheets and that sort of thing. The textures are just horrible. So, what I like to do is to pack my favorite sheet or something and just take it in a bag with you, just so you can put, you know, that sort of thing. But you know, again, routine changes like this can be really rough, because there's always, you know, showers that have hard water or, you know, a lot of the towels that are in a lot of hotel rooms are really rough to use, you know. And then there's going to be just dealing with staff that like I say, they're not there to necessarily please disabled people. They're there to do their jobs. And I'm going to say this because I found myself a need to do this. This is one of those places where Autistic Adults can use our one of our characteristics of being honest to a fault.

Shalese Heard 

Oh yes, but yes, I know all about that.

Philip King-Lowe 

When they send you their surveys after you have used their services, that's a good time for you to air your concerns.

Shalese Heard 

Absolutely, I do. I take advantage of that time to air it out.

Philip King-Lowe 

So, let's talk a little bit more about stuff like that. Stuff to prepare for, yeah thing. And then, of course, transportation from the airports and everything. And once you reach your destinations, and maybe let's talk about some of that, if we can.

Shalese Heard 

So, first things first, when I book my lodging, I prefer to book a hotel that has transportation directly from the airport, whether they have a shuttle or whether they have you know, whether I book my rental car that has a shuttle from the airport and then I drive myself to the hotel. But either way, I like to cut out all as many middlemen as possible when it comes to getting to my hotel room. So, either I rent a car, drive myself, or I get an air get a shuttle directly from the airport to get that done, because it just makes it so much easier to plan. And as far as you know, sheets and things like that, there are certain hotels that I prefer to stay in, and I've normally booked because of the linens and how they feel like it's my skin. So, for me personally, Marriott and Hilton Hotels tend to have really good linens that feel good against my skin. Some of their hotels have really good linens, and so I only book with those brands for that reason. So, I just kind of know who has the good linens, and I try to book with those. And lastly, when it comes to the staff, I actually don't like to interact with them a lot, and so I started using this new feature that they've come out with during COVID; A lot of hotels, especially the ones I just mentioned, Marriott and Hilton, they have something called a digital check in where you can book your room, you can actually check in from your app, and then there's a digital key that you can use your phone to get through the building and actually unlock your room with your phone. You don't even have to interact with anyone. And the only thing with that is, I will say it's a bit of a hit or miss, because sometimes they'll have you come to the front desk to verify your identity, to verify who you are. Sometimes they make you do that. Sometimes they don't. It's really kind of a hit or miss situation. So, I take advantage of that as much as I can to avoid interacting with staff a lot of the time.

Philip King-Lowe 

And I'm trying, I keep trying to focus on our intersectional communities. You know, the people that you know, and you know when it comes to, if you're black or part of other cultures, it can be really challenging, depending on where you've traveled to do you want to talk a little bit about some of that, then how that's maybe has impacted you.

Shalese Heard 

Yeah. As a black woman traveler, I have been in places where it’s obvious that I that I was not very welcome there. So, I've experienced, for instance, going to South Dakota and going to a hotel, and I witnessed all the white travelers getting better customer service to me, like they would come in well after me, you know, get their room service, get checked in, and then I'll be left waiting and not even acknowledged. And I've had that happen to me a few times going to certain places. And when that happens, I tend to have to get out of my comfort zone and call them out on it, which I don't enjoy doing, but it forces me to have to step out of my comfort zone and call them on it. And I hate conflict, yeah, but being an Autistic black traveler in a situation where you're not want to causes me to have to deal with conflict that I don't want to deal with. And you know when I for the most part, I'm welcome where I go, like when I go to places where it's not a lot of black people. For the most part, I do feel welcome. But when it comes to services like restaurants and hotels and such, I do tend to experience worse customer service when that, when I have to go through those places.

