We're travelling and they've completely unravelled

What to do right now

Every routine is gone. The environment is unfamiliar. The sensory input is new and unfiltered. They are dysregulated because every stabilising structure has been removed at once. Lower expectations drastically. Build temporary micro-routines: 'First we eat, then we go.' Give them one predictable thing in the sea of novelty.

What your brain just did

Your body

Travel has removed every stabilising structure at once. New environment, new sensory inputs, new social demands, no routine. Your own ADHD is struggling with the same disruption.

Your brain

ADHD brains rely on external structure to compensate for internal executive function deficits. Travel removes all the environmental scaffolding simultaneously. The dysregulation is proportionate to the amount of structure that was lost.

What this did

Build temporary micro-routines immediately. Mealtimes at consistent times. One familiar object from home. Three things that happen in order each morning. The routine does not need to be elaborate. It needs to be predictable.

What your child is experiencing

Their body

Everything is unfamiliar. The sounds, the smells, the bed, the schedule. Every sensory input is new and unfiltered. Their nervous system is on high alert because nothing is predictable.

Their brain

ADHD brains use familiarity as a regulation shortcut. Familiar environments require less executive function to navigate. New environments demand conscious processing of everything, which depletes resources rapidly.

What they need

One familiar object from home. Mealtimes at roughly consistent times. A micro-routine each morning. The predictability does not need to be much. It needs to exist.