Additional Tip For Traveling With A Special-Needs Child
I cannot tell you how thrilled I was to see the article in the March 2024 issue about tips for traveling with a child (or even adult) who has special needs. This is the first time I’ve seen an article on this topic, and I found it to be very helpful. We’ve been figuring it out on our own when traveling with our 6-year-old nonverbal grandson who has autism. We’ve had