Are you a parent of a neurodivergent child dreaming of family vacations but dreading the potential challenges?  You're not alone!  In this episode of Water Prairie Chronicles, host Tonya sits down with Jenifer Breaux, a retired army veteran, travel expert, and mom of two neurodivergent sons. Jenifer shares invaluable insights and practical tips for making travel accessible and enjoyable for neurodivergent families.

Show Notes:
From meltdowns to memories: Discover how accessible travel can transform your neurodivergent family’s world.

Are you a parent of a neurodivergent child dreaming of family vacations but dreading the potential challenges?  You’re not alone!  In this episode of Water Prairie Chronicles, host Tonya sits down with Jenifer Breaux, a retired army veteran, travel expert, and mom of two neurodivergent sons. Jenifer shares invaluable insights and practical tips for making travel accessible and enjoyable for neurodivergent families.

We discuss everything from planning your first overnight trip to navigating sensory sensitivities, amusement parks, airplane travel, and more. Learn how to prepare your child for travel, manage unexpected hiccups, and create positive, lasting memories.  Jenifer’s firsthand experience and expert advice will empower you to unlock the world for your neurodivergent child.

In this episode, we cover:

• Practical tips for getting started with accessible travel
• Strategies for managing sensory overload and anxiety
• Advice for choosing accessible destinations and activities
• Real-life stories and examples from Jenifer’s own travels
• And much more!

Whether your child has autism, ADHD, sensory sensitivities, or other neurodivergent needs, this episode is packed with valuable information and inspiration.

Buy Jenifer’s Books: ** As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. **

• Travel IS Possible: Travel with Children with Special Needs (https://amzn.to/415HxXz)
• Everyone Deserves to Travel!: Discovering the Keys to Becoming a Legendary Traveler (https://amzn.to/41493V3)

Connect with Jenifer:

• 👉Instagram: @iamjeniferbreaux

• 👉Facebook: @iamjeniferbreaux

• 👉YouTube: @IAMJeniferBreaux

• 👉LinkedIn: @jeniferbreaux

• 💻Website: https://www.iamjeniferbreaux.com

Check out this related episode: EP 60. How to Travel the World with a Wheelchair

📰 Are you getting our newsletter? If not, subscribe at https://waterprairie.com/newsletter

👉 Support our podcast and help us share more incredible stories by making a donation at Buy Me A Coffee. Your contribution makes a significant impact in bringing these stories to light. Thank you for your support!

• https://BuyMeACoffee.com/waterprairie

Music Used:

“LazyDay” by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Artist: http://audionautix.com/

---

---

Episode #119: The Best Travel Tips for Neurodiverse Families

From meltdowns to memories: Discover how accessible travel can transform your neurodivergent family’s world.

(Recorded June 27, 2024)

Full Transcript of Interview:

Tonya: Imagine packing your bags ready for a family adventure, but instead of excitement, you’re filled with dread, worried about meltdowns, sensory overload, and the unpredictable nature of travel with your neurodivergent child. Many special needs parents dream of travel, but they feel overwhelmed by the challenges.

But what if I told you that accessible travel is possible and that with the right strategies, your family can create unforgettable memories. In this episode of the Water Prairie Chronicles, we’re diving into the world of accessible travel for neurodivergent families, offering practical tips, expert advice, and real life stories to help you turn travel dreams into reality.

Welcome to the Water Prairie Chronicles, a podcast dedicated to supporting and empowering special needs parents. I’m your host, Tonya Wollum, and I’m glad you’re here. Today I have a very special guest, Jenifer Breaux. She’s the author of the books, Travel IS Possible and Everyone Deserves to Travel.

Jenifer is a retired army veteran with nearly 30 years of service to our country, taking her all over the world. Those experiences ignited a passion for both service and travel, leading her to open JB Travel Pros six years ago. As a Dream Vacations franchisee, she now helps others create their own dream trips.

Designing luxury experiences from coast to coast. But Jenifer’s expertise goes beyond crafting perfect vacations. As a mother of two incredible autistic young men, she’s also a passionate advocate for families and caregivers of special needs children. Today we’re tapping into both her travel expertise and her first hand experience as a special needs parent as we dive into the world of accessible travel for neurodivergent families.

We’re going to be discussing everything from planning your first overnight trip, to navigating amusement parks and airplane travel. Whether your child has autism, ADHD, sensory sensitivities, or other neurodivergent needs, you’ll find valuable insights and practical strategies in this episode. So grab a cup of coffee, settle in, and get ready to be inspired.

