ASD Awareness
Autism Awareness and Support During Your Visit
Planning family holidays tend to be a military operation at the best of times, but when you are travelling with children with autism, you might need a little help with preparation. Travelling with people with ASD can bring about anxiety when regular schedules are disrupted and routines broken. Stressful feelings around new environments, new food and new people can be heightened a little bit more. However, we believe that having a holiday should be a fun and exciting experience for everyone, so we are doing everything we can to ensure that you don’t have to worry about a thing when you stay with us, and that we have everything we need to make you comfortable and feel prepared for your trip. We are proud to be ASD friendly and offer a safe environment for families and children with autism.
In 2019, Cork International Hotel joined forces with The Rainbow Club, Cork to achieve several key goals to train staff, develop social stories, introduce autism-friendly sensory tools and toys and develop a sensory activity specific to the hotel. In return, Cork International Hotel became a key fundraising partner for the charity, donating all the profits of their annual Cork International Car Show as well as proceeds from several other in-house events to the charity. This partnership ran for 2 years and our hotel raised over €50,000 over the course of the partnership for this charity.
Visual Aids
Visual Supports ("Stories") For Guests With Autism
Visual supports can be used to communicate with people on the autism spectrum. They are adaptable, portable and can be used in most situations.
Visual supports can help to provide structure and routine, encourage independence, build confidence, improve understanding, avoid frustration and anxiety, and provide opportunities to interact with others. They can make communication physical and consistent, rather than fleeting and inconsistent like spoken words can be.
To assist you in your upcoming visit, we have developed visual supports or ‘stories’ for you to print at home and use before and during your trip. We invite you to download these and to use them, or make your own.
AUTISM-FRIENDLY TOURISM IN CORK
Visual Supports, ASD Friendly Activities and dedicated Family Concierge
Travelling with children can be stressful, so to help take the stress away, we have a Family Concierge who will contact you when you book. They will assist you in planning your itinerary for your stay, assisting with room requirements, booking ahead for restaurants and attractions on your behalf and arranging transport.
Our Family Concierge is also working with the Pure Cork attractions and Rainbow Club for Children with Autism Team to curate a list of approved attractions that are suitable for families with children and adults with autism. Each attraction provides ASD photo-stories as well as workbooks, information and videos which may be useful for children, teenagers and adults with ASD to use in advance of going to these destinations. Our team are happy to call ahead to any attractions you wish to visit to make them aware of your arrival and provide you with any necessary assistance you may need.
