Many schools create wonderful field trips, camping excursions, and out-of-town expeditions to facilitate group bonding, enhance the curriculum, and provide hands-on experiences. While these trips are exciting for many students, some neurodivergent students don’t relish them. The challenges for these students range from loud and overwhelming locations and transportation to large group activities, long periods of sustained attention to unfamiliar experiences, and meeting a lot of new people in a short period of time.
How can schools help neurodivergent students thrive on school outings? We asked our community about what has helped their students succeed. Here are their top suggestions.
Don’t overload the day - Many schools take kids to distant locations involving flights and hotels. Often, the itinerary will be jam-packed to take advantage of limited time in the destination and involve visiting every key site, having kids do 12 hours of touring or more (sometimes even late into the evening, with extra activities - even dance parties! - at night). However, many neurodivergent kids require downtime built into the schedule to decompress. Add dedicated rest times and reduce the number of activities, or give kids the ability to opt out of parts of the day in order to rest or return to the hotel early, allowing the more energetic group to continue with activities.
Give choices when possible - One way to address the overload is to provide multiple choices for kids when possible. For example, one group goes on a long hike but for those who don’t wish to do it, there is a quiet activity they can choose instead. One group visits the Air & Space Museum, while another visits the National Art Gallery. This also allows all kids to choose options that suit their interests and energy regulation needs.
Build up over time - Think about scaffolding students’ comfort with trips over time, both within a school year and as each grade progresses. For instance, start with a nearby day trip, then build to a day trip at a greater distance, slowly working up to one night away, and then multiple nights away as the students get older and can build on past successes.
Preview the Trip - Many kids will benefit from having a visual overview of an upcoming excursion. At one family’s school, the teachers create a slideshow with many details about upcoming trips that the entire class walks through together. This is shared well in advance and multiple times. The teachers show photos or videos of what the destination will look like (i.e., lodging, key sites) the schedule of the day(s), the sleeping arrangements, plan for food, what to bring, etc. Every detail is discussed and questions are answered. Sometimes, when possible for more local outings, parents may take the child to the location in advance of the trip for a preview.
Ask the student what concerns they have - For students who seem concerned about an upcoming trip, meet with them (and potentially their parents) to find out what is causing the anxiety. Sometimes there is one activity the student is concerned about. Think flexibly. Can an adult sit with them outside of this activity? Is there another option? How can the trip be modified to make the student more comfortable? If food is the concern, can they bring their own? If traveling on a van or bus is overwhelming, can the school offer smaller/quieter transportation (e.g. a parent volunteer’s car) to reduce the sensory load?
Normalize anxiety - One parent shared, “The teachers and staff make clear that many of the kids will feel anxiety, and that there are always kids who have their first night away during one of the experientials, so they normalize that for parents.” One of our members shared that on her son’s first night camping, his gameplan was to sleep with mom at a local hotel. However, when he heard in circle time that other kids were even more anxious than he was, but they were still camping, he agreed to give it a try to great success.
Give them a go-to adult - Any anxious child should know who they can go to in the event they feel overwhelmed or anxious and need support or a break. Linking them with a trusted adult is critical. As one parent shared, “We went to a parent participation school and would ask a parent who was going to be a buddy. Just keep an eye out for the kid and help arrange anything that was needed. An extra shower, a walk back to the bathroom at an inconvenient moment, a snack at a crucial moment.” Keep in mind that sometimes it may be appropriate for the go-to adult to be the child’s parent. For some children, having their parent attend as a chaperone reduces their anxiety and allows them to participate. For some children, having a parent present creates more challenges. Each case is different but this is worth considering when possible.
Be flexible with student needs - Most field trips don’t allow students to use their phone or to bring a toy. However, if a student needs to call home once a day, hug a stuffie, wear headphones, or listen to music in order to be successful, these should be allowed. This is a great way for students to learn to “cope ahead” - to understand what they need to be successful and to self-advocate. Consider flexibility in the rules in order to help the child participate.
Plan for growth over time - Sometimes a child is not yet ready to attend a multi-night trip without their parents. Can their first trip be for just one night or with their parent attending? Can you make a plan over time as the student becomes more comfortable with school trips so that they can be more independent? With each subsequent trip, you may be able to slowly fade parent support and increase participation.
As one parent noted, “My own child progressed from sleeping in a tent with me on one camping trip, to sleeping in a tent with friends with me nearby the next, and finally he attended the last camping trip without me there at all!” With advance planning and flexibility, you can help make neurodivergent students feel comfortable and enjoy school trips.
