Dawn M. Barclay - Traveling Different: Vacation Strategies for Parents of the Anxious, the Inflexible, and the Neurodiverse

Dawn M. Barclay is an award-winning author who has spent a career working in different aspects of the travel industry. She started as an agent with her parents firms, Barclay Travel Ltd, and Barclay International Group Short-Term Apartment Rentals (an early precursor to companies like Airbnb and HomeAway), and then branched out into travel trade reporting with senior or contributing editor positions at Travel Agent Magazine, Travel Life, Travel Market Report, and most recently, Insider Travel Report. The mother of two and a resident of New Yorks scenic Hudson Valley, she also writes fiction as D.M. Barr and holds leadership roles in several writer organizations.

Published by Rowman & Littlefield

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Copyright 2022 by Dawn M. Barclay

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Available

ISBN 978-1-5381-6866-0 (cloth : alk. paper)

ISBN 978-1-5381-6867-7 (electronic)

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

For J.J. and J.J.

Youve brought me my greatest challenges and my deepest joy.

I adore you both, forever and a day.

The ability to travel is forever changing due to world, regional, and local events. Whats open one day may be closed the next, and certifying organizations can alter designations of properties and venues from year to year. Special needs programs can be added, changed, or discontinued without notice. Be sure to call ahead before visiting any location mentioned herein to verify its status, exact address, phone number, hours of operation, and offerings, especially for those on the spectrum.

Please note that when phone numbers are included, they are usually direct numbers rather than toll-free numbers for the benefit of readers outside the United States. The website links that are also included will lead interested parties to toll-free numbers if they are available.

Also please note that because new autism-friendly hotels and venues open all the time, listings contained in this guide are non-comprehensive. Couple the use of this book with your own independent research. Likewise, web addresses and property addresses/phone numbers can change without notice. Feel free to send your findings and corrections to the author at dawnbarclayauthor@gmail.com.

Inclusion of venues and services in this guide does not imply endorsement. The advice offered by various organizations, parents, and travel professionals is their own.

Neither the author nor the publisher may be held responsible for errors contained herein.

T his book wouldnt have been possible without the encouragement of Dr. Ellen Littman, who educated me on the ins and outs of special needs and urged me to revisit my writing career. Along with her, I must thank my agent, Rita Rosenkranz, and my acquiring editor, Suzanne Staszak-Silva, both of whom believed in me and the importance of this topic.

I owe a huge debt of gratitude to every Certified Autism Travel Professional, every parent of a child on the spectrum, and every mental health professional and advocate who shared their experience and knowledge to make this book a reality. As well as to the team at Rowman & Littlefield, whose expertise brought it to market.

To every parent who buys this book and experiments with the strategies contained herein, I applaud you! I pray it opens up the world for you and your family.

Finally, to my family, both in New York and Florida, for their unflagging support, even in my darkest moments. But especially to my husband, Joshua Jedwab, who understands that great things can happen when you are willing to endure a messy house and an empty fridge.

T ravel has always been in my blood. As the daughter of the owners of one of Manhattans leading travel agencies, is it any wonder? Couple that with the fact my fathers entire family lived in the United Kingdom, and as you can imagine, I spent a lot of my childhood on the road.

So it was probably no surprise that when I left Tufts University, I worked at Barclay Travel Ltd., and later, Barclay International Group (a pioneer in the short-term rentals market) before my love of writing prompted me to join the editorial staff of Travel Agent Magazine. I traded familiarization trips for press trips as I covered the business of travel, attending industry conferences while often cajoling editors of other beats into letting me cover cruises and destination stories as well. Even after I got married and launched Dawn Barclay Inkcreating brochures, press releases, and other communications for, you guessed it, the travel industryI continued to freelance for various publications and still visited exotic world locales.

That privileged life came to a screeching halt when I gave birth to two challenging children, about three years apart. Still, I was determined not to let their difficulties stand in my way of introducing them to the world of travel I loved so deeply. Believing theres a book to handle any crisis in life, I searched for a guide to help me tackle issues like children bawling uncontrollably as soon as they entered Galleries Lafayette, refusing to stay in their highchair at any restaurant, and vomiting all over my silk blouse right before takeoff when returning from the Caribbean.

In the end, we did work out our own solutions and ultimately survived, though it didnt hurt that the challenging kids finally grew into less-challenging young adults. But it does explain how I came up with the concept for this book.

I started soliciting quotes back in 2009, but the prospect of finding parents willing to discuss how they resolved such obstacles remained elusive. Only ten years later did I discover that the International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards (IBCCES) had created the Certified Autism Travel ProfessionalTM training and designation. Suddenly, the pool of potential intervieweesnamely travel advisors and their clientsbeckoned, and there was no turning back.

This book was only possible because of those travel advisors and the parents with children on the spectrum who poured out their hearts and revealed their secret travel sauce during the hours I spent interviewing them. I owe a similar debt of gratitude to the leaders of associations and organizations like IBCCES, TravelAbility, and the Family Travel Association, who provided additional information, and mental health professionals such as Dr. Ellen Littman, Dr. Tony Attwood, and Janeen Herskovitz, who graciously shared their expertise.

It would be impossible, in one edition, to include every aspect of the hospitality industry catering to those on the spectrum, especially as new companies open their doors. If theres a travel vendor or service Ive missed, please contact me at dawnbarclayauthor@gmail.com. I hope to publish regular updates at www.travelingdifferent.com.