Taking bus

[grommet]

I am about to take the bus for the first shopping. trip I have planned. A person taught me to use Apple Maps. It has the information I need. I took a screenshot to make sure it didn't disappear. I am very frightened.

 

[Mia]

You will do fine grommet, big breaths.

 

[GadAbout]

Remember that it's always okay to ask for help. One thing I have done is tell the bus driver that I need to get off the bus at Market Street but the route is new for me, so could he call out just before we come to Market Street? This is a perfectly reasonable thing to do.

And if you do overshoot your stop - you can always just backtrack and try again, or walk to the missed stop if it isn't far.

 

[Thinx]

Good luck, you have done some good planning, that helps. I hope your shopping goes well. You are brave to do this!

 

[Aspychata]

Omg- l get that. So l like to sit near the front so l .can read the signs. The other thing, is l check what streets come up in front of my stop. When you see those, you know you should start heading to exit.

 

[grommet]

You will do fine grommet, big breaths.

Thank you

I am home now. The trip went well. The first bus ride was easy once we started. It went quickly. I did my shopping.

I got lost going home. I went around a few times but could not find the bus. I used Apple Maps again and it told me what street to go to for the bus stop. It was still hard to find but I did. Then a bus came that was not the same as the one I rode. It was familiar so I asked the driver. He said he was not going my way but the other bus would stop there.

Only a minute later my bus arrived and I was so relieved. The driver was nice but the passengers were worrisome. One man seemed to have mental problems and called me "Professor". When I did not talk to him he started calling me "Jew!" and saying "Be careful of the man in the wheelchair he is a molester. Protect your children he is a molester!" I looked away. He got off after a few stops. Some other people came on board that were awkward and there was traffic but the I had told the driver my stop and after a long while we got there without trouble.

I am a bit shaken but happy I think. It feels like if I have Apple Maps then all I have to do is tell it where I want to go and follow the directions. If that is true then the world has opened up for me but I did get lost find the bus stop home.

Maybe it will get easier but I have always wanted a machine to just tell me what to do. It was something I imagined, like a computer in science fiction you could ask things. I guess that is something we have now with our phones. It was yesterday when a woman taught me how to do this.

 

[grommet]

Remember that it's always okay to ask for help. One thing I have done is tell the bus driver that I need to get off the bus at Market Street but the route is new for me, so could he call out just before we come to Market Street? This is a perfectly reasonable thing to do.

And if you do overshoot your stop - you can always just backtrack and try again, or walk to the missed stop if it isn't far.

Thank you. I did not miss my stop but I did get lost trying to find the bus stop going home. I explained in my longer post all that happened. The bus dropping me off was on a one-way street. I did not think about that because going to that same street, the bus of course could not bring me home. I backtracked like you said and found a street going the other way and my bus.

 

[grommet]

Good luck, you have done some good planning, that helps. I hope your shopping goes well. You are brave to do this!

Thank you. I do not know if I was brave. Maybe. I kind of forced myself to do it. Before leaving my mind started coming up with reasons not to go. So many. But I needed to learn to take the bus. It did not matter if the shop was closed or did not have what I needed or I could not afford to shop. I needed to plan a trip, take the bus and come home. I have been trapped in my neighborhood for so many years because I did not know how to get around.

I can only speak for myself but I wonder if there are autistic people in cities all over who because they do not know how travel, stay close to home. Just a little help from someone and they could.

I do not want to change this thread too much into something else but all my life when I have asked questions or for help and the people I asked thought I was asking obvious things that anyone should know, they laughed. The called me names. It still happens. I stopped asking because it was too painful. I could never figure out why people could not just help. Just tell someone where North is or the day of the week or if they are in a store, what the sign means when it tells you when the sale is over, which day is it over? Just little questions but people .. they .. it's cruel when they do not answer and laugh. Some people may never ask questions again.

I think if someone needs help you do not need to ask them why, you can just help them. They know why. They just need your help. The world could be better if you are autistic if people would do that.

 

[grommet]

Omg- l get that. So l like to sit near the front so l .can read the signs. The other thing, is l check what streets come up in front of my stop. When you see those, you know you should start heading to exit.

I am glad not that you have the same problem but that I am not the alone in having this problem. Thank you for telling me.

 

[Rasputin]

Thank you

I am home now. The trip went well. The first bus ride was easy once we started. It went quickly. I did my shopping.

I got lost going home. I went around a few times but could not find the bus. I used Apple Maps again and it told me what street to go to for the bus stop. It was still hard to find but I did. Then a bus came that was not the same as the one I rode. It was familiar so I asked the driver. He said he was not going my way but the other bus would stop there.

Only a minute later my bus arrived and I was so relieved. The driver was nice but the passengers were worrisome. One man seemed to have mental problems and called me "Professor". When I did not talk to him he started calling me "Jew!" and saying "Be careful of the man in the wheelchair he is a molester. Protect your children he is a molester!" I looked away. He got off after a few stops. Some other people came on board that were awkward and there was traffic but the I had told the driver my stop and after a long while we got there without trouble.

I am a bit shaken but happy I think. It feels like if I have Apple Maps then all I have to do is tell it where I want to go and follow the directions. If that is true then the world has opened up for me but I did get lost find the bus stop home.

