6 ways to make public transport easier for autistics
Written on 20th Jul 2020 by Alex Lowery
Almost 3 years ago I wrote an article on the reasons independent travel can be hard for people with autism. You can view that article here. I’ve been asked to write a blog article on the difficulty of public transport and what methods can be used to make it easier.
1. One way which can really help is when the train says what stop you’re at. Many autistic people can get distracted on public transport and don’t recognise when it’s their stop. It would sure make things easier if buses had the same system as trains when it comes to announcing the stop. It would be so helpful if there could be some way of making it happen. If there was an app or something that announced when it was your stop that would help an autistic person to travel. It would be a good start even if someone had to meet them at the stop.
2. Many autistic people (by no means all) struggle to navigate their way around unfamiliar places. I am always accompanied when I give talks but it would help a lot if someone was able to immediately meet me at the destination. If they had a member of staff meet me there and take me to the speech, or even a taxi immediately there that would help a lot.
3. I also know there are apps that can help someone navigate their way. However I’ve sometimes had a hard time following the maps. I’ve found that they’ve got me a bit confused but it’s certainly worth trying out and see if it works for you.
4. Many autistic people experience sensory overload and this can be an issue with public transport. It can be noisy and there can be so many people that it becomes stressful. When you go on the train it’s a good idea to go in the quiet zone because it won’t be as busy or noisy and will be much easier to cope with. Unfortunately though not every form of transport has a quiet zone. It would be useful if there could be a bus or tube that’s more autism friendly but I don’t know if that would be possible.
5. Having some kind of card on them explaining that they’re on the spectrum can also help. When I’m on the train I sometimes knock into people without realising and people become angry 😡. If you have this same problem and are travelling alone, a card explaining that you’re on the spectrum may help people to be more understanding, or even a t-shirt or anything that explains the difficulty.
6. I also think that being able to see pictures of all the different locations you’ll be travelling in would help decrease anxiety to an extent.
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