Jenifer, welcome to Water Prairie.

Jenifer: I am so excited to be here with you, Tonya. I have followed your podcast and you just do such amazing work for our community.

Oh, thank you. That’s very sweet of you. My, um, now I’ve introduced you a little bit already, but, um, but listeners, I wanted you to know a little bit of where Jenifer’s coming from.

She has two books that are out and her first book is the one that I think you may find the most interesting, even because of where she’s coming from with this. And the title of that is Travel IS Possible: how to travel with children with special needs. And that’s what we’re going to be talking about today.

She has another book out too. And we’re going to talk about that at the end. So don’t leave, hang on to, to hear more about that one as well. And, and as always, we’ll put the links for everything in the show notes. So if you, if you hear something that you want to know more about, check the show notes, you can get the links there, but Jenifer, I want to find out, um, you know, we’re talking about traveling with specifically neurodivergent children, but listeners, even if your child isn’t neurodivergent, you’re going to hear some tips here that I think that you’ll be able to apply. So keep that in mind. As I say, neurodivergent, it isn’t always.

Just for that specific group. But I do want our parents who have children who are autistic, ADHD, dyslexia, dysgraphia, our kids who think a little bit differently than, than our other kids, I want them to know that this is speaking to them directly as well. So Jenifer, can you, like parents who want to start traveling and they never felt like they could, can you give us some tips on how they could get started in thinking that way?

Getting Started With Travel

Thank you Tonya. I, well just know that I have two kids, like, uh, Tonya said that have autism, but they also have a plethora of other diagnoses. But let me tell you that, um, it didn’t come easy for me. I, I am in your shoes. I walk in your shoes. I cry in your shoes sometimes. Um, so it, it’s not easy, but I, I do believe it is possible and, um, this is how I would tell you to start, start with one night.

Just start with one night away and how you do that is find a hotel that has a pool. Maybe it’s indoor because you live up north. I grew up in Ohio and it snows in the winter, sometimes through spring, sometimes early May, it might snow. So find a hotel not close to you. I would just say an hour away, hour and a half.

Don’t make it too far. But, uh, hour, hour and a half away. That way you are not likely to just come home and give your hands, you know, just throw your hands in the air and say, this is too hard. So an hour away, I want you to find one with a swimming pool. I want you to find one that has breakfast. Most of them have breakfast included and that has most of them have cable.

That is included because I don’t want you to have any extra expenses. So you’re going to go overnight. So make your reservation. Um, if you can have one that has, uh, a bedroom, that’s for you, not the kids and buy a box, uh, uh, not a box, but a bag of popcorn from Walmart or wherever you get your groceries.

I’m not advertising for Walmart, but just get something, take it with you. Buy a 97 cent inflatable ball. that you can use in the water, um, wherever you dollar store, wherever now you. Load up the towels because they only have those towels that are for the bathroom and your kids and whatever Squishy or thing that makes them feel safe.

You’re gonna load up the car You’re gonna make your reservation and you’re gonna go to the pool you check in Drop all your bags have your swimsuits on and you’re gonna go to the pool and you’re just gonna have fun in the pool as A family you probably don’t get to do that often. You’re probably cooking you’re cleaning you’re worrying about your kids homework Not tonight.

Tonight you’re going to have fun this afternoon and you’re going to hang out in the pool. You’re going to play with that ball or those pool noodles. Those are usually a dollar from the dollar tree, not the family dollar, but the dollar tree and just relax and have fun. Play old school games like Marco Polo where you try to hide in the pool.

And listen, these pools are not don’t have deep ends or maybe three ft deep. So if your child can’t swim, you can buy those little water wings, um, and slip over their arms again from target or Walmart or Amazon and have them delivered and just hang out. Splash, don’t splash, swim doggy paddle, whatever it is, but just enjoy yourselves.

Um, dry off, order a pizza or Chinese or whatever it is, but you’re not cooking tonight. Mom is off. Dad is off. Whoever cooks in your house, they are off while everybody’s getting dried off and changing into their PJs. Your pizza is going to be delivered to the hotel. Bring your pop with you or your Kool Aid or whatever you drink.

Save your money. Bring that with you. Enjoy your pizza. Put on a movie that’s on the hotel. They have a whole bunch of channels and watch a movie together. Pop that popcorn in the microwave, sit on the floor together, pull out the sofa, uh, that makes into a bed. Um, have stuffies with you and watch TV together, watch a movie together.