Philip King-Lowe 

Well, we were on our way home from my during my last vacation, our last vacation on Labor Day, I remember sitting in my wheelchair in the lobby of a particular hotel where I was staying, and I won't go into a long detail, but the people behind the desk were having some conversations about certain groups of people that I found was inappropriate. I mean, it was, you know, the types of people who work at fast food joints and that sort of thing. It was just some very some conversations that I don't think were appropriate to have with somebody who stayed there sitting in the lobby. You know, and so, you know, sometimes this is where, again, you might take some of your notes. Okay? But then again, what we just said beforehand, if you get one of those requests that you know, sir, tell us you know how professional the staff was, that's an opportunity to tell them, Look, I can. I did, I said I heard the staff there having some very inappropriate conversations about certain groups of people. And I you know, here's one of those things for some of us to think about, especially when it comes to customer service and hospitality, things like that. The people that they hire for things like that. These are the faces of the establishment as you walk in and as you leave. These are the people who are there to demonstrate the highest quality of customer service for the people who stay there, who register there, you know, that sort of thing. And there is a responsibility on their parts to use their spaces, you know, thoughtfully, politely and professionally. And you know, the thing is, is that they will. They may assume that you know, someone who's there isn't just listening, but if you're like the only person in that lobby, you kind of almost have no choice, because that's maybe the only sound you're hearing, right? Right. So, when I got my survey, I was very blunt, and I said I heard the people behind that desk having very inappropriate conversations about groups of people. And I, quite frankly, was offended, you know, and I told them, I said, I feel that this is not a good representation of the highest customer service that your establishment wants to have. And so, you know, sometimes just being that forward about something like that, you know, and you might say, I am a person with a disability, and I feel that, especially having a conversation like that in the presence of someone with a disability is just not, not okay, you know, it's not professional. And like I say, they have a responsibility that as long as they're sitting at that front desk, they are representing the best of their company. And by all means, if they're not representing that, I think it's very appropriate to speak up and say these people did not demonstrate that for me, for your for your place of business, you know, just like I say, Autistics often have the gift of being blunt, and I say that most spots where exercising that is a good thing.

Shalese Heard 

In my case, when I've experienced, you know, bad customer service, when I've experienced that, I actually ended up calling corporate about it and reporting it. And I was, I was super blunt when I spoke to corporate about it.

Philip King-Lowe 

And, I mean, many times they'll be very apologetic, and they will respond because they're looking for the highest quality service. And let me tell you something when it comes to hospitality services, like places to stay, places to eat, and that sort of thing, they are very much on top of a lot of that, believe me, because, I mean, I mean, I actually had a moment in my last travel when we were actually coming into where we were going that I had to actually contact the person in my car rental service to say we may just be a little late. And I had the rudest conversation with that person. And this, by the way, is the manager of that particular establishment. So, when I got that survey, I just happened to just be extremely blunt, and I said, this is the person who represents the kind of people that are put on the front lines. You know, your manager is the best of the best. Your manager informs the people who work under them, well, what their responsibilities are. And here this person was just being unbelievably rude and discourteous. So, like I say, when you are looking for ways to get engaged. Like I say, use those tools if you have them.

Shalese Heard 

Filling out surveys, filing complaint. Call corporate.

Philip King-Lowe 

When we speak of empowering our Intersectional Autistic Adult Communities when we're traveling. First of all, I want to say that there are some really great people that you can actually listen to on YouTube, who has some very good videos, who are Autistic, who travel. I've watched several of them that are actually quite good. But when we talk about empowering our Autistic Adults and that sort of thing, where can we start that conversation? Shalese, because I feel like I'm running out of points.

Shalese Heard 

I think, first of all, a lot of Autistic people, they for some reason, well, for obvious reasons, a lot of us think we can't travel, or we think that it's out of reach, or we think that it's not accessible. And so, I think that we need to start talking about the accessibility of it. And when I say accessibility, I'm talking about financially accessible to travel. We need to start there. The money piece is where we need to start when it comes to empowering Autistic people to travel. Because see, when you're talking about an 85% underemployment or unemployment rate among Autistic people, think about what that translates to, in terms of the ability to travel. Right. And so that conversation, we really can't have that conversation without talking about the financial aspect of it. So, I would say, first of all, there needs to be a lot of resources you know to help people with Autism travel. So there needs to be either groups and nonprofits that you know fund people or help fund people with Autism to be able to travel. Or there needs to be more accessibility when it comes to prices, you know, travel needs to be more or less expensive, more affordable for a lot of people to experience. And that's this is just in general. This is not, you know, just for Autistic people like, travel needs to be accessible to all people who are marginalized, because, for the longest time, travel was only accessible to wealthy, affluent white people, and so we need to talk about accessibility in that regard. And even with that, I would just say that even though the system is not in favor of us traveling when it comes to capitalism and the cost of it, we as Autistic people, can still do what we can in the system. We can still exercise some agency in our ability to travel like, maybe you don't have to start off going to somewhere far flung, but you can start off going somewhere like the next county over the next town over, the next state over. You can start small, you know, start small as you can and that still counts as travel, because I think people are taking social media too seriously to where they think that travel doesn't count unless it's all across the world, and part of that has to do with changing our mindset, like just going over to the next town still counts as travel. And so, I think we can start by doing what we can with what we have and changing our mindset about what constitutes this travel. And then, if we change those things, then suddenly travel becomes more accessible.

