Autistic travel research

Samantha Fletcher
Samantha Fletcher Member (Full) Posts: 154
in Travel and Transport

The National Autistic society has launched its Empowering Autistic Travel Research Report. This is the result of a year of listening to autistic people and their families describing their travel experiences through surveys and interviews, and some valuable discussions with transport professionals.

We had a staggering 4,052 responses to our surveys combined, interviewed 20 autistic people and parents/carers, and had hugely insightful conversations with 22 transport professionals (autistic and not) representing a range of roles and providers. This has given us an in-depth understanding of common issues, and how these impact everyday life. 

https://www.autism.org.uk/what-we-do/who-we-are/research/empowering-autistic-travel

Comments

  • Sarah Tuberty
    Sarah Tuberty Posts: 38

    Very cool research!! This is quite a feat of a study and will have such great implications. I see that the study design is participatory action research- meaning that key stakeholders are a part of the research design and analysis. It is an emerging type of study design that I think will be very helpful for the disability community.

    I was chatting with a few occupational therapists who were tasked with completing an assessment of barriers for the disability community at the Dallas Fort Worth International airport. The OTs were testing out an app designed to support travelers at the airport, but the app itself had issues. When following prompts to support an autistic traveler seeking directions navigating the airport the app suggested the traveler call 911- which is less helpful.

    I appreciate in this report that the first recommendation listed is dedicated support staff to help assist travelers, and that these representatives have additional training on how to support the autistic community. I agree! I think in airports it almost seems like the support staff have gone down!

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