You’re bonding, you’re making memories. This is how you start out. Everybody goes to bed, you wake up refreshed, you had a night out and guess what? Somebody’s cooked breakfast for you because the breakfast is included. How many memories did you make with that night? You watched a movie together, you swam together, you had pizza together.

Remember, it’s about making memories together. Now it might be hard. You might’ve had anxiety last night. They might’ve had anxiety last night. Talk about what you’re going to do before you get there. So you prepare your kids, prepare your family before you go. So they can anticipate what’s going to happen.

Relive your favorite parts, and then you’re only an hour, hour and a half away from your home, and you had a successful night. Now, it might have been hard. You’re learning something, and they’re getting comfortable. They’re getting comfortable. And you’re telling them about what you’re going to do ahead of time.

And maybe next time, you get caramel popcorn. Maybe you buy it in a tin. Maybe everybody picks out a dollar candy from Walmart, or from the Dollar Tree. And that’s your treat while you’re watching the movie. Maybe you do something like that to change it up until it becomes successful. And that’s how you start.

I could see a family who, um, if their children just really have a hard time with change, I, I, I like the suggestion on a lot of levels. You could go to that same hotel over and over again until they’re, they’re comfortable with that. And then maybe change it up by going to a different hotel the same distance.

Still not having another destination, but just the hotel being your spot that, that you’re going to. Um, I, I, I like that. It’s, you know, and I’m thinking through whether your child’s neurodivergent or not, that’s always a holiday for kids to go to a hotel. That’s, that’s something different anyway, especially if they have the pool and they can get mom and dad in the pool with them to, um, to, to, I mean, something where they usually are.

on the side and letting the kids play, but just having that family time together. I, I love that a lot, a lot of ways and most people sleep better after they’re tired from being in the pool.

I know that’s a win for the parents and for us, right? But that is, they, they have anxiety about change. They aren’t sure what they’re going to experience.

The kids, the parents have anxiety. I’m not sure how this is going to go. So maybe you start with a social story ahead of time. This is what we’re going to do and have. picture of the pool that they’re going to. You can get that off the internet now, a picture of it. Or maybe you just show the pictures of the hotel and you talk about it with your computer or your phone, if you don’t have a computer.

And you, yes, you do. I’ll tell you that, um, we go to, um, Hard Rock Cancun. We’ve been there three times. Do you know why? Because our kids. Are familiar with it. The staff knows us. I know there’s 500 rooms, but they know us. My eldest son felt comfortable going to the coffee shop by his. by himself. The second time we went, that’s a huge win and he took his brother.

It’s a win for us. He is, he, he doesn’t do well in social, he’s social, he has social anxiety, right? He doesn’t know what to say to people, what to talk about. He’ll say hi. He used to just do this to people all the time. Even if he already saw you, he would have done it three times to you. So Going back to those places, and I just told you there’s 500 rooms, who doesn’t have anxiety, right?

But, now he goes to the coffee shop. So last time, we started working on how to get, he likes to swim up pool bar. How to get the guy’s attention. Because they’ll just keep walking by him, because he’s not going to get their attention. They’re just, they, there’s this kid up there. Well, he does look a little older, but, what?

You see all these other people flagging the guy down, giving, you know, like that type of thing. So there’s something to repetitive places. And then we can, I know it’s not supposed to be about we’re on vacation, right? But I’m still going to work on his social skills for him.

And the first time that you go, I would suggest take as many pictures as you can and even some video so that.

Now you have that social story for the next times. And, um, so the first time you’re going, it may be more generic, but you could make it very, especially if the first one is harder for you than your future ones. Now you’re re you’re remembering those good spots that were in that. So they know how to, how to anticipate it.

Um, some of our kids have a really hard time with sensory overload.

Yes.

Addressing Sensory Overload

Any ideas for like, so now they’re going in to just the echoes in the room are different. You’ve got the lobby to have to get through. Um, any tips on how to avoid having that, that overload time?

So what I recommend in the room, because you’re right, there’s street noises.

There is maybe somebody has a dog next door if it’s a pet friendly hotel. I would recommend taking a noisemaker. So that’s what we have done. We’ve taken noise makers and plugged it in and my son keeps one in his room. My husband loves it. I don’t like it or a fan. So take a fan with you. So it kind of cools down how you like it.