Maybe it will get easier but I have always wanted a machine to just tell me what to do. It was something I imagined, like a computer in science fiction you could ask things. I guess that is something we have now with our phones. It was yesterday when a woman taught me how to do this.

It sounds like you did great! You had a few obstacles on the way back home, but you didn't panic and you got through. The most important thing you did was not panicking. You should feel.good about that.

 

[Mia]

I am a bit shaken but happy I think. It feels like if I have Apple Maps then all I have to do is tell it where I want to go and follow the directions. If that is true then the world has opened up for me but I did get lost find the bus stop home.

I am so glad that even though there were difficulties you managed to do this.

 

[grommet]

It sounds like you did great! You had a few obstacles on the way back home, but you didn't panic and you got through. The most important thing you did was not panicking. You should feel.good about that.

I did panic some when I could not find the bus stop to go home. My big fear is to be lost away from home. That happened for a little bit. Then I went to the street where Apple Maps said the bus stop would be but I could not see a sign or paint on the curb, which usually shows where a stop is. When I did find it, I saw that people had parked their cars in the stop and blocked the signs. I did not expect that. I think if I practice some more I it will be easier. I hope.

 

[Thinx]

Wow you did great! I think bravery is especially true when you are scared to do something, that's when bravery is really needed, and you had it!

I am so sorry about how hard it has been to get your questions answered. I often don't read signs easily too, they are confusing to me. And I do a lot of planning when I travel, however I enjoy it.

That sounded difficult when the person with mental health issues was being rude to you on the bus. That does sometimes happen, I have found. I feel sorry for him, but it's unfortunate he is so rude. I expect he is paranoid.

Do you have the kind of phone you can ask questions? You could find out a lot of answers from it if so.

There is a lot of freedom opening up for you if you can get the bus, it's exciting!

 

[Bolletje]

You did great! Traveling by bus is one of my anxiety triggers and I plan ahead a lot, so I can sympathize with your struggle. I hope the next time will be easier for you

 

[grommet]

I will take another bus ride today. I am very nervous but less than the first time. I have prepared as well as I can. I have checked the cost of the bus fare on three different sites and double checked what I have seen. I have the money including the coins laid out. I have the place in my Apple Maps and it says I can get there with one bus and tells me its route and that I can catch it close to home.

I think the first part will go okay though this will be a new transit agency for me. I cannot tell how close the bus will get me to this place and I am worried about getting lost during the walk but I will have Apple Maps turned on and it is supposed to be able to give me directions while walking.

I use a wheelchair and I ordered an arm band I can wear around my leg so I can look at my iPhone while I am moving. I really wish I had it already. I could get lucky and it could arrive early this morning before I leave. That would be wonderful.

If anyone else is trying new things I can tell you that it is scary. Sometimes it actually hurts my stomach. I have been doing new things though and I have been having fun I would have missed. I have also made new friends. None of that would have happened if I did not do these new things and push myself to do what is so scary. It feels as bad as I thought it would, it hasn't gotten easy, but maybe it will be worth it. I have to see. When I got home from my first trip I had insomnia that night. I simply could not sleep. If it is that way every time then that is too high a cost but I will keep trying and hope it gets better. Thank you for the support

 

[grommet]

At bus stop. Everything going wrong.

 

[grommet]

This is awful. Everything went wrong. Panic. On bus now.

driver said different fare. Much higher. I had exact amount from website. I checked many times. She looked and then said I was correct. Awful to face her like that.

she asked where I was going and my mouth didn’t work right. I made funny sounds when I tried to repeat what was on my phone. I hate this.

 

[Mia]

Grommet, show her the response on your phone. You don't have to speak if you cannot at that time. Horrid that she tried to make it cost more. You've done okay.

 

[grommet]

Grommet, show her the response on your phone. You don't have to speak if you cannot at that time. Horrid that she tried to make it cost more. You've done okay.

Home just now. That is a good idea about the phone. I did remember to show it to her after I couldn't pronounce the words. She was very nice, not horrid. I wrote quickly before. I just panicked when she opened the bus doors and I couldn't get the words out. Each time I tried they got more tangled.

It was a fast ride once we started. The way home was difficult. I waited a long time but the bus was not coming and the time was running out on my bus transfer. I did not want to pay again so I took another bus that left me a bit far from home. That was a hard push.

Later I will think about the day and what I should do next time. I was not prepared for some things though I thought I was very careful. I had no idea I would panic and have trouble speaking.

 

[Thinx]

Hey it's great that you have done another busy journey, it sounded tough at the start, you had to cope with an unexpected difficulty. The bus drivers don't always get the fares right, but you had checked it so you knew it was correct. Gosh that was tough when the bus home was so late. You still found a different bus though, good thinking. But it sounds like you must have had a tiring push to get home.
I think it's good that you are planning trips and travelling on the bus, even though it is not always easy, and some unexpected things happen. Soon you will get used to it, and know what to expect. I hope the trip was interesting, were you shopping?

It's also nice that you are meeting people and making new friends. I am not sure if insomnia is so bad, really, it just means you sleep ok the next night, due to being extra tired! And when you get more used to travelling you probably will sleep ok, and won't be so nervous either. Already you have coped with some difficulties, and unexpected things.