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My name is Sien Depoortere. Encouraged to help people who need extra care, I studied Clinical Psychology at the University of Ghent, Belgium. During my six month internship I worked with children with ASD, ADHD, hearing problems, etc. After obtaining my Master’s degree I was eager to continue learning and decided to focus on accessible tourism. That is why I entered a second Master course Tourism at the University of Leuven, Belgium where I focused on autism-friendly tourism. I developed visual step-by-step plans to offer children with autism a stress-free day trip. Because of the success and growing demand, I decided to continue this project after my studies. This is how Tourism for Autism came about! In addition, I am an ambitious entrepreneur who strives for growth and improvement. This entrepreneurial ambition combined with my studies and work experience with children with autism gives me an unique profile and the right skills to make your tourist organization more autismfriendly.
Going on a vacation or planning a short day trip can be very challenging for many people. People with autism need structure and predictability. However, when going on vacation, this all goes away. They have to leave their reliable and safe environment and explore something new which results in stress due to a variety of reasons. Tourism for Autism aims to these challenges by making traveling, day trips, eating out and other activities more pleasant for everyone by means of tips, tailored advice, training, visual step-by-step plans, etc.
People with autism have to overcome several obstacles on a daily basis. When going on a day trip or holiday, these challenges are even more prominent. They have to leave their reliable and safe environment and explore something new which results in stress due to a variety of reasons. Because off their rigid behavioral patterns they have difficulties handling changes. However, it is difficult for tourist organizations without the right knowledge of autism to accommodate for the needs of this target group. That is why Tourism for Autism guides these organizations towards a more autismfriendly approach through the preparation of step-by-step plans, training courses and tailored advice.