then ‘what’s next?’.
“I just thought, ‘wow, that would be really amazing’,”
Melanie talks of Canada as the two now prepare to ride
two-up in the North American country, with another per-
son riding along too, a new dynamic to deal with.
Melanie sees it as a greater opportunity for Sofia’s de-
velopment as she benefits from the movement, the travel,
the exploration.
“Doing it this way we can slow it down a little bit so she
can take in her environment,” points out Melanie. “It’ll
be less challenging in terms of language and culture as
well.”
Although Melanie is enthusiastic about Canada and it
seems for the most part so is Sofia, there’s one aspect that
perhaps could be an issue.
“I hate camping,” interjects Sofia. “I really, really,
bloody hate it.
“Cold nights. Uncomfortable places to sleep. It’s just
not my cup of tea at all. It sucks.”
Melanie agrees that she doesn’t like it when it’s cold
or her pillow is irritating but sees it as an opportunity to
assess things by slowing down and live in the present mo-
ment, to look at what has happened and ask, “how can we
make this better next time?”. She sees it as a challenge
for both and an opportunity to learn and develop.
Learning and developing is key to Sofia’s development
as Melanie sees it, travel is a great educator, and recom-
mends it for most families that deal with autism daily.
Not a tourist vacation, but real travel, something that is
adventuresome, that challenges.
“It really annoys me when people call my trip a holi-
day,” Sofia is becoming agitated. “It’s not a holiday. It’ a
journey.”
That articulates it perfectly. It’s a challenge.
“That’s what makes it so worthwhile in terms of per-
sonal growth,” suggests Melanie. “It forces you to get over
your issues in many respects.
“This is why we’re doing it. All of us, all travellers,
we’re all working on something, processing something in
ourselves.
“That’s more important for people who have chal-
lenges with the everyday social environment, people
with disabilities or even people without disabilities. The
challenges are often greater because of the social narra-
tive put on us by media we often don’t have a chance to
acknowledge the challenges.
“Getting out there you get away from technology and
have real social interactions, real problems and you’re
forced to deal with those problems,” she continues, point-
ing out that anyone who has travelled overland never
comes back being less confident.
Confidence. Something that Melanie and Sofia have in
bounds. They aren’t afraid to take on what is thrown at
them and in doing so want to be able to share their stories
and help others; fundraising and charitable work at the
forefront, something that other families can do to chal-
lenge themselves for the betterment of everyone. It’s all
about the life experience … it's all about the Adventures
With Autism …
To become involved with the work that Melanie and So-
fia are doing through their Adventures With Autism or to
follow their progress please visit adventureswithautism.
org
TRAVERSE 34