Since we have recieved so many questions and comments from single parents with specials needs, we thought we would compile the commentary on this page. If you have anything that you want to add, please email us (Brenda@SingleParentTravel.net) and we will post it in next month's newsletter.

Nov. `02

D.B-C. write "I was glad to read the letter from KB about having a special needs child. I have an 8 year old boy with Down Syndrome. I took him away for the first time this summer and learned that "next time" there will be someone there to help me. I wonder, however, would kid-friendly resorts accept a child like him, i.e., very charming and friendly, and also mildly retarded, not totally verbal, and not always cooperative? He can participate in some activities with other children but needs a bit more attention and supervision."

In response to K.B., some families I know who need R&R for EVERYBODY locate summer camp programs for children/young adults with developmental disabilities, and then take a hotel room or B&B nearby as their home base. I know there's an integrated program called Kamp for Kids in Westfield, Mass. That takes kids ages 3 to 22 with even very profound disabilities AND their able-bodied brothers and sisters for non-stop activities, swimming, ropes course, etc., about a six-hour day, five days a week. Gives respite time to other family members to go do site-seeing and vegging-out in the Berkshires, where activities abound."

" Another family I know with a young teen with autism take a Special Friend for Max along with them on vacations, a college-age student hired from local special ed. program at teacher's college. This friend comes along for vacation expenses, pocket money and experience, in exchange for set number of hours a day of Power Vacationing with Max while mom reads a book by the pool. (-:Good luck!" - D.P.

D.P. provided us with an excellent recommendation. If anyone else knows of similar programs, please e-mail us at Brenda@SingleParentTravel.net. We will forward your suggestions on.

Oct. `02

K.B. writes "Hi Brenda, I have a teenage boy with special needs - his disability is developmental rather than physical as he is very hyperactive and has a low average IQ. I would love the opportunity to be with similar parents or hear from similar parents, as my son is exhausting to handle on a 24-hour basis. He is very curious, a really good traveler but needs constant activity: biking, swimming, playing ball, frisbee with no down time."

I certainly empathize with K.B. since both my kids have dyslexia. Both were hyperactive little kids. Now they are hyperactive big kids. In addition my son has ADD. (Attention Deficit Disorder). When my kids were little, I took them on a single parent family vacation to Europe for several weeks. I typed up a detailed itinerary chock full of lots of physical activities with no down time. Friends and family thought I was nuts but I knew that was what I had to do for them. We did not take time for naps; rather we stopped in a cafe mid-afternoon for a cold drink. During that time my son would chase the pigeons. He was almost always in motion. On occasion we would play a card game such as UNO, so as to give our feet a rest. We visited a lot of hands-on museums, especially transportation museums. Some of my early newsletters on itineraries, archived on my Web site, discuss this.