Travelling with a child who has autism can be challenging. Families need to think about many things when planning a family vacation: They need to look at resorts that are family-friendly, offer many activities for all children, have staff trained in autism awareness and more. Choosing the right destination for your family is also key, as you want a place with restaurants that can cater to special diets and children with food aversions.
Family travel is an important time to relax, recharge, make memories, and bond with children, and all families deserve the opportunity to take family vacations. With 1 in 68 children now being diagnosed with autism, destinations need to make sure they are accommodating to everyone.
Here is a list of the top five places to travel with children with autism:
Legoland, Florida
Located in Winter Haven, Florida, this destination has two resorts: a theme park and a water park. Lego lovers will be thrilled to immerse themselves with all things Lego. To assist families with autism, Legoland Florida offers several special accommodations. Legoland’s Blue Hero Pass can be requested at the guest services desk; the Blue Hero Pass enables guests and their child with autism access to a separate shorter “quiet line,” while waiting for an attraction. This can greatly reduce the anxiety and stress of waiting in long lines for attractions. In addition to the Blue Hero Pass, Legoland offers guests with autism access to quiet rooms. These rooms are available to guests whose children with autism are having sensory overload issues in the parks and need a quiet, sensory-friendly area to calm themselves down. In the quiet room, guests have access to weighted blankets, noise-cancelling headphones, fidget toys and of course, Legos.
TradeWinds Island Resorts
Located in St. Pete Beach, Florida, this resort has seven pools and an amazing white-sand beach. Kid’s activities abound, from a giant inflatable water slide located on the beach to a floating water park just off shore to the Konk Club (which stands for “Kids Only, No Kidding”) with activities such as arts and crafts, ceramic painting and kid’s games around the pools. There’s also a Touch Tank, where guest have an opportunity to get up close with small sea creatures. TradeWinds Island Resorts offers several accommodations for families with autism. Their website has a downloadable, printable social story to prepare families with autism for their upcoming family vacation. Additionally, the Center for Autism and Related Disorders has trained everyone on the TradeWinds staff, from the front desk staff to the person operating the water slide. The front desk offers families with autism a safety kit upon arrival; this safety kit includes outlet covers, table corner bumpers and a door alarm. The Konk Club staff is also well-trained in autism awareness and ready to work with parents to make the child’s time as fun and stress-free as possible. (The staff just asks that parents call ahead and alert the activities department that they are traveling with a child with autism, so that the Konk Club can staff appropriately.)
Royal Caribbean International
Royal Caribbean International’s 25 cruise ships travel to almost anywhere in the world. The cruise line is recognized for being the first autism-friendly cruise line, offering priority boarding, check in and departure; a kid’s club with flexible grouping by ability for ages 3 to 11, as well as a toilet-trained policy exception; and pagers/phones for parents of kids in the children’s program. With all these services, parents can feel at ease leaving their child with autism in the care of others while on the cruise, and perhaps get some adult time. The muster drill can be overwhelming for children with sensitivity to loud noises and the horn is blown fairly loud, so with prior arrangement, families can also request an alternate location for the muster drill, the required safety drill for all guests. For families who have kids with autism that require more assistance, Royal Caribbean International partners with an organization called autism on the Seas. Autism on the Seas, which provides professionally-trained staff to cruise with guests, giving assistance and respite for the duration of the cruise.
Beaches Resorts
Beaches Resorts operates three locations: Beaches Negril, Beaches Ocho Rios and Beaches Turks & Caicos. Each of the resorts cater to families with great water sports, Sesame Street character meet and greets, amazing kid’s clubs and (as the name would suggest) gorgeous beaches. The Beaches Resorts have worked to become home to the Caribbean’s first autism-friendly Kid’s Camps. Beaches Resorts have partnered with the International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards (IBCCES) to obtain their autism certification and offer families with children with autism-inclusive kid’s camps and restaurants with lots of dining choices for kids with special diets or food aversions. Beaches Resorts even have “Amazing Art with Julia,” an art class with Julia, Sesame Street’s first Muppet character with autism.
Disney Parks
While the Disney Parks might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of quiet, sensory-free zones, they do an excellent job accommodating families with children with autism (and kids are usually obsessed with at least a few Disney characters). Even before you arrive at Disney, the luggage delivery service is a huge plus for families with autism; with Disney’s yellow luggage tags, your bags get picked up at the airport and delivered to your resort room. Not having to wait for your bags at the luggage turnstiles and drag them to the bus can alleviate the stress of just getting out of the airport. Disney Parks also accommodate families with autism by offering guests the Disability Access Service (DAS). The DAS, used through a guest’s Magic Band, can be used in conjunction with the three free Fastpasses per day guests receive to enable guests with autism to move throughout their day with little waiting. The Disney Parks also have a special diets department that can work with families with children who are gluten-free, casein-free, have food allergies or even food aversions. The Disney Parks’ Baby Care Centers (there is one centrally-located in each park) can act as a quiet spot to take a child with autism if they are having a sensory meltdown and need a relaxing place to calm down before rejoining the fun.
For more about traveling with a child who has autism, visit Magical Storybook Travels.