Around the Spectrum – Yes, You Can Go: Making Travel Possible for Families of Children with Autism (with Stephanie Peters)

Welcome And Why This Matters

Wendy 0:03

Hi, everyone. This is Wendy from Around the Spectrum. Welcome. This is where parents, pros, and those in between pull up a chair for honest conversations, grounded guidance, and real stories about raising and supporting children on the spectrum. I'm your host, Wendy Manganaro. As a parent, marketing leader, and longtime autism ally, I know how overwhelming and isolating this journey can feel. That's why we're here, because when we sit at the same table, we understand more and judge less. Let's get into today's episode. So today we're gonna be talking about Yes You Can Go! Making Travel Possible for Families of Children With Autism, and our guest today is Stephanie Peters. Stephanie spent 10 years as a special education teacher before turning her passion into a business helping families of children with autism travel. She creates destination-specific supports like social stories and communication boards so families can go to theme parks, cruises, resorts, and even Europe. Welcome, Stephanie. Thanks for being here today.

Stephanie Peters 1:06

Thank you so much for having me. I'm so thrilled to be here.

Wendy 1:09

I was so excited when I saw your request to come on the show, because one of the biggest things for families is this fear of taking their child outside. There is an honest fear that sometimes comes with behaviors, never mind traveling. That's just every day as you're going through the diagnosis, as you're going through what can I do, what can they do. This is great that this even exists. so, I would love to know from you, how this started, because you spent years as a special education teacher. What made you bring the two worlds together? I have really not heard of it.

From Special Education To Travel

Stephanie Peters 1:49

Yeah, absolutely so I, started my career, like you mentioned, in education. I thought I truly would be an educator my whole life. Absolutely just knew that was what I was gonna do when I was a little girl. And so, went to college, got my degree in elementary education. I taught, kindergarten for 10 years. Have my master's degree in curriculum and instruction, as well as endorsements in both special education and English language learners, so children that come to the United States not knowing any English, and how to best support them. I have always been blessed with wonderful children in my classes with all kinds of makeups, but autism definitely was prevalent in my classroom every single year of those 10 years. And so creating those supports to help those students be able to be successful in the classroom was a big part of my role. Towards the end of my teaching career, I actually became a travel agent on the side, honestly just for something fun to do. I love to travel with my family. I loved making memories and knew that I could help other families do the same, and I very quickly realized that no one was supporting, families with, autistic family members. It Was a really big light bulb moment for me because I'm like, "I'm doing this in the classroom every single day. Why is no one doing this to support travelers?" And so I started to create my own resources, to assist my families, and, eventually decided that, hey, this really needs my full attention. This needs my full energy, and this deserves it. And so- I ended up after a decade in teaching, I left to pursue, travel full time to support families on the spectrum, and that's what I do now.

Wendy 3:31

That is so incredible. And I wanna be, upfront with my listeners. I took my son everywhere. I didn't always like the behavior everywhere. We did lots of trips, but I couldn't tell you how many miles I put on my car 'cause my son was not a flyer. That was the one thing. I have driven from New Jersey to Arizona, New Jersey to, Texas, and to Florida. when we lived in Louisville, I was going back and forth. One of the first things that my son did once he could drive himself, it took a year extra to get that license, but he likes to be Mr. Independent, he Drove himself from New Jersey to Louisville, and I was like, "I can't believe I'm letting my 18-year-old do this". We'd have to plan where we would stay and how many stops and how long he could stay in the car and screen time versus other things. My son's a planner, everything has to be planned. So I think one of the biggest barriers is being able to do that plan and do it successfully. Now my son will get on a plane. He still prefers a car, but at least he'll get on the plane. But, what Barriers do you hear?

The Biggest Barriers To Traveling

Wendy 4:28

'Cause I'm sure it has a lot to do with the planning and the what happens once we're there and dysregulation and all of those things.

