The joys of commuting as an aspie/autie

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Hi,

I was just wondering what other people's experience was of commuting / public transport as an aspie/autie?? I would be very interested to hear from people on this subject.

I live in the UK and work in London. I have to commute to work 4 days a week in central London and my commute is about 1hour 20 minutes each way.

I have HUGE problems with commuting. It would take me a very long time to detail the various problems I experience, so I'll just produce a list of the main issues:

Announcements are difficult to hear due to echo and background noise. Also, like many people with ASDs I hear mostly in vowels which doesn't help. No surtitles or other speech-to-text interpretation is provided at stations.

I am dyslexic and timetables are therefore very difficult to read. Also, some information such as details of engineering works is only displayed on writing - which is only of limited help to me. I have difficulty using the automated ticket machines as there is a lot of text to read and if you ask staff for help they generally have a very poor attitude.

I often get pushed around and bullied by other passengers.

There are many VERY loud noises which hurt my ears, but although I have complained about this and suggested multi-sensory warning systems rather than just noises (e.g. flashing lights as well as a noise, or a vibrating floor panel to alert people who have profound hearing impairments and people such as aspies who had sensory integration dysfunction who are unable to respond positively to loud noises) but this is not taken seriously by anyone and they say it is a health and safety issue as alarms must be of a certain volume - but if they took the multi-sensory approach this wouldn't be an issue and what about people who are profoundly deaf? No matter how loud a sound is they will still be unable to hear it.

Staff are often rude and unhelpful to people with hidden disabilities (well, I say hidden, I often walk around with my hands over my ears because of the noise and I also walk a little awkwardly and I often end up jogging through the station as I want to get out as fast as possible - people might not be able to spot that I have AS but they can certainly tell that I have, er, 'issues'.)

Staff use a lot of non-verbal communication and ask non-specific questions. When I ask for clarification I am either ignored or greatly patronised.

When I ask staff for help, for example with bullying or understanding a time table or announcement, I am either ignored or patronised or even made fun of!

Wayfinding information is very limited - staff seem to just expect everyone to know their way around London and if you ask them for help they give minimal directions unless you really push them for it - which just leads to them being patronising (again).

People are much more likely to push you and ignore you when you say 'excuse me' or 'you're hurting me' if you are female.

There are always numerous people giving out flyers at stations - there seems to be no concept that this could cause overload and distress (due to multiple incidences of enforced communication from people asking you to take a flyer or sign up to something or whatever).

Trains are overcrowded and noisy- unpleasant for all whether they have ASD or not.

Passengers can behave very badly and anti-socially on trains (I once got sat next to a guy who started masturbating!! !!) and the staff either don't do anything or are not even present.

The complaints department are useless. They don't understand AS.

The 'assisted travel' department who are supposed to help passengers with disabilities don't cater for autism - once I was even asked why I had phoned the number.....because autism is a disability?????

I even emailed the disability rights commission who basically took the side of the company. The attitude seems to be that if you can't cope with the system, don't use it. Well sorry, I WANT to work and there are not very many good jobs where I live (and it is also hard to get a job there once they find out I have AS - have lost 2 jobs because of it, been bullied in 2 jobs and had a job offer withdrawn and 1 interview terminated when they found out. My current job is the FIRST one where my disability has not been seen as an 'issue' by my employer and colleagues).
The DRC say that unless a company provides a service for the general public they can't be expected to do it for people with disabilities. But I'm not asking for anything unreasonable - just don't patronise me, intervene if you see someone being bullied or if someone is behaving illegally, and get some training about autism and hidden disabilities, PLEASE!

Once, a train re-routed without warning because of engineering works and, typical aspie - I had a huge panic attack because I don't cope with sudden changes well! I then had to have an argument with a train guard to help me find a small quantity of water so that I could take a tranquillizer to quell the panic. He persisted in the argument even though I was having as asthma attack so was struggling to speak (and breathe!).


Anyway, I just wondered what other people's experience of public transport and commuting was and if you have any ideas as to what can be done by either me or the powers that be to make it more bearable.

Thanks, and excuse the rant - it's just that this is becoming hard to tolerate for me! Thanks for listening and please feel free to share your own commuting experiences.

I haven't been in situations as severe as yours, but I've used bus transportation and the number of brochures, arrival & departure times, delays, etc. really got to me. I sometimes am in very outgoing moods and sometimes not; when I wasn't I felt really awkward with others who were friendly though they were doing nothing wrong.

I work in London too, I moved closer to my work so that I wouldn't have to take the tube every morning (and evening).

I've never had as many troubles as you on the underground.
But I still feel uncomfortable on it.

Wherever you sit, you are always face-to-face with at least one other person, and there's only about 2 feet in distance between you (if your lucky).

