Bypassing the Roadblocks of Autism

But last March Mrs. Berrey and her sons did enjoy a cruise, a three-day sail on a Royal Caribbean liner with special arrangements for people who have autism. At boarding, the 11 families who had booked the Autism on the Seas package through Alumni Cruises didn’t have to wait in line, and they were able to do the muster call in a private conference room rather than crowd on deck with the thousands of other passengers.

The group sat together at meals, so when one of the kids got antsy or let out a holler, there were no stares or glares or why-can’t-you-control-your-child lectures. Mrs. Berrey was even able to drop off her boys at the kids’ club where the staff had been specially prepped. “I got to experience what other parents experience all the time,” she said.

For most people, family vacations amount to almost a right. But for those grappling with autism — a brain disorder that affects one in 150 children and is four times more likely to afflict boys than girls, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — travel is a trickier proposition.

The 1.5 million Americans diagnosed with autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder or pervasive developmental disorder, have impaired abilities to communicate and interact socially, with cases ranging from those who cannot speak and live largely cut off from the world around them to highly functioning individuals who can express themselves extremely well, though they might have trouble with back-and-forth conversation; many have narrowly focused interests (an obsession with fans or train timetables, for example), or display unusual behaviors like the repetition of just-heard words, or the avoidance of eye contact or of being touched.