“I grew up in a really outdoorsy family. My dad was a Scout leader. My mum was a Guide leader. My little brother was always up a tree or in a pond or something. And I was not any of those things.
“I was always really confused as to why.
“Did the gene just miss me?”
That’s the voice of Allie Mason, author of The Autistic Guide to Adventure and avid adventurer.
In 2020, Allie was diagnosed with autism at the age of 23 while studying a master’s degree at university.
She said: “when I got my autism diagnosis, one of the first things I figured out was, oh, this is why I haven’t been able to join in with everything that my family’s been doing.
“I haven’t been approaching it the right way. I didn’t understand that had sensory sensitivities. I didn’t understand that certain activities I’m just not going to enjoy because of the support that I need.”
Autism spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopmental condition which affects how individuals learn, communicate and interact.
Autism is a spectrum which means it affects people differently.
However, Allie said it is important to remember that autism is not the only neurodiverse condition.
NHS England state that ADHD, dyspraxia, dyslexia, dysgraphia and tourettes syndrome are among other neurodiverse conditions which each impact people’s lives differently and to varied extents.
A survey conducted by Booking.com found that 49 per cent of neurodivergent travellers (who took part in the research) said they have had a negative experience during travel due to their specific needs.
50 per cent believed that their travel options where limited to due said needs and hope to encourage greater inclusivity within the travel industry.
Allie added: “in 2017 I went on holiday to Italy, and it was roasting. This was before I’d been diagnosed, so I didn’t know I was autistic at the time.
“I really struggle with heat. Because I find it so difficult, it means that the rest of my autistic traits will bubble up and make themselves known a lot more.
“My boyfriend said, ‘why don’t we go for pizza?’ I don’t know about you, but when I think about pizza, I think about sitting down to a big round pie, whatever they’re called, and slicing it up yourself and eating it like that.
“Instead, he took me to this little place where it was a kiosk in the wall and you just bought it by the slice, so you didn’t get a whole pizza. And because I was already so overstimulated by the heat and by the sun and by the crowds, that when I saw that we weren’t going to sit down and eat a pizza, he expected me to just buy a slice and walk around with it in my hand. I had a full-on meltdown.
“It was awful because it was in the middle of Bologna and there were tourists around. I wasn’t diagnosed, so we didn’t understand what was going on.
“That was a real catalyst for me to realise that communication is really important.”
While Allie was at university, after she had been diagnosed with autism, she realised there was a lack of easily accessible information on how to support yourself and others with neurodiverse conditions during adventure.
She said: “how hard is it that there’s going to be so many young people out there who are autistic or neurodivergent who feel the same as me.”
The Autistic Guide to Adventure celebrates travel as something that can be made inclusive for everyone.
Allie discovered that Norway is her favourite place to take a trip.
She said: “I just really love the cold. Because I find the heat and the brightness of the sun so overwhelming.
“Not last year, the year before, around Christmas time in December, we went to Tromso in Norway. The snow was, oh my gosh. How do you even describe it?
“Imagine a Great Dane standing up. That’s how deep the snow was. It was amazing. You could just throw yourself into it and you’d be swallowed up by snow. It was just my dream.
“That really taught me how easy it is to plan a holiday that that works for me. If I remember the stuff that makes me feel calm and makes me feel relaxed, rather than doing stuff in an environment that makes me feel really stressed.”
Lauren Bourn is chair of the Autism Research Innovation Centre which aims to create diverse and inclusive environments for people with autism.
She said: “people face a broad range of challenges; it really depends on their own individual needs. Some people really crave lights or noise and then others find it very painful and dysregulating.”
Lauren added that there are three main aspects that create the most challenges for neurodiverse people. They are, the fear of uncertainty, communication differences and sensory differences.
She said: “when it comes to sensory differences, provide spaces where it’s enclosed and individual so people can remove themselves from the noise. Also, don’t provide unnecessary information. Visual tours which show you a step by step of places you will visit can be beneficial.”
Lisa Rex is the owner of Better Neurodivergent Travel, a travel company which supports neurodiverse people with every aspect of planning, booking and taking a trip.
Lisa was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 48 and with autism recently at 50.
She said, “I know that there’s a lot of neurodiverse people that love to travel or want to travel, but they feel that there’s too much anxiety.
“There’s a lot of pressure to do everything, but I encourage people to pick one thing to do on a day and anything else is a bonus.”
Lisa added that the travel industry needs to change to become more inclusive.
“It would be nice, instead of having to advocate for ourselves always, that there was an option to declare if there is anything you need support with.”