Stephanie Peters 4:36

Absolutely. And I Want to reassure your listeners, too, there's a staggering statistic. It's actually 89% of autism families choose to not travel due to lack of support. That is a huge number in my opinion, and, that's part of the reason why I do what I do is I think that number needs to be a lot lower. 89% is A big number. And so, it's so interesting the position I'm in because, they say you've met one child with autism, you've met one child with autism, and I think that goes the same with my autism families, and their different needs. So every family that comes to me truly has a different fear or a different barrier that they're trying to overcome with travel. So, right Off the bat is fear of the unknown. Those disrupted routines that they're gonna have. Anticipation of the crowds, transportation. Like you mentioned, we don't know how the plane's gonna go. We've never been on a plane. Just fear of the unknown is huge. Real concerns about things like sensory overload or communication. My child's non-verbal, how are they gonna communicate in a place we've never been? Parents just even carrying the mental load of it all. Planning a trip and having to have all these different things organized. Every family brings a different barrier or a different anxiety to me that I help them to overcome and show them that travel is possible.

Wendy 5:50

When I took my son to Disney, again, no flying, no rides. We were in the same bucket there. But I wanted to take him to Disney 'cause I thought he should have the experience at least once and we went. And back then they had the cards, thank goodness. That card game, we ran. I don't think I walked ever so much those three days we were there at the Magic Kingdom, but,, there was something for him to do. I'm sure you see one of the key things is to have the prep of what They can do before they go because that's part of the unknown. I had worked with a travel agent to go to Florida, I think it was for ride lines back then, but we didn't go on many rides anyway. We went, around the world, and a couple other little ones. but, his interest was pins and cards, right? That's what we did, and walking and finding the treasures from one thing to another. So, when you're planning out for a family, how do you get the interest so that you know that it will be... Especially if they're siblings. By the time I was taking my son, my other son was old enough that he wasn't interested in going. So, how Do you do that with siblings?

Matching Plans To Sensory Needs

Stephanie Peters 6:55

And that's... I really start every family off with a consultation call because I have to be able to learn about each family's specific needs. And to your point, within one family, there might be multiple children with autism, or there might be just the one child with autism, but you've got other children with other interests as well. And again, even within that one family, you can have children who are sensory-seeking and children who are sensory-avoiding. And so it's really this picture that I get to paint and put together to make sure that itineraries really match best for each individual family. When people come to me, they'll be like, "Well, tell me just the top three resorts, for, autism families." And it's it's not that simple. Are family sensory-avoiding? Are they sensory-seeking? And again, within that family, what does that family look like? Even with, cruising, different ships offer different things. Some ships are massive, some are small. Some go to lots of ports, some don't go to any ports. So, even matching the right cruise ship to each family and their needs and what's offered, I don't wanna say I have a gift of matching every family to the right fit, but I kind of do. And it's really just the knowledge base and the research that goes into it all. And having personally been to these locations too, to be able to speak to, wherever the family's specifically wanting to go.

Wendy 8:12

So, as I hear you talking about planning each family is different, if they have things like ABA, or OT, or an aide or a helper- Do you plan with the families with that? When we talk about, routines, we may do ABA a couple hours a day, or we have school a couple hours a day, how do you plan with that, too? I'm sure some families know if the child's people are there, it'll be a little better.

Stephanie Peters 8:40

Yeah, absolutely. So different avenues to this question, but the first, is working directly with, therapies in different centers, and I absolutely do that. And so,, families will let me know, "Hey, we're, visiting, this type of therapist, in the next couple of weeks." And so I'll actually send my resources to that family so then they can work on that, whether that's ABA or a different kind of therapy, so that they are fully prepared for that trip, whether that be those social stories, those communication tools that we have, even the Quiet Place park maps if they're going to a theme park. Being able to prepare ahead of time is huge. And then to go along with that, there are several families that will bring a nurse with them on their trip or will bring a familiar family nanny. But we also do have, nanny companies, all over the world, that I've done research on and interviewed to make sure that they're a good fit for autism families. And we'll just use Disney World as an example but if, for example, you're going to Disney World and you need some more hands-on support, whether that be in the theme park itself, whether that be you want your child to stay back at the resort and swim for the afternoon, and you and, your significant other can actually go have a quick date night or, whatever it may be, those supports exist also.

