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People with autism and their families struggle with travel because of its complexity. This study aims to promote travel participation by exploring the travel needs and patterns of people with autism and their families.

A total of 28 participants were interviewed. Data were analyzed via constructivist grounded theory.

People with autism and their families displayed five travel patterns: mutual support, relatives’ visitation, independent travel, expanded socialization and package tours. These patterns were adopted in a stepwise fashion as the autistic individuals’ abilities improved. The travel challenges and support needs of Chinese autistic people and their families were identified.

The findings can inform accessibility tourism, promote an understanding of autistic people’s tourism activities among the public and industry marketers and offer strategic guidance about family travel for this population.

This effort responds to a call to investigate disability-related issues. The study evaluated the travel behavior of people with autism and their families, from a developmental perspective, presenting a new angle in research on accessibility tourism.