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ASD and Airbnb

Emianmu

Emianmu

New Member
Hi everyone, my name is Emily Mulroney and I am part of a student group at Artevedle Hogeschool studying the accessibility of using Airbnb for people with Autism Spectrum Disorders. We are looking to learn about the potential barriers and pains that someone with ASD might experience while booking or travelling with Airbnb or a similar site. Does anyone here have personal experience with using Airbnb and if yes, would you be willing to share a bit about your experience?

Our goal is to find a way to improve their system and create a solution to provide a better experience for people with ASD.

Thank you!
 
welcome to af.png
 
Hello and welcome to the forums! I hope you're able to learn and find ways to make the system easier and more comfortable for autistic people.
 
Never used the site myself, but I just navigated to it. Everything seems straight forward enough. I'm not entirely sure what problems people on the spectrum might encounter with using such a website.

I must admit I was quite shocked at how many strange and impractical locations and vehicles have been turned into places to sleep.

Couldn't see a customer service chat/instant message option. I always use those where I can if I have issues, as it saves phone calls or emails. Usually resolves issues quickly.

Ed
 
I’m currently sitting in my son’s AirB&B, which was open while he was out of town and me traveling for the doctor. Of course, I’m comfortable with the location, but can’t imagine what would be particularly challenging for an autistic person. Finding the place is too easy, it is professionally cleaned after each rental, he places free drinks and goodies to avoid that late trip to the store. Travel is probably difficult for many autistic people, but I can only imagine this is a great option.

I’m particularly satisfied with my free stay. ;)
 
I have used it at Spain, France and Mexico. My experience has been very good, better than hotels.

The owners have been always nice and have answered my questions kindly.
 
Are you asking about the website booking experience itself or are you asking also about the experience of staying in a short-term vacation rental in general?

If the latter, I've rented vacation homes for our family vacations and overall the experience is far better than staying in a hotel because of the space, amenities, privacy, etc. The worst part about it that I've experience related to my autism (as well as one of our children who is autistic sharing the same issue) is when a vacation home uses chemical fragrances as air fresheners, laundry detergent, etc. That affected us in the last vacation rental to the point that sadly we won't be returning there. If the home had been fragrance free it could have likely developed into a tradition for us.
 
I’ve used it frequently. You can do all arrangements by their internal e-mail that notifies your email when you have a new message.

Hosts have been helpful and they leave me alone if I so request. Many have lockboxes at the site so you don’t even have to talk to someone to check in.
 
Ah, the world famous Arteveldehogeschool. Now what would a good Irish girl like yourself be doing in Belgium?

;)

Just kidding. Had to look up that unusual (to american ears) name. Never used AirBnb myself. We didn't have it in my time of traveling. The only insight I might give, and it might only pertain to me, is that I tried to blend in, use masking as much as possible so as not to stick out like a sore thumb. I think people on the spectrum suffer an unusual ammount of being picked on/being bullied because of their differences and so there is an innate fear perhaps of being spotted/outed as 'different'. I would at times in my mind use the mental game of imagining myself in hostile territory and trying to travel incognito so as to evade capture, particularly overseas.
 
HI @Emianmu

One experience of using airbnb was when we arrived and found the bedroom was up a steep flight of stairs with no bannister to hold on to. My wife was not happy (but she is not ASC but I am)

THe other experience was when the renter suddenly changed the description of what she was offering, as a result of other feedback, and using the place as we had intended was not possible.
 
For me, something that I would like to see is sufficient detail about the room(s) being offered, and also whether it's run by an individual, or it's run by/as a regular business (e.g. entire house is portioned and rented out).

I've tended to have poorer experiences with the latter - one time I ended up in an attic with crude steps, a low sloped ceiling, a sketchy lock, and the shower was jerry-rigged in a walk-in-closet.
 
I've used AirBnB quite a bit. My experiences are generally good. The only problem I had was one which wasn't looked after well and when I arrived, they were still cleaning it. Lots of pictures help, plus lots of details on the site about the property. For autistic people travelling, probably best to stick to ones with plenty of reviews and good ratings, or 'superhost' ones.
 
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I was staying in AirBnB places in Thailand mostly just recently. I've stayed at around 8 over the past few years. I agree with most of the other posters: there are few disadvantages, and I prefer them over hotels and it is usually cheaper.

I'd say I had 6 good experiences and 2 average ones. So no complaints.
 
Thank you so much for all your responses! They have been very helpful! We were basing our inquiry on one Reddit post and wanted to see if other people with ASD had similar experiences. It is great to hear that Airbnb doesn't have too many obvious barriers!
 
Raggamuffin said:
Never used the site myself, but I just navigated to it. Everything seems straight forward enough. I'm not entirely sure what problems people on the spectrum might encounter with using such a website.

I must admit I was quite shocked at how many strange and impractical locations and vehicles have been turned into places to sleep.

Couldn't see a customer service chat/instant message option. I always use those where I can if I have issues, as it saves phone calls or emails. Usually resolves issues quickly.

Ed
Click to expand...
I appreciate your response!
 
Magnus said:
I was staying in AirBnB places in Thailand mostly just recently. I've stayed at around 8 over the past few years. I agree with most of the other posters: there are few disadvantages, and I prefer them over hotels and it is usually cheaper.

I'd say I had 6 good experiences and 2 average ones. So no complaints.
Click to expand...
Good to know! Thank you for your response!
 
Progster said:
I've used AirBnB quite a bit. My experiences are generally good. The only problem I had was one which wasn't looked after well and when I arrived, they were still cleaning it. Lots of pictures help, plus lots of details on the site about the property. For autistic people travelling, probably best to stick to ones with plenty of reviews and good ratings, or 'superhost' ones.
Click to expand...
This is great to hear. Thank you for your response!
 
VictorR said:
For me, something that I would like to see is sufficient detail about the room(s) being offered, and also whether it's run by an individual, or it's run by/as a regular business (e.g. entire house is portioned and rented out).

I've tended to have poorer experiences with the latter - one time I ended up in an attic with crude steps, a low sloped ceiling, a sketchy lock, and the shower was jerry-rigged in a walk-in-closet.
Click to expand...
This is good to know! Thank you for your response!
 
Alexej said:
HI @Emianmu

One experience of using airbnb was when we arrived and found the bedroom was up a steep flight of stairs with no bannister to hold on to. My wife was not happy (but she is not ASC but I am)

THe other experience was when the renter suddenly changed the description of what she was offering, as a result of other feedback, and using the place as we had intended was not possible.
Click to expand...
Ah that is certainly an accessibility issue. Thank you for your response!
 
Tom said:
Ah, the world famous Arteveldehogeschool. Now what would a good Irish girl like yourself be doing in Belgium?

;)

Just kidding. Had to look up that unusual (to american ears) name. Never used AirBnb myself. We didn't have it in my time of traveling. The only insight I might give, and it might only pertain to me, is that I tried to blend in, use masking as much as possible so as not to stick out like a sore thumb. I think people on the spectrum suffer an unusual ammount of being picked on/being bullied because of their differences and so there is an innate fear perhaps of being spotted/outed as 'different'. I would at times in my mind use the mental game of imagining myself in hostile territory and trying to travel incognito so as to evade capture, particularly overseas.
Click to expand...
I am here on exchange to gain some experience! I appreciate your perspective on travel!
 
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