Wendy 9:58

Sometimes especially in the beginning of the journey, you're so overwhelmed with what do I even need to do? I have so many conversations, and my whole dissertation is on just to even navigate the information landscape of what to do to get Help for your child. I think the best thing my doctor, my son's pediatrician said to me was, "You have to get this child in the community." That is going to be this child's lifesaver. Despite the behaviors, and it wasn't easy. I've had lots of talks about how it's not easy when your son is tantruming or whatever the case may be. I'm not gonna say that it was, blissful moments going through it every single day, but there were some beautiful moments and some beautiful memories. It is very special, that whole memory of Disney and, him finding what works for him there. Tell me what you hear from your families that call you, is there trepidation because everything else has been so difficult sometimes to get help in.

Stephanie Peters 10:50

Yeah. And I think a lot of families almost get stuck in that rut of, we can't travel, and they feel guilty, that they're gonna miss maybe some therapy appointments while they're gone, or that they're, with siblings even, they're not giving every family member, an equal shot to explore the world and, explore different avenues of what the world has to offer. And so I think one of the biggest things to think through is, we can't make every part of travel predictable or like you're gonna see it online, I mean, be careful with those influencer videos that you might watch because, trips don't look like that. Whether you're an atypical family or a neurotypical family, trips don't actually look like that at the end of the day. But we can give children the tools they need to understand, what's going to be happening while they're traveling. Same thing with the therapies, they're there to support the child, to help them get to, that next step. Same thing with travel, we're gonna take that step to travel to show them part of the world, to have them experience new things, to practice those skills that they've been practicing in therapies and things. It's opening the door wide open to, experience all that the world has to offer.

Wendy 12:05

And I do love that, every child is different, so I should say just from my own experience, it helped my son tremendously with his confidence. I share this so that parents see. My child was told he'd never read and write, and at 18 it took him much longer to get his license, not because he couldn't drive, but because he couldn't pass the test because his processing took longer. He's actually a very good driver. I think that helped build his confidence, being able to take him to so many different scenarios. And sometimes I think when we get that autism diagnosis, we Think we have to shield our children from the whole world. And it's so hard when you're having judgments and I get that. I know, I felt it. But I love the idea of being able to give the child as much opportunity as their neurotypical siblings Because I think it's important, and it does help them in their own way, whatever way that is, communicate and see the world differently. My son has also never been on a cruise, but his mother hasn't either, I get seasick looking at a boat. So there's a reason for that, but maybe a family's hearing this and they're like, "Nope, Like mine. It was an emergency, that's how we found out he could get over his fear, 'cause we had somebody who was sick in another state, and I was like, "You gotta come with me. We gotta go," what are the options? Because I think that's what the other thing it might be scary is, you don't necessarily have to book a two-week cruise if that's your first time. That may not be where you start. Where Could families start?

Easy First Trips That Build Confidence

Stephanie Peters 13:25

Yeah, and I think I want families to know, too, travel is possible anywhere. I don't want them to feel limited.. And now granted, are we gonna go on a month-long European adventure- backpacking through the mountains? Probably not. That's probably not where we're gonna start, to your point. But,, the world really is wide open for travel. And again, it's just finding the supports to support them to make that possible. So, most families, I'll be honest, that, reach out start domestic. Makes a lot of sense, right? They want something that's, either close by, so even national parks are a great option. Theme parks are, tend to be a popular option just because, typically children like some sort of interest, whether that's a Disney princess or, Super Nintendo down there at Universal Studios. Theme parks can be really popular to get some children's interest included as well. lots of families will start even with a three-night cruise. We don't start with the 14-night, something crazy, unless you're really, confident about it. So starting small. Three, four-night cruises are great to get our feet wet, see that it's possible. Even just easy beach trips. South Carolina's great. Even down in Florida down there, just a typical beach trip down there is great. But all-inclusive resorts are great, too. And there are, different destinations, of course, that are starting now to become what they call autism-certified destinations. I think that's, where my- Role really comes into play because, even within those, of course, some are going to be better fits than others. And so having the knowledge base to know, each family's needs and which ones and resorts would match up. But I think, for destinations and even whole states are now going through these autism certifications, is a incredible step.

