PALS: Adventures with Autism

About the Program: Adventures with Autism (AwA) is a social recreation program designed to target social and life skills by teaching teens and adults with ASD how to be flexible thinkers, problem solvers, and effective collaborators while developing friendships. The facilitated program will support participants in exploring an itinerary of opportunities one day at a time in different regions through the Central Florida Community.

Cost: $300 per participant. All admissions, activities, and food are included in the price.

Partnership with UCF-CARD: All participants must be registered with the UCF Center for Autism & Related Disabilities(CARD). CARD is an entirely free program with an immense resource network.Our partnership with CARD ensures that we (PALS) are creating programmatic experiences that serve all the full spectrum of ASD.

Transportation Focus: Across the “Adventure with Autism” offerings there is a goal to expose our participants to a variety of public transportation options: Public transit (Sunrail, city buses), hyperlocal transit (trolley system), personal transit (walking, biking, scootering) rideshare/ technological transit (electric travel apps like Lime, and ride-share apps like Lyft and Uber), and paratransit like Access Lynx.

What you can expect from the Adventures with Autism Summer 2025, 5-day program:

The Goal: Over the course of 5 days, participants will explore the region of downtown Orlando using a guided "scavenger hunt” model. Each day will have a provided itinerary, time schedule, and lunch budget. Trained staff will support the participants in navigating the region interdependently.

Primary Objectives:

Participants will apply social skills in team building contexts
Participants will apply life skills in budget & time management
Participants will navigate a region using different forms of transit
Using Sunrail: To encourage participation from across the greater Central Florida region we have built in the use of the Sunrail into our program model. Staff will meet participants at Sunrail Stations in Kissimmee, Maitland, Sanford, and Downtown Orlando (Church Street Station). The starting and end times will vary for each station location with the content of the program occurring between 9am-3pm each day.

Tickets: To enroll for the program you must choose the event ticket for the Sunrail station where you/ your participant will begin and end your journey.

Day-to-Day Itinerary:

Day 1: Features a Scavenger Hunt at the Orlando Public Library & Lake Eola Swan Boats

Day 2: Features the Orange County Regional History Center & a Movie @ CMX Cinemas Plaza Cafe 12

Day 3: Features multiple activities at the Orlando Science Center

Day 4: Features a behind-the-scenes workshop at a local business & tour at the Orlando Museum of Art

Day 5: Features a tour of City Hall or Fire Station & a creative Hands-on Workshop @ a local business

Note: Exact itinerary details are subject to change based on availability, but offerings will be similar to what is noted above.

After you purchase your Eventbrite ticket, you will receive a confirmation email with a link and password to the full Adventures with Application.

A note on refunds: If you need to cancel your participation, full refunds can be given up to one week before the program start on July 20,2025. We cannot refund or discount the price for partial-day attendance. In the event we have too low of participation to host this program, all participants will be notified and refunded on July 21st, 2025.