Published on 12, July, 2020
I've got a field trip with my uni at the end of the month. I'm looking forward to the actual learning content and doing the field work, it's the peripherals that are causing concern.
The last field trip I did, I was not prepared for how hard I found some aspects of it, particularly eating (I thought I wasn't a picky eater, turns out I just make all my own food) and the being around people 24/7.
The eating thing I am going to deal with by taking lots of bars and some plain tortillas and then I can at least fuel myself for the bits I can't eat (which isn't too much, it's mostly lunch and some breakfasts). So there's somewhat of a plan and it should work out fine.
The being around people 24/7 is going to be made worse by the trip being longer, and the accommodation being dormitory style rather than the two people per room that was last time. Last time my room partner would go hang out with her friends and I could use the space to recharge a bit. I don't know how I'm going to manage to recharge, as from the info I'm given there's no obvious space I can go to be alone for a while, and also no time to. The really big issue is that being around people for a super long time and not getting a break when I'm getting overwhelmed leaves me super susceptible to meltdowns.
The last one was at a family gathering and ended up with me rocking and sobbing behind a pea bush saying 'there are people everywhere' over and over again. That was bad enough around my extended family with a mum who knows what the problem was and how to fix it (clear a room, forbid all outside access, and leave me there for the rest of the day). I have no idea what would happen if that happened on a field trip with uni leaders and other uni students. The uni leaders and one of the students I know are aware I'm autistic and might disappear periodically, but I have no idea where to go for it. And even if they theoretically know I'm autistic, you don't necessarily know what a meltdown is going to look like or what to do when one happens. But I also don't want to tell them before hand because A. I don't know them well enough, especially the staff. And B. if it then doesn't happen it looks like I'm making up stuff for attention.
So, anyone who has done uni field trip, how do you deal with this? Anyone in general, any ideas?
Hi I think it's definitely a good idea to tell somebody so they can support you if you need support.
Could you take some autism info things with you like leaflets so they can read about it and understand it beforehand?
Also if you like music maybe you could wear earpods to help distract you from the sound of others around you? People can quickly become overwhelming
Or earplugs to block out the loudness.
I hope it all goes really well and you have a lovely time ^^