My son loves a fan too. I just I can’t even I don’t like noise. So I like it like I like the room dark. I like it quiet, but they like the noise. So we take a fan. We take a noise maker. My youngest likes his nightlight and that’s easy. Just throw it in your suitcase. We take it with us to Cancun and it shows the minions on the wall for him.

So plugins, those are easy to take with you. The noise makers like this big, it’s what, six inches. That’s easy to put in your suitcase. The nightlight easy to put in your suitcase. It’s not taking up a lot of room, even when we’re on a cruise ship. That’s easy to take with you. It’s not big. It’s not prohibited.

And it brings them. They’re part of their room with them. So you’re still taking those items with you? No, you can’t take the whole room and listen while we’re talking about you can’t. But what I wanna mention too is not everybody’s child and you’ll know your child. They’re things aren’t necessarily stuffed animals that they like.

My youngest is Chinese. He didn’t grow up with anything. Definitely not stuffed animals and he’s afraid of them, but he likes, we take a little box of Legos and a couple, um, matchbox cars for him. My eldest, he likes the same two books to sit on a nightstand near him. They’re worn out, we know it, but he takes them, they’re his comfort item.

So that’s what we take. So, and again, you can’t take the whole room with you, but you can take those two little items and they fit in your little carry on suitcase.

Air Travel Tips

So you’re mentioning going to places that are not just down the road for you. How, how did you handle airplane travel the first time?

Okay.

That was ugly too. So let’s just put that on the floor right now. That was ugly. Well, Jacob, we had, we adopted him when he was nine months old and Jacob tricked us into being, let’s just say, thinking we could have another child because he ate well, he slept well, girl, he traveled well. He was great. Later on, we found out that he had depression and anxiety and that became a game changer.

Um, um, and it presents itself differently. But Noah, it was hell. I’m just going to say it was hell. He, before he got his diagnosis of ADHD, he was kicking the seat in front of him. He was just not sitting down. I don’t think he’d ever been in a car. So he had none of that access to anything. He was from rural China.

Yeah. So none of that. He, he just didn’t. And, um, and he wasn’t looked after. He wasn’t cared for. You could just, you could tell by some of the mannerisms that he had been in a crib for a while. And, um, so you have a challenge of putting on a seatbelt. did not grow up with that. He had a challenge of sitting in a seat because he has severe ADHD.

Uh, you have to channel of he wasn’t verbal at the time. Um, so he couldn’t communicate with you. So he had a lot of challenges that second, well, first airplane ride was 14 hours to the U. S. and then I took him up to Ohio to see my mom. So I had little plane toys. I had none of that. Girl, that was out the door.

But then I had to forget about it. So then I had to rethink about fidgets. I had to think about old school games, uh, and that’s what we do now. We do old school games when we’re standing in line. I just made up another one the other day when we were standing in line and it was like a sword fight with our fingers.

So we just take two fingers and we’re sword fighting. Uh, we do, uh, thumb wrestle. We do rock, paper, scissors. We see how someone can, um, stand on our foot the longest. I spy. Think about childhood games that you played. So that’s what I would recommend. I don’t, I didn’t get to your plane story question yet, but if you have to stand in your line to get a ticket, if you have to stand in your line, uh, to check in somewhere, or if you’re going through the airport, like, I TSA, TSA preacher, um, the TSA line.

Um, think of old school games because they, they work. Um, we’re working on number counting with my youngest. So we do, um, odds and evens. Um, I spy, we had to get Noah used to that. Cause he’d say I spy. Green tree. So we work on those things. Um, so we’re working on that and that works on the drive too. So if you’re driving to your hotel, think about those old school games or we play backseat boogie and we put on a radio station and we jam out.

And try to sing the songs. And I’ll be like, Oh, it’s your turn. It’s your turn. So we take turns singing the songs. Don’t waste your money on expensive headphones. Get the ones that put your ear over the head, but you have to have the kind that plug in. Now you can’t have the Bluetooth. There’s so old school on there.

Um, or get tech by little, um, fidgets. I get a box from Amazon that has 20 or 40 in it because you don’t want to give them all at once. You want to be able to change it up. I found this fantastic one that’s a fidget spinner, but it also is a popper, those popper ones. So it’s like a two and one. I love it. I gave those away at an event.

Those are fantastic. And they also help with folks that have dementia. So, I had some folks that, um, had parents that had dementia, so I gave them to those, and they loved it. So, that’s what I recommend on a plane. Snacks. Take snacks. Yes, sometimes they give it, sometimes they don’t. Sometimes, if you don’t like them, take your own snacks.