Tips from a local school trip leader
In addition to hearing from parents, we reached out to a leader from a local school with a deep foundation in experiential learning who brings years of experience supporting neurodivergent students on a variety of excursions. Her advice mirrors a lot of what our families note as most useful - and then some.
Leaving open time is the most important element in trip planning - If a student is flooded or has an issue during one component of a trip, make sure you have the staffing and time to work with that kid. Be mindful of what you’re trying to accomplish - make sure you leave a lot of buffer time to follow the energy of the group and the needs of each child.
Do less and do it extremely well - For example, the school used to do a field trip on the way to their camp site. The kids would arrive at the campsite exhausted. So, the school leaders took a step back to think about what they wanted to accomplish, and realized their main goal is community building and participation. Given this, they removed the field trip and allowed tent building to be the community building activity. This gave the group time and energy to focus on teamwork. When given the time and space, kids are able to access a program and have the calm to be able to do it.
Consider your goal - Is your goal to hit every museum in town? Some kids can’t access that. If the goal is engagement and participation instead of exposure, slow it down. Give kids the opportunity to go deep. For example, on a class trip to Washington, DC, the leaders planned to visit the larger, more taxing activity in the morning and then planned for less structure and more choices in the afternoon.
Have a secret option - On a recent trip to Boston, trip leaders gave students three options for different places to visit - a ship museum, a tea party museum, or an MIT lab. There was enough staff available for a secret option - stay back at the hotel. It was the last afternoon of the trip so if a child was at a breaking point, they could be pulled aside and offered the secret option. As another example, on a camping trip when one child was too homesick to tackle a hike, the leaders arranged for her to stay back at the campsite to rest and regroup.
Design the program with escape hatches - Make sure there is enough staffing so you don’t stretch the group too far - plan “escape hatches” for situations where an anticipated problem may arise and be ready for unexpected difficulties. While you can anticipate some experiences that may overwhelm students, sometimes unexpected triggers emerge. For instance, on a recent trip to Angel Island, some children had a deep emotional response to the suffering of the immigrants who had been forced to stay in jail-like conditions. A staff member sat outside to provide a safe space for those students while the rest of the group completed the tour.
Offer choices - To plan for the many types of neurodivergent kids, offer choices. Some kids need lots of physical activity and some are overwhelmed by it - and don't forget the “secret choice.” When traveling, offer a few destination options. When hiking, you can offer a mild (short/easy) or spicy (long/hard) option.
Involve students in planning - In addition to previewing activities, get students involved in planning trips. They can help select activities, research them, preview them, and understand the expectations of participating in each.
Plan for anxiety. While previewing is a great time to normalize travel anxiety upfront, the educator suggests talking about parts of the trip that might be more difficult, in an age-appropriate way. For instance, “camping is in tents” (is intense) with younger students (even kindergarteners!). She tells them, “If you’re cold at night, your friends will help you.” This teaches kids it’s okay to ask for help if they need it—and to be a helper to others.
Offering choices enables you to ask for participation at group activities - It may not be realistic to ask neurodivergent kids to be present for ALL group activities ALL day, so prioritize the most important activities within a trip. For example, in Washington, DC, the leaders’ priority was for all students to visit the Holocaust Museum. This meant they didn’t plan another activity before it. And, a staff member sat in the lobby to scaffold kids who were overwhelmed, recognizing that sitting in the lobby with their feelings could be a student’s authentic way of participating. Then, in the afternoon, students were offered fun choices such as the Air and Space Museum or an Art Museum and some elected to return to the hotel to rest.
Neurodivergent kids experience activities differently - They may shut down or run away if they feel overwhelmed. If they need something, it’s important that they know they can ask for it and be heard. For instance, if they are overwhelmed or anxious and can’t sit in a circle with others, it should be ok both for them and for the group for them to ask to sit or stand away from others. If they can’t make eye contact while a leader is giving instructions, find another way for them to signal they’ve heard the information, such as a thumbs up, fist bump, or nod.
Grow personal responsibility over time - For example, food and eating preferences can be a challenge for some neurodivergent children when traveling. For this school, one child only wanted to eat ground beef on camping trips. The first trip, the leaders brought ground beef and offered it at every meal. The second trip, he helped cook it. The following trip he bought the beef and made sure it was in the cooler and cooked it for himself and others. Each child will have a different path, but giving them control creates a sense of calm and trust.
With a bit of flexibility, anticipating challenges, and involving students in planning trips, neurodivergent students can successfully engage in school outings. You will likely find that ALL students benefit from having more choices, slowing down, and exploring more deeply.