Planning Successful Vacations with Neurodiverse Kids | POF161

I know I'm not alone when I say my family has been on family vacations that have been more stressful than fun. When you have kids that have extra needs like anxiety, ADHD, mental health concerns and/or are on the spectrum, a family holiday can take turns you never expected. I’ve been miserable on holiday, and felt like the whole time away was a waste of time and money. I’m thrilled to be talking to Dawn Barclay who is a travel writer and has written THE book to help parents like many of my listeners who are neurodiverse and have extra needs. Dawn’s book, “Travelling Different: Vacation Strategies for Parents of the Anxious, Inflexible and the Neurodiverse”, is a dream to help parents plan vacations that make everyone happy! Dawn wrote this book because she wished something like this existed when her kids were younger. She shares wonderful advice about how to plan, prepare and set yourself and your child(ren) up for success for your next family vacation. To watch us on YouTube, subscribe to my channel, Parenting for Connection: https://www.youtube.com/c/ParentingforConnection In this episode we talk about: Airlines and vacation destinations that have specialised support for children on the spectrum (which is good for ALL kids!) How parent's mindset matters and why practising and pacing yourself helps you and your kids feel safe learning the steps to “starting small” as you start planning a trip Having a “child centric” trip where you involve your child’s passions helps everyone have a good time How to find and work with a Certified Autism Travel Professional from IBCCES.org Dawn’s book is available to order on August 15th 2022 from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and her site, www.travelingdifferent.com For Dawn’s list of action steps, specifically for Parenting our Future listeners, log in or sign up for the Parent Toolbox. www.parent-toolbox.com About Dawn M. BarclayDawn M. Barclay is an award-winning author who has spent a 30+ year career working in different aspects of the travel industry. After attending Tufts University, she worked in sales, marketing, and management for her parents’ firms, Barclay Travel Ltd and Barclay International Group Short-Term Apartment Rentals. Next, she 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. Dawn holds degrees in psychology and marketing, is a mother of two, and resides in New York’s scenic Hudson Valley. She also writes fiction as D.M. Barr and holds leadership roles in several writer organizations.Contact information:Email: [email protected] Media:Website: http://www.travelingdifferent.com (check her blog for current travel info)LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dawnbarclay/Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/travelingdifferentTwitter: http://www.twitter.com/@travelingdiffThanks for listening!It means so much to me that you listened to my podcast! If you resonate with my message and would like my personal help in your parenting journey, I’d love to talk to you. Please visit my website to book a call with me where we can talk about your parenting frustrations and I’ll share how I can help you. www.parentingforconnection.comMy intention with my show is to build a community of parents that can have open and honest conversations about parenting without judgement or criticism. We have too much of that!I honor each parent and their path towards becoming the best parent they can be. My hope is to inspire more parents to consider the practice of Peaceful Parenting.If you know