Wendy 15:12

That is incredible. I always say that there's so much more now that my son's older I would have loved to have when he was younger. There's still a lot of ways to go, but I think the conversation is happening in more places, and I think that's the most important thing. 'Cause as long as we keep talking about it, there's room for everybody to have the ability to be educated and learn what really is out there and what supports are needed. I'm, getting my, dissertation and unfortunately I read way too much research on this right now. As we talk about travel, and you mentioned it earlier, there is a new 2025 research out that says if you have one child with autism, a sibling's chances go from one in 31 to one in five. The study included families across the US, Europe, and Canada. I say that because, I think that's part of the thing how do you bring the family together in order to serve everybody in the family? And are you seeing that yourself when you deal with families and the travel? Do you feel like that's why things are moving toward this better things because people are realizing It's so needed right now

Stephanie Peters 16:22

I think just like anything, in the world, I think the more that, like you're saying, the more that people talk about it, the more people are gonna be curious about it, want to know how to help people. I like to think that people have good intention and they want to help those around them. And so, thinking through the increase in autism that we've been seeing and wondering, the why behind that, I think people are getting more curious about it, and they're wanting to understand. And so I think, the world is becoming a more accommodating place for all.

Reducing Parent Guilt And Pressure

Wendy 16:53

I hope that's the case. As we go through this new era of diagnosis I don't know if it wasn't there or we just finally have caught up to the fact that we need to be looking at it. One of the other things I wanted to ask you, is what can parents do for themselves as they get ready for this travel? Because there maybe a lot of guilt, or what-ifs. When you're talking to parents, things that you give them to do to help them relax more into this so it doesn't become just another stressful thing of check marks of, did I do this correctly? to be able to enjoy themselves, because I think that's important.

Stephanie Peters 17:28

No, it absolutely is. I think that's a big part of my role is really taking all of that off of their plate. And so making sure not only that they're meeting specific deadlines for whichever suppliers it is, but making sure that, the supports are there and in place. So for example, different destinations will have and offer some type of support for different things, whether that's eating at restaurants, riding on rides, whatever it may be. So educating and helping parents to understand that system, but then also providing my own to making sure that their trip is fully, prepared for and well-encompassed. I think it's just so important to remember that our children deserve, the best childhood possible, right? and that it's not just full of therapies and appointments and working towards that next milestone, but, it's really about going out and experiencing things. And honestly, I think families put so much pressure on themselves to make every experience that they do productive, and again working towards that next goal, whatever that may be, that sometimes they forget that it's okay to just- Simply enjoy time being together as a family, and not every experience needs a purpose behind it necessarily, or a therapeutic purpose. And so truly giving parents a vacation, children a vacation, caregivers a vacation, and prioritizing that for a minute, 'cause that's important, too.

Wendy 18:54

And I have one last question, and you can just in general tell me how you deal with this. My child for instance, he had extreme hyperactivity. He was a sensory seeker for sure. He'd walk into walls, he'd fall on purpose. He was just always seeking senses. And that could look very different when we were out sometimes, and a little odd. Plus, he didn't transition well until we taught him with storyboards and timers, and there was a lot that we went into being able to allow him to transition better. What advice would you give parents? I don't wanna say not care, 'cause you care. But not live in that guilt or that judgment so that they can have a, Better time?