I feel very self-concious on the trains and platforms sometimes, and like you, I find the electronic ticket machines a pain.
The loud speaker announcements are difficult to understand also (quite often impossible)
And I'd agree.. there are a lot of loud noises and sometimes screeching sounds, and people do dash about like ants (big ones,lol)

It's all a lot easier if you are with someone else i think, even if they are not helping you in any way, just having an 'ally' there is good.

There have been times when I've been at a platform, and had to let a few trains go past before getting on one because they'd been too full (..other people don't seem to mind and they get on... and squeeze in) when I do get on I much prefer to sit (or stand-sit) at the end of the carriage by the door. There, you can look down at the people who have seats, or just look out the door.

MUSIC through headphones is a good distraction, or a newspaper.

It'd be great if there were fewer people on the underground.

I'd say that generally I'm ok on the underground.. sometimes it can be quite stressful.. but if I have a pair of comfortable trainers on and some music to listen to, i can 'switch off' from the people around me and get from A to B with little trouble.

I would hate that, girl7000! I really do sympathise.

What joy?

I live in Melbourne, Australia and public transport is pretty much my sole means of transport. I have had a couple of issues with rude ticket inspectors and seen some dodgy stuff late at night I once saw a guy who was chroming paint and violent as a result causing a real scene but nothing as bad as yours.

I've never been good at doing busses and things like that. I finally learned to drive when I was 18, only because I was being FORCED to learn it, lol. But I find actually driving isn't much better. People are always doing stupid and mean things while driving. As far as loud noises, it's probably a little better, but not much-people still pull up next to you in a traffic jam (which is stressful enough) with their loud music blaring, yelling out windows occasionally... they honk their horns (as if that will make a red light turn green any faster), weaving in and out of traffic so that they can get to the red light faster than you, etc.

When I used to ride the bus to school, I remember I'd put my bookbag next to the window seat just to avoid having anyone sit that close to me, or I'd sit with my back to the window and my legs across the seat-when we'd get to a stop I'd pretend I was sleeping. I absolutely hated it when someone sat next to me.

I never did try real public transportation though, I just walked anywhere I needed to go or had someone take me until I learned to drive myself.

I hate public transport. I get so nervous when on my own I can't keep still, that draws attention to me and people make fun, ive had drinks thrown over me, a shoe thrown at me and had my head smacked against the window. That is all on busses.
Trains scare me, it can take me hours of trying to get on trains.
Problems reading the timetables, and telling the time.
No wonder I am always late.

When I was at school I had to either get a taxi or bus to the bus depot, then a bus to school and a bus home. Imagine buses packed fully including the whole aisle packed with rowdy kids standing. It was pretty damn sh***y.

Here in Boston, MA the public transportation is much better than it was. In the 80's, it used to be really dirty and stank of pee from the drunken hobos who slept in the stations overnight. It's much cleaner now, though I still wash my hands as soon as i get where I'm going, since hundreds of people touch those grab-bars every day..

The people tend to be awful. I have been physically assaulted on several occasions, rebuked on others, and generally despised by people who think I owe it to them to be just like them. For some reason the NTAs feel that their opinion of you is so valuable they must share it with you. I have befriended a ret*d lady (much less judgemental than the other riders) and her sixty-something pal who ride the same bus I do in the morning, so now the NTAs see me as part of a group and don't give me as much grief (or maybe I'm just so busy listening to my buddies that I don't notice the other people!)

The staff are generally very pleasant and helpful, and when I have a complaint there is a website where I can alert the company about it. They usually thank me for my input, but there's no telling if anything really happens to the offending employee. Mostly I have good things to say about them, though.

The announcements are impossible to understand, but usually everything is predictable so I just ignore them. I always have my MP3 player with me and sometimes have to use it to drown out noisy kids, etc. Also, I take the 6:30am bus and get to work about an hour before I need to, and just work puzzles til my start time. That way the bus/trains are not that crowded (and my workplace is quiet, too ). You might try that, although I NEED to get home ASAP in the evening, so I would still have a crowded evening commute if my boss hadn't let me change my work hours to leave at 4pm, before the rush hour really gets underway. Could you do any of these things?

Trians are the only form of transport on which I am really comfortable. They are my Aspie obsession (along with route maps and timetables) so I don't really have much trouble finding my way about or knowing when a train is due. Though I do find the crowds on busy trains very difficult, a couple of months ago I was travelling from Bath to London at the weekend and Standard class was standing room only, so I had to spend £10 on an upgrade to First class (it's cheaper at weekends) so that I could survive the journey.

Some trains have a designated 'Quiet Coach', I try to use this wherever possible.

Most problems I have with staff tend to be on buses, I was humiliated on the bus from Uni today by the arse of a driver.