Welcome back to our Travel Training Series where we have been working on ways to incorporate travel training into our life skills curriculum. 

In Part 1 we took a closer look at how we define travel training while in Part 2 we examined some teaching strategies and in Part 3 we reviewed some best practices. 

In Part 4 we are closing out our series (for now!) by sharing some additional resources related to travel training for those who wish to explore it more in depth or hone in on it as a more specific and focused service rather than one part of a larger life skills curriculum.

While a little bit on the older side, this guide is especially helpful as a framework both for people seeking out travel training and for people seeking out goals and frameworks for teaching travel skills. 

Because it is a little bit of an older resource we do advise caution around some of the terminology used. “Appropriate behavior” for example is almost always referring in practice to following specific procedures associated with a particular type of travel, and it can be more helpful to emphasize the importance of following procedures for practical reasons than to fixate on an abstract concept like “appropriate.” 

Beyond that small wrinkle there are many different lessons, milestones, and travel skill suggestions worth checking out that offer helpful starting points for meeting a variety of students where they are.

RTAP’s Travel Training Best Practices highlights a variety of goals we hope travel training will achieve, as well as providing many examples of localized travel training programs, what those different programs look like across communities and the overall benefits of travel training. 

They also show the benefits that using technology in some systems can offer when it is available. Not only is it a helpful case for the value of travel training, it shows how travel training can be valuable and effective across a variety of contexts, resources, and needs.

The primary focus of this resource is on page 44, where NADTC describes two travel training programs that were implemented in the late 2010s, one focusing on accessing paratransit services and the other on classroom and one on one training. 

They offer some lessons learned and best practices across those settings, but it is still worth emphasizing that each of these programs were able to fit to the needs of the communities they served!

Association of Travel Instructors (ATI) offer a wide variety of resources focused specifically on developing personal expertise in travel instruction. 

They also hold special topic webinars every second Wednesday of every other month. The topic of their most recent webinar was about accessing paratransit options!

Wayfinder is a specialized app that allows trainers or supporters to create specific routes and instructions via a phone app that the traveler can then use to go from place to place. It also includes GPS tracking for safety purposes. While this is a paid resource it is a great example of how technology can supplement learning in this area.

As nice as an option like Wayfinder can be for setting custom routes, an even more helpful option is resources that have already been tailored to your locality! There was some discussion of all the ways that local transit systems can offer the best options in the RTAP article, and online route planning programs like Intercity in Olympia, WA. 

Alternately, the Alliance of Disability Advocates in the Research Triangle in North Carolina offers travel training upon request to disabled people, veterans, senior citizens, and people with low or no income. As great as broad, widely available resources can be sometimes one of the best things you can do is check in both with local transit services and local disability-focused groups to see what, if anything, is already available that’s specific to your area!

With that we are wrapping up another series but we are far from done with talking about transit and the important role it plays in independent living and freedom of movement and we are always excited to hear more from you! 

What are your experiences in implementing travel training lessons? What is your experience as a travel trainee? If you want to share we want to hear from you, and we can always be reached at hello@autismgrownup.com. Otherwise we will be back next week to start our upcoming series on household chores.