Philip King-Lowe 

And what are some things that you've done to kind of help with that sort of thing? I mean, you're called the Travel Goddess, from what I understand. You have been part of what's called the Autism Travel Movement. Or please rephrase that if I have said wrong.

Shalese Heard 

Oh, I call myself the Pioneer of the Autistic Travel Movement because I started my travel blog back in 2015 2014 when I got out of grad school, I started it. And you know, I was thinking to myself, I want to travel the world. I want to actually finally accomplish my dream of getting to see the world, and so I ended up using funds from my rental car business, because I started a business renting out cars. I've done Airbnb to earn extra money. I've done all kinds of side hustles to earn extra money to get the fund my travels. And that's pretty much how I kick started this whole thing of being the office to travel goddess. So, not only do I create content on social media, but I also started off doing like consulting, helping Autistic people, you know, self-advocate and start a business. I started off doing that. And then now I write books for Amazon, you know, based on people with Autism making money and being self-empowered and having self-esteem and confidence. I write personal development and financial books on Amazon, which, speaking of which, my latest book is Neurodivergent Millionaire, talking about the financial struggle that we as Neurodivergent people have, and how travel. One of the things I mentioned in the book is how travel can help us out of financial struggle. But yeah, so I write books. I also do speaking engagements, and I also, you know, do freelance work as well to fund my travels. And so that's just pretty much what I do on the content creation influencer side with Autistic Travel Goddess, which is now Neurodivergent Millionaire.

In segment 4 after this final commercial break, Shalese will share more resources that can help Autistics and their families with travel.  Today’s Autistic Community Bulletin Board will immediately follow.

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Future Shows

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On November 17th, Maddie Smith will be my guest to talk about Autistics Living in Rural Settings. Rural areas are great places to live with less noise, and without the crowds and rush of urban and suburban cities.  However, many Autistics live in rural areas where the services they need for supports are outdated and the atmosphere is hostile to intersectional communities.  Many rural areas have residents that are dismissive of Autistics and make judgements about how “disabled” they are or assume they are fleecing the system. 

The final two shows for Season 4 in December will be The Autistic Jewish Experience with Matthew Lawrence the Actually Autistic Coach on December 8th. On December 22nd, Dr. Angela Kindon will be my guest for Embracing the Intersectional Autistic Culture.

Thank you for listening to Today’s Autistic Moment.

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Segment 4

Philip King-Lowe

Tell us a little bit about how the work you've done in terms of helping to change some of this stuff for Autistic people to travel and move themselves from point A to point B with these things.

Shalese Heard 

So, a lot of the work I've done, I would go, I would actually join travel conferences, and I would give speeches, and I've actually done speech speeches before in the past, teaching parents to get their child prepared to start traveling early, like I would teach parents to start their Autistic child traveling in their childhood, so that when they become an adult, they're exposed to it, and they know that it's something that they can access. So, I spoke to a lot of you know, children parent groups about travel as well. And also, even with Autistic Adults who have not traveled. I do a lot of speaking virtual forums and virtual conferences, teaching them the ways that they themselves can travel.

Philip King-Lowe 

How do you recommend that we work on the economic side of travel for a lot of Autistics? You know, we are, we are in a socioeconomic crisis in most cases. And you know, sometimes, you know, a job opportunity is the kind of thing we may have to move to do. And so, we have all the funds to actually just do that, you know, and then, you know, the aids needed to be able to live in a particular area. I mean, some areas are just more expensive to live in than others. So, what's your strategy ideas for things like that?

Shalese Heard  

What I would say is, you know, my main premise is the fact that, because we don't have the same opportunities as neurotypical people, we have to do things differently. So that may mean that we, for instance, everyone's caught up in having a mortgage, everyone's caught up in having a car note, you know, having bills for unnecessary things. In our case, that would mean we would have to live a different lifestyle. We may have to, you know, not get caught up in the mortgage, the car payment, the material things. And you know, we would have to focus on spending our money on experiences versus, you know, what society tells us to spend money on. So that's another thing that we can focus on. And secondly, I would think that it would take a systemic change as far as employment opportunities that pay a gainful living wage to help people with Autism be able to travel. So, I think that a lot of us that we need to address is systemic and it needs to happen, you know, when it comes to giving us opportunities, equal opportunities, accommodations at work and, you know, just funding opportunities for travel as well I think that's more like a systemic issue that needs to be addressed.

