14 tips to plan a vacation with a child with autism, special needs
Families who have children with special needs like autism, epilepsy and Down syndrome often don’t get a break. They don’t get to go on a family vacation because the logistics of taking their families to a new place or one that hasn’t been adapted to their child’s needs feels insurmountable.
Austinite Karen Duncan is trying to change that. She studied recreational therapy in college and then became a travel agent 22 years ago. Four years ago, she brought those two aspects of her life together when she started the nonprofit organization Adventures With Autism, Down Syndrome and Epilepsy.
“It’s what I wanted to do in the first place, to help families have a semblance of a normal life,” she says.
Adventures created group cruises that brought along certified therapists. While on the cruise, parents get to spend time away from their children or with their neurotypical children while the children with autism, Down syndrome or epilepsy are enjoying supervised activities.
The cruises and sometimes beach vacations are free to families who are chosen and paid for by the fundraising efforts Adventures does. Adventures has two upcoming cruises planned: One for March 18 and one for Nov. 11, 2018. Both require an application; information can be found at facebook.com/AWADAEorg. (The application for the one in March has to be received by Sept. 15.)
Duncan says cruise lines, hotels and airlines are becoming more aware of the special needs community and even training their employees to serve these families. She reg-
creator of the best-selling “Ivy+Bean” stories and the adult novel “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society,” writes her first fiction for teens with “Nothing” (HarperTeen, $17.99).