Car Travel Tips

As you’re sharing all that, um, so the kids and I would travel at times from Massachusetts down to North Carolina. And so it would just be me driving and I would make a paper bag for each state that we were going to go through. And as we crossed the border, they could open the bag. So they, it was just something new and it would have a snack in there.

It would have a coloring page or a game or something that they could do in the car. And it didn’t take a whole lot to plan it. As they got older, that became like a map that they were coloring in. So every time they would cross in, they could, they could color in a new one. Um, and we would do, do the games.

Um, 20 questions was, was a big one we would go into. I spy, we always played, um, um, as they got older and could understand the, the, you know, words and all, we would do the alphabet game. Um, of course it made it harder with Emily because she couldn’t see most of the billboards. So they would work together on that.

But it would, um, you know, because, because license tags are kind of hard to see whenever they’re rushing past you. But, um, but yeah, but those, but those are, those are the things we would do. And, um, and we would like, like you’re saying, we would do the counting games. We would quiz each other on stuff to see who could do something faster.

Um, anything to, to occupy the time as you’re going. And we would also, it was just me driving. We would stop, I would pick out a couple of things along the way and we would just stop and either play at a playground at a rest stop, or if there was an Ikea, we would walk through Ikea, not shopping for anything, but just, it got my legs moving, but it got theirs moving too.

And, and they knew they were safe to jump on the beds if they wanted to, so we could, could get the exercise as we’re going. 

You’re right about rest stops, we would pack a lunch and take a ball with us. So we were always, the kids can’t. with their processing speed, they can’t catch a ball. So it’s basically chasing the ball around for a while.

Stretch it. You’re right. Stretching our legs. You know, Walmart used to have these pack and go, um, bags. So it would have stickers, a coloring book. Um, I think not magnets, something else in the crayons. I’d love to take those to church with me. and in the car. But I haven’t seen those in a long time, but I would use those up till probably they were 10.

I still have some in my cabinet half done. Um, but it was great because it was a dollar you and it entertained them for over an hour or two hours coloring and stickers. And, but I haven’t seen them in a long time, but I like your idea. You could do it yourself, throw in some crayons, stickers. I’m always getting stickers from something.

And the, and, and it was cheap stuff. Sometimes we would, when the kids, when the kids were young like that, if I would let them go, we’d go to Wendy’s or McDonald’s, wherever. And if there was a Happy Meal, I would keep the toy out. So they never knew they got it in the meal. That’s when they would get it was on our, on our car trips.

Oh, clever. You’re so clever.

So, um, so they were set aside for that. Or if it was something that they had that they had not played with for a long time, I might throw that back in as something new. And you had mentioned, um, you had taken, um, you just had a couple, a couple of toys for, for playing. I had little drawstring bags.

And one of them had like these little airplanes in it. One of them had matchbox cars. And so I could grab a couple of the bags and keep them inside my bag. And if we’re sitting in a waiting room somewhere, or like I’m even picturing, I didn’t fly with Christopher, but with my daughter, I flew with her when she was a little, um, If you’re waiting, you can usually find a corner somewhere where you could pull out one of those bags.

So you see the contents of my purse. So yeah, I usually have a matchbox car, a couple fidgets and maybe something else. I just get on the ground and play with them too. Um, But also when I’m networking, if I forgot a commercial, I can give a 30 second commercial. I can whip out a car or something and make a commercial about that.

Like, what else do you have in your car, in your purse there? So yeah, I guess it’s the life of being a mom.

Amusement Park Tips

We talked about waiting in line. If you’re waiting to get a ticket or something like that. Any tips for those who are going to venture to an amusement park?

Yeah. Don’t go in the summer. It’s miserable in Florida.

But um, you know I love Sesame Street. So if you have a little bit younger, um Sesame Street up up near where you used to live. I love that place. They were so kid friendly, autism friendly. Neurodivergent friendly. They are a fantastic place. The lines aren’t too long. Everybody could get us. I felt like everybody could get a seat at the parade. I think we did go in the summer or the fall because it gets warm up there too.

Um, but waiting in line. Yeah. So some of the same games, like I said, waiting, who can wait on the, on your foot the longest. Um, uh, we did some of the same things like, uh, thumb war. Um, I spy could work depending on your vision. Um, also can you pick out something maybe with the curliest hair, the straightest hair, the longest hair, somebody who has a, uh, a striped shirt on.

