Thursday, July 19, 2012

{travel tips for special needs families}

Hi there! A few weeks back we went on a little family getaway to Las Vegas. We had tons of fun! Swam a lot, ate a lot...so nice to get out of town with my boys for a few days!

For those of you that are like us and have a child with autism {or any special need}, you know occasionally they can get distracted and become as I like to call "a flight risk". Meaning that at any given moment they could be right next to you and then see something interesting and bolt with no notice at all {toddlers and preschoolers do this too :P}. 

Anyhow, this factor lead me to do a little prep work before we headed out of town...

 ID Cuff & Bag Handle

The hand strap is from an AWESOME tutorial by Make It & Love It. My son is almost 8 so he's a little "too cool" to hold my hand, but because he's a bolter when something catches his attention, I needed to do something! This worked out great. We didn't have to use it too much either. Just in large crowds. The handle gave him just enough freedom but kept him right with us. Peace of mind for momma :)
 The handle has a loop at each end. One to hook onto your bag...
 and one for the child to hold onto. We'll be using this at Disneyland during the crowded season too.
 My next project was this ID cuff. I saw this idea online, but didn't have time to order {super slacker who waited until the last minute} so I kind of just made it up as I went...
 Fun boy print, velcro closure.
 Inside is lined with flannel and has a label with his ID info on fabric paper that I sewed onto the flannel. Pretty easy peesy and he wore it with no complaints...SCORE! If we weren't in the pool or the room, he had the cuff on. Proud to say, we didn't lose him once!

I'm so glad that I took the time to make these these things before our trip. When you have a little on with special needs, travel is hard and taking extra precautions for safety can be necessary.

Do you have a child with special needs? What are some things that you do to prepare for traveling?

Wishing you safe and happy vacations this summer!

Don't forget to enter the Christmas in July fabric giveaway! Enter HERE.



Elizabeth
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4 comments:

  1. I don't have a special needs child, but I do have two girls with the "look, shiny" syndrome. I think I just may have to borrow both of these ideas when we take our next trip to a crowded place. One goes one direction and the other goes the opposite direction. We have to constantly hold their hands and this would free our hands up.

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  2. Traveling with a child who has special needs can certainly be challenging and unpredictable. But with proper planning and preparation, the result can be a relatively stress-free and life-changing experience for the whole family.

    Regards,
    Chris from bestflights.co.za

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