Traveling with Special Needs children

[jakesnana]

I'm not sure if this is the correct forum for this discussion, but I didn't see another option.

 

My DH and I just came back from a short cruise with our Special Needs grandchildren and the experience brought up several questions for us. The children are not physically disadvantaged but suffer from intellectual deficits and maturity issues (they are 14 y.o. twins who suffer from Fetal Alcohol Syndrome).

 

They are too big (size wise) to participate in the 9-11 age group, however, this is where they belong according to their social and maturity level. They DEFINITELY would not fit in with the 12-14 age group, as there is very little supervision there and I saw that group roaming the halls at all hours causing a scene.

 

I'm just trying to figure how other parents have handled this situation. While I LOVE spending time with the grandkids (we care for them several days a week at home and they spend one night each weekend at our house), there are only so many things to do on a cruise ship to entertain them (we did mini-golf, the movies, the arcade, shore excursions, etc.) so we spent a lot of time in the cabin watching cartoons. We could have done this at home and saved lots of money

 

Any insight would be appreciated.

[kitkat343]

I do believe this is the best place to post your query, although if you have a specific cruise in mind you should also put this on their cruise line board since that will increase the chances of your seeing how that specific cruise line handles this situation. Other posters will have more useful information than me, but in this situation I would start by emailing the special needs department of the cruise line to ask what accommodations they'd recommend, and if they can accommodate your request to either have the children in the 9-11 year old group, or privately provide them with that level of supervision. Other people will hopefully post about their first hand experiences with this, but it seems like the ships should be able to tell you ahead of time if there are any accommodations they can make to help your grandchildren enjoy their vacation, and give the parents some much needed respite care.

[Kerry's Girls]

We have always aged my daughter down a group, which is where she belongs. Since she is then much bigger than the others, the counselors have framed it as my daughter "helping" which she loves and makes it less awkward than just having an older/bigger kid among smaller ones.

 

It's wonderful that you include your grandkids in travel. My daughter's neurologist said that travel is a great thing for her - exposure to new experiences and places out of her comfort zone helps her learn to navigate at home too. Plus it's fun! I don't know about your grandkids, but my kids can spend hours at the pool or jacuzzi with me sitting nearby watching/relaxing.

 

All the best,

Mia