Uh, do you see somebody with a harry potter shirt or a controller shirt? Because you know, everybody’s wearing stuff with gaming on it now. Or, um, I know our kids are into, like I said, gaming minion shirt. If you’re up at, um, Yeah, especially if you’re at Universal. Who has a Minion shirt on? Who has a Harry Potter shirt on?

If you’re in Disney, who’s, who’s wearing what, who has the best mouse ears that you like? Something like that. That’s theme park specific.

Destinations for 4 to 12-Year-Olds

We talked about how you’re getting started. You’re going to the hotel. You’re kind of practicing these skills a little bit. Um, you’ve traveled beyond just going to Disney or Sesame street or Cancun.

How are, what are some, um, Some fun types of destinations that families could realistically think about if their kids are, let’s say, between, like, four and twelve. And, um, and they’re trying to get to as a first destination beyond just the hotel.

Well, I think an all inclusive is a great place to start.

Because they don’t have to worry about losing them at, let’s say, um, Palace of Versailles, which is very, very huge and all inclusives have water parks. Now they have water slides. They have lazy rivers. They have activities for 4 to 12. There’s a kid’s camp. Um, the kids can go or they don’t have to go. But that’s a place I put my kids in, um, at one resort.

Um, Jacob was at 12. So, um, and Noah’s probably not going to go. His older brother’s not there. So there’s activities at the resort as well. There’s also, um, guacamole. There’s, um, silent discos. So there’s family activities to do as well as, well, I’m going to say the water park’s a family activity because we go there too.

But there’s other activities besides just water activities. Um, there’s beach. So some of them are on the beach. If now that’s now, let me tell you something about the beach. My kids are different. One is sensory seeking. That’s my oldest who loves the beach, likes to dig in the beach, likes to dig, bury your feet, likes to jump the ways he’s sensory seeking.

He loves it. He used to fall down on purpose. Because he was seeking those inputs. My youngest hates the beach. He doesn’t want to step on it. If we drive to the beach here, he doesn’t want to even get out of the car. He’s like, all done, been here, done that, all done. That’s what he’ll say, all done, done. So he doesn’t really want to go to the beach.

I make a command performance, everybody’s going to do it one day. So. Um, so I recommend an all inclusive. Now, usually Cancun is the least expensive, but I will tell you, don’t go on spring break, uh, look for an alternative place or river. Um, we accidentally did that once and it was. That was a, it wasn’t that enjoyable, although if you go early, like we’re always up early, like I said, 6 a. m. on the dot, um, then that will be fine because they’re not, college students aren’t out there that early. Um, Dominican Republic is a wonderful place because if you wanted to do some excursions, like interact with monkeys, my eldest loves animals, then he and I go do that. Yeah, he loves, I think he’s going to be a vet tech or a vet assistant.

He loves animals. So you could do that or swim with something, although you can do that in Cancun to swim with a sea lion, interact with, uh, swim with a dolphin, those kinds of things. You can do those in smaller groups. So again, if you have anxiety about something, if you don’t want, if you want to have a smaller group.

Those are possible as well. Um, so that’s why I recommend an all inclusive, uh, cruise might be too many people for you. Um, but that might be the next step, a three day to see if you like it or not. Um, it’s hard getting on because it’s a lot of sensory input. Once you’re on, people disperse. Same with an all inclusive.

You might’ve heard 500 rooms, 600 rooms, but you don’t have 600 people sitting on top of you. At the pool. Pool, and there’s usually multiple pools and there’s some for adults only. Or like I said, we’re up at 6:00 AM we’re at the pool by eight 30 or nine . There’s usually some family straggling out at then, but um, by 12 o’clock we’re done with the pool and we’re eating lunch.

And then. We give the kids time on the TV or some tech time. It’s fun for them. So we do that. We play games. So we take, um, usually UNO’s our pick and there’s like six or seven different types of UNO. So we bring a couple card game UNO. with us. And we do that in the afternoon. Uh, we let our eldest go get his coffee.

So we establish again, our routine, a vacation routine for us. Um, I don’t know if that works for your family or for our family routine is key for us. We have it during the school year. We have it on vacation. So they understand what to expect and when.

Travel Resources

So Lisa, there’s some, some good ideas here. Do you have any resources or organizations that cater specifically to accessible travel?

Yeah, so like if you were going to the Bahamas, I think I recently wrote a blog about that. There’s some organizations that help you that you can reach out to. So you can do that. There is, um, some additional training that I have done, um, with a crew. So I have a, some kind of certification. I forget what it’s called now, but, um, so that I can help people get onto the cruise line that, uh, will best serve them.

