Seven years in the making, the Travelability Accessibility Playbook, created in partnership with Destinations International, is an end-to-end toolkit to equip destination organizations on their accessibility journey, enabling them to better welcome and accommodate people with disabilities within their destination.
NEUROCOGNITIVE DISABILITIES
Neurodivergence describes individuals whose neurological development and functioning differ from what is typically considered “normal” or “neurotypical.” This includes people with conditions such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), dyslexia, dyspraxia, Tourette syndrome, PTSD, and more.
Being neurodivergent is not a deficit but rather reflects natural variations in human neurological development. They may face challenges in social communication, sensory processing, executive function, and emotional regulation. Individuals with PTSD often have heightened or altered sensory processing. Everyday stimuli like loud noises, bright lights, crowds or unexpected touch can be perceived as threats, triggering a fight, flight or freeze response. Environments that are too stimulating or unpredictable can become overwhelming very quickly.
Eight Myths about Autism
by Peter Wharmby
1. Autistic people don’t feel empathy. The majority of us feel enormous amounts of empathy, even for non-living things, and especially for animals.
2. Autistic people can’t make eye contact. Some of us don’t seem to mind it at all, whilst the many of us who hate it can force ourselves to when we feel it’s necessary.
3. Autistic males are far more common than autistic females. The ratio is rapidly shifting to being more balanced as diagnostic understanding improves.
4. Autistic people don’t have a sense of humor. I mean, some of us don’t, and some of us have what may be seen as a ‘different’ sense of humor, but there are a lot of funny autistic people out there, including those who do comedy professionally.
5. Autistic people have learning disabilities. In fact a surprisingly low percentage of autistic people have co-occurring learning disabilities. However, people with learning disabilities are much more likely to be autistic too.
6. Autistic people are all antisocial. Many of us may be asocial from trauma associated with social interaction, but it seems many of us are quite gregarious and even extroverted.
7. Autistic people are all STEM subject specialists. Though plenty are, there are many of us who have skills, jobs and qualifications in the humanities, arts and other fields.
8. Autistic people are all super-gifted in some way. Though some of us might be skilled in certain areas, and some of us might have excellent memories, plenty of us are perfectly average.
A WARM WELCOME
• Respect Individual Differences: Recognize that neurodivergent individuals have diverse experiences, strengths, and challenges.
• Listen and Validate: Listen attentively to the person’s perspectives, experiences, and preferences.
• Respect Interests: Respect the individual’s personal space, boundaries, and ways of interacting. Ask for consent before initiating physical contact or offering assistance and respect their right to decline if they are not comfortable. Do not pressure the individual to conform to neurotypical norms such as eye contact and hand shaking
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