Travel as a Mode of responding to Autism Spectrum Disorder: One Family’s Journey

Excerpt

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neuro-developmental disorder, characterized by behavioral deficits. To receive a diagnosis of ASD, individuals must exhibit two of the four following symptoms: (1) excessively repetitive motor movements, object use, and speech; (2) insistence on sameness, inflexible routines, or ritualized behavior; (3) abnormally intense interests, or interests marked by an unusual focus; (4) a hyper- or hypo-sensitivity to sensory stimuli (american Psychiatric Association 2013; World Health Organization 2018). My son Hayden, now a nine-year-old chinese boy, was diagnosed with ASD and moderate intellectual disability five years ago, and our odyssey for intervention has continued since. According to Zhou et al. (2021), early diagnosis and treatment of ASD proves problematic in China due to the following four challenges: scarcity of child psychiatrists and pediatricians, lack of early screening, insufficient awareness of ASD among the general public, and the economic imbalance between the rural and urban areas. Admittedly, here in mainland China, parents find themselves catching at straws to secure support and resources. Fighting the odds, I have poured my energy into acquiring Applied Behavior analysis (ABA) skills via reading, attending lectures, and experimenting with Hayden. To give him respite from his daily routine and broaden his horizons, I began to take Hayden exploring, hoping to show him the world through a variety of lenses. …