Travels with a developmentally disabled child

Saturday, September 27th, 2008 | Accessible Travel

Because we live in Alaska, far from much of our family, far from Quincy’s pediatric neurologist, and far from parts of the United States that actually enjoy HOT summer weather, we have always been ones to travel. Travel for Alaskans is quite different than travel for anyone living in what we call “the Lower 48″. We put down an insane number of miles in a single day. Heck, my husband drives 100 miles every day just to get to work!! You simply cannot live up here if you do not like to travel. However, with Quincy travel is complicated. Plane trips are very difficult…security is a hassle because she is in wheelchair and must be hand scanned, seating on a plane is difficult because she requires lateral supports and a chest harness to keep her safe, and finally, the biggest challenge of all is that there is no place on an airplane to change a diaper on a teenage girl. So, you have to plan air travel around meals, you have to cut back on her intake of fiber and fluids to try to reduce the risk of having to change her, and you have to swaddle her in multiple layers of diapers. Then, of course, flights get delayed, seats get changed, you can find yourself sitting on the tarmac for hours waiting to take off…all of these uncontrollable variables have both made my husband and I use plane travel only as a last resort. Instead, we have chosen to be self-contained and travel in a motorhome. It certainly is an expensive way to go these days with the price of gas in Alaska at $4.20/gallon, but it’s fun, it’s not stressful and we are in control and that is worth everything. After all, if Rob and I are stressed it affects the entire family in a negative way. We have learned that taking care of our level of comfort is equally important to taking care of Quincy’s. As I continue with this blog I will share more about the details of how we travel in an RV with Quincy and all the incredible places we have been able to take her. Today we are winterizing our rig and putting it away for the winter and it prompted me to make mention of it…to start a conversation about this great vehicle that has allowed us to do so much together as a family. A motorhome obviously isn’t for everyone but the idea of travelling with a disabled child in a way that is self-contained is probably something many families have learned to do, be it in an RV, a mini-van, or whatever works. Our children need space, they need to be able to have their positions changed, they need to eat special foods, take meds and rest. They have equipment they must travel with and they have their own schedules. Little of this is conducive to the craziness and unpredictability of air travel. The more we are able to do on our own, the happier we are and the happier we are the braver we become to see new places and experience new things. We’ve found that we are not limited in our ability to travel with Quincy, but just as with everything else in her life we must go at our own pace. That is the beautiful freedom our motorhome has given us.

Tags: travel