There’s also a land organization for a certification so that I can find out what the best, um, Oh my goodness. I’m having a brain cramp. Um, best resorts are for, uh, clients of mine. So there are places out there, there are nonprofits out there that will help you and guide you and also, um, find, um, better activities that are, that will help you, um, Yeah.

Yes. That help you also, um, that catered to you. That’s what I was looking for. Catered to you. Like I said, I Bahamas. I think that was the most recent one that I wrote. Um, that have activities. That’s what I love because the more people say awareness is over and we should just jump to acceptance, but I did a I was talking with somebody like I didn’t even know this and I thought down syndrome was the same as autism and I’m like, it’s not, um, and they have an extra chromosome and I’m just like, yeah, it’s very, very different.

So we still have. a long way to go with even you and I were talking about dyslexia versus dysmorphia. So it’s, we have a long way to go to educate people, but that’s okay. It’s okay. That’s our role in this world.

Even if your child’s not identified as neurodivergent, some of these tips are going to help them because we have kids who still are sensory seeking.

They don’t have to be neurodivergent to be that way. I’m very tactile. I’ve always, always been sensitive to touch. And, um, And so, you know, some, some textures, I like some, I don’t, I think we all have little pieces of us that we can have empathy, at least as we’re more aware of what’s happening around us.

And, um, so, no, I, I, I agree. I don’t, I don’t, I don’t think we should ever turn our back on the simple act of awareness. So, so that inclusion does become. Um, and, and education is, is a big part of that too. It’s, it’s a lot of what we try to talk about on the podcast is trying to help with that education. And, and I don’t mean it in a bad way, but the ignorance that comes from a lack of education, because sometimes that’s just a lack of exposure.

You, you’re like, like you’re saying, if someone’s thinking that being autistic and having down syndrome are the same thing, they’re not, but they could overlap. That, that, that, that could be the same person for some, for one individual and could be two totally different people for another. I think we’ve kind of covered through my main questions, but I do want to go to our advice section.

So this season I’ve been having my guest pass on some words of wisdom to my listeners through finishing some statements that I’m going to read, I’m going to have you repeat it and then finish it. with your advice to my audience. So I have three for you that I’m, that I’ve put together. So the first one is the one thing that surprised me most about traveling with my neurodivergent children was

Advice From Jenifer

the first thing that surprised me about traveling with my neurodivergent children was they have anxiety about traveling, but they have overcome that.

And they are excited to travel.

Okay, for parents who are feeling overwhelmed about accessible travel, I would say

For parents that are feeling overwhelmed about accessible travel, I would say Take a deep breath and start small.

Alright, so last one. To make travel truly accessible for neurodivergent kids, we need

To make travel truly accessible for neurodivergent kids, we need more awareness and more access for our children.

And everybody Every type of travel needs to cater to and have more training so that our kids can enjoy travel wherever they want to go.

Disney for Special Needs

I like that. You point out a good point. I, I follow a lot of different accounts on Instagram and the ones that probably popped Out for me the most are when I see parents posting their teenage and even older neurodivergent child interacting with Disney characters at, um, Disneyland, because those.

employees have been trained how to accept and how to respond without making anyone feel uncomfortable. Um, the same with our deaf and hard of hearing kids. For the most part, they can find a character that, that can talk to them and that they can, can hug and communicate with, even if it’s just a simple, I love you or something.

They, I see so many of them who are signing to the kids. And I love that they’ve put that much training into the character that they’re playing.

They have, Disney has a special, um, program for those that are neurodivergent. I will also tell you for a cruise line, uh, Royal Caribbean has not only trained their staff that are in the, um, kids programs, but their entire staff.

Oh, wow.

Right. Because my kids are Asian. Um, when my son was, I think 10, he wanted to do the surf simulator. And, um, so he thought that my son didn’t speak English, which, okay, let’s put that aside. Um, so I went up there and I said, what’s the problem? He’s like, I don’t think he speaks English. I said, he has autism.

And he’s like, oh, okay. And he just said it a different way. Just said it differently. And my son got there and then he worked with him so that my son would stay on the board.

So language was that employee’s biggest hurdle, which is great.

And assumptions. Okay. Assumption. Right. Yeah. Okay. But let’s put that aside.

Yep. Right. But he did work with him and he said he was able to stay on that board and he had the best time. He had the best time.

Jenifer’s Travel Books

I said at the beginning that I mentioned two, two, two of your books, because I think you have more than just these two, but, but the two on travel that, that I wanted to point out one was, is what about a year old from what I think?

Yeah, it’s a year old.

Okay. So that one, Travel IS Possible: how to travel with children with special needs. The title. Tells us a lot. Anything you want to tell us more about it besides the, the title?

I, I just, I’m in love with this book and it takes you through every single, um, mode of travel. So if you want to do a land package, if you want to do a cruise, if you want to do an all inclusive, it also lists some of my favorite fidgets.

So, which have been tested by my kids. So, um, they had fun while they’ve been working on that for years. So some of their favorites. And I’m just in love with this. And even if you don’t have a neurodivergent child, um, I’ve had some folks read it that don’t, and, uh, folks that have been teachers and it really does help, um, all families.

Well, I’m thinking if you, especially if you have young children, I’m sure you’re going to have pointers in there that would help any family get started with travel. Um, or if you have multiple children that you’re trying to, to organize and. Rally together to, to, to travel with and then your new book, Everyone Deserves to Travel.

What is that one about? How, how is it different from the first one?

So this one is empowering people to travel. Sometimes people think they can’t travel or they think it’s this unattainable thing. And I really wanted to infuse people with things like being optimistic about travel and every chapter gives you an action plan.

So that you can, um, have things to not necessarily work yet. We’ll work on, but things like finding meditation to help you finding a safe place. Maybe it’s yoga that works for you finding a journal. And so it works you through those steps to becoming a legendary traveler.

Listeners, if you haven’t seen it from season two, I have an episode out that, that specifically talks about accessible travel for those with mobility challenges. So I’m going to link that one here as well.

          (Episode #60 Disability Travel in the US and Abroad with Kristin Secor)

And I want you to look at that. It is, it is an older episode that we did, but there may be some tips in there that you haven’t thought of if you’re dealing with a child that’s in a wheelchair. or needs extra equipment coming. And so you may be able to get some pointers for air travel with that one.

But, um, but look, look, look at both of these episodes together. Cause you’re going to get a more rounded picture between the two. Um, Jenifer, tell me, tell me about any other projects that you have going on.

I, um, well, I’ll be doing a book tour, so that will be announced on my website. I have a free downloadable.

Um, so it’s the ultimate top 10 travel tips for the neurodiverse. You can find that on my website. iamjeniferbreaux.com. That’s free. So, so even if you, um, don’t get the book, I want to give you something. And so, um, if you go to my website, I would love to see you there and, um, and, uh, look for a book tour. We sometime, um, probably in the fall.

Connect With Jennifer

How can listeners get in touch with you? What are your social media? Um,

@iamjeniferbreaux. So, that’s 1 “N” in Jenifer and then all those vowels in between “B” and “X.” B R E A U X. And that’s on Facebook, Instagram. Um, I’m, if you need someone to speak on this topic, I’m on LinkedIn and YouTube. My YouTube channel’s getting up.

So I’ll be there. And I do lives every Thursday at seven.

Are your lives on Facebook or both facebook and YouTube?

Uh, Instagram and Facebook.

I appreciate your information. You’ve given me some things to think about, um, re reassurance that some of the things that I did when the kids were young were quote, right

I know there’s no right or wrong in this, but . But, um, but excited to, to hear some things that, I mean, I never would’ve thought of going to the same destination until that becomes. a routine and a safe spot and then venturing out from there. But I think it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s a great plan of action to start small and then start branching out beyond that.

Yeah, I just, I really want people to know that it is, it is possible and you deserve those memories with your children, with your teens. Um, some of us will have adults living with us, adult children living with us. I know I’ll be one and you deserve those memories regardless of what phase you are in your life.

And I just, I hope you take this message with you today.

Perfect. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

That’s all the time we have for today’s episode. A huge thank you to Jenifer for sharing her expertise and insights with us. Her books, Travel IS Possible and Everyone Deserves to Travel, are fantastic resources for any family looking to make travel more accessible and enjoyable.

I’ll link to those in the show notes, along with Jenifer’s website and her social media channels. Remember, travel is possible, and you deserve those precious memories with your family. If you found this episode helpful, please like, share, and subscribe to Water Prairie for more empowering content for special needs parents.

Thanks for being part of the Water Prairie community. I’ll see you next time.

** Amazon links on this page may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. **