Philip King-Lowe

Can you give us some websites with some references that some Autistics could use if they're planning to travel? Do you have any recommendations about things like that.

Shalese Heard 

So, one of the things that I love looking at is I love seeing accessible travel. I believe the website's called accessible travel.com Yeah, and there's another site called um, autismadvernturesabroad. And then there’s another site that I recommend for wheelchair users, called curbfreewithcorylee. So those are some resources I like utilizing when it comes to traveling.

Philip King-Lowe 

Can you me those resources in an email? I'll make sure they get on my Adult Autism Resources Links Page, which I have available. Awesome. Yeah. So, well. Shalese, this has been a great conversation, and I hope that we've given you out there some great ideas about things you can do.

Shalese Heard 

Absolutely. And one more resource that I think will be good for parents who have Autistic children and want to travel with them. It's called Spectrum Getaways. This is a travel agency that specifically is designed to work with parents who have Autistic children. Oh yeah, I'll be sending you that in the email as well.

Philip King-Lowe 

So, that sounds good. Yeah, definitely. Yeah. So Well, thank you so much for being on today Shalese and thank you so much. You're welcome. Yeah, we look forward to having you on again. 

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Today’s Autistic Community Bulletin Board

All of these events and many others with their links can be found at todaysautisticmoment.com/bulletinboard.

The AuSM Coffee Club for Autistic Adults is a space where Autistic and Neurodivergent Adults can connect with each other, foster friendships, and build community while enjoying a favorite beverage or snack. While it is free to participate in AuSM’s Coffee Club, we ask that participants purchase something from our venue.  Please note the time change that meetings now begin at 4pm to 6pm on Tuesdays, November 12th, and December 3rd at Dogwood Coffee, located at 2700 University Ave, W. St. Paul, Minnesota, Zip Code is 55114.

Understanding Autism virtual classes are offered by The Autism Society of Minnesota. These classes are perfect for Autistic individuals, caregivers, those who want to understand the basics of Autism and support Autistic people. Classes will be on November 11th at 10am. December 9th at 6pm. Classes are free of charge, but you must register to attend.

Are you a professional who works with Autistic people? Such as a therapist, psychologist, occupational therapist, psychiatrist, social worker, case manager, or health care provider?  Join the AuSM Professional Networking Group to work with The Autism Society of Minnesota’s Counseling and Consultation team that offers a resource to help you network with other professionals.  Group sessions are held monthly. See AuSM’s Event Calendar for more information.

Register today to attend the 2024 Autistic Community Summit on November 9th beginning at 10am to 4:30pm at Woodlake Lutheran Church located at 2120 W. 76th Street, Richfield, Minnesota, zip code 55423. This year’s Autistic Community Summit keynote presentation speaker will be one of Today’s Autistic Moment’s guests, AJ Locashio.  There will be in-person and hybrid breakout sessions.  If you are attending the summit, be sure to stop by the resource table for Today’s Autistic Moment.

Other workshops include Guardianship: What You Need to Know on November 19th.  A workshop called: Executive Functioning Essentials-Practical Tools for Everyday Life on December 5th, and Minnesota Service Navigation on December 17th.

Go to ausm.org to get more information about these and other social and recreational programs, educational events, counseling services and support groups at The Autism Society of Minnesota.

MNeurodivergent is a social club rooted in a vision of bringing Neurodivergent Minnesotans together to build meaningful connections.  Its core principle is to foster an environment where all are treated with dignity and respect regardless of ability or preferences. Go to the bulletin board at todaysautisticmoment.com and click on the Meet Up link to become a member and attend their events.

Today’s Autistic Moment is here because of the generosity of supporters and sponsors.  Please join the supporters by clicking on “Support Today’s Autistic Moment” on todaysautisticmoment.com.

If you work for a company or organization that supports Autistic Adults and the movement for Neurodiversity, I would love to have you sponsor ads on the show.

If you would like to sponsor an ad and/or have questions about Today’s Autistic Moment, please send an email to todaysautisticmoment@gmail.com.

Thank you for listening to Today’s Autistic Moment: A Podcast for Autistic Adults by An Autistic Adult.

May you have an Autistically Amazing day.

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All of the guests meet with me on Zoom to record the interviews. The interview transcripts are provided by Otter. The podcast is prepared and edited on WavePad Masters Edition by NCH Software.  The podcast is published by Spotify for Podcasters.  The Music that you hear is licensed to Today’s Autistic Moment by premiumbeat.com.