Stephanie Peters 19:38

Yeah, I think this is a hard piece for sure, and I'll be honest, I don't think I have 100% good answer to just be like, "Do this and it'll all be fixed." I think every family handles it different, and I've- I've gotten feedback on that from families that will return from vacation, and they'll- they'll say things to me like, "Oh yeah, we were watched, the whole day" or, they'll... They might say things like that. And so I think different families take different approaches. I think, some take more of the educational route, and they'll educate others in the moment, which I think can be a great thing and impactful. And others, just hone in on, put that invisible bubble around you, handle what you're handling right now, and then you'll review it later. So I- I don- I don't know that there's a perfect right answer on how, like you're saying, to just say, "Just don't." 'Cause I think that's a natural human feeling, right? And that is definitely a valid feeling to have. And so I think just knowing you're not alone in that, you know- whether that's another autism family, whether that's of the person supporting you, through whatever you're going through, you're not alone in that feeling. And I think there's more good people out there that would like to help and, maybe they're looking, because maybe they can relate. Maybe they have a family member back at home that they're like, "Oh, maybe travel is possible for us too. Look at this family here, they're doing a great job." It could be all kinds of things but, yeah, not a perfect well-rounded answer, but I hope that answered your question

Wendy 21:02

no, it did, it is so personalized, and it always depended on if I had slept because, there was so much that would go on if I felt overly judged or I did not care in the moment. I think the one thing I had to learn was to give myself some grace in it. And that's the part that I think that matches the travel and as you said, which I think is a really important piece, you're always worried about your child's next milestone, if they're gonna make it, what'll happen if something happens to you, that you do sometimes, at least I did, forget to just be in the moment. regardless of what will happen tomorrow, and this is looking back with some perspective, like a neurotypical child, they only stay that small- And they only go through that phase during that time, and when it's done, it's done. So if you don't take the time sometimes to have some grace and do some fun things and not have to always be fixed on the goal, you'll miss those little moments with your child which are still special because they have different abilities like no other, right? And I think sometimes at least I did, I would be so busy worried about everything that I'd have to, tell myself to take the time to be in the moment and have the fun.

Stephanie Peters 22:12

I related a lot to, children's birthday parties, right? The person planning- has to worry about the food and the decorations and where are we gonna be and paying and all the things, but then once you get to the day of the party and you take a breath for a second, you're like, "Oh my gosh, this was just such a great day." You could relate that to- a lot of things I'm certain, but I think that same with vacation planning. There's a lot that goes into it. There's a lot of anxiety about I've gotta get all these things done ahead of time, I've gotta prepare all the things. But when you actually get there and take that step back and form some core memories, it's just such a beautiful thing,

Wendy 22:45

From a parent who did it, it is. I have lovely memories. So I took my son to Sedona, and, my girlfriend who lived there, we were there to visit her, and we went to a crystal store. And my son not only bought every crystal in the store because she was explaining the crystals to him, decided who needed what crystal based on their personality. I had never laughed so hard, 'cause my other girlfriend who also has a son on the spectrum, I came home and I'm like, "My son's gonna be giving your son amethyst. We went to this crystal store. He's now obsessed, there's no talking about anything else." And she was like, "Oh, he went a little man and came back a shaman." I'm like, "Yeah, that's pretty much what happened." Those crystals went everywhere with us for the next few years, but it was a great memory of him matching the crystals to who he thought needed it was funny.

How To Reach Stephanie

Wendy 23:31

So I wanna thank you so much, for being with us today. I'd love for you to tell the listeners, how to get in touch with you. I will also have all your information where you're listening to the podcast. You'll be able to find all our guest information.

Stephanie Peters 23:43

So I have a website for my agency. It's called Everwind Travel, it's www.everwindtravel.com, or it can always send me an email. It's stephanie@everwindtravel.com.

Wendy 23:55

Wonderful. Thank you so much again. This has been great.

Stephanie Peters 23:59

Thank you for having me. Yes, this was wonderful. Thanks, Wendy.

Wendy 24:02

And to everyone listening, remember that a diagnosis doesn't mean life stops. Thank you for spending time with us on Around the Spectrum. If this episode helped you, share it with a parent or professional who needs to hear it. Until next time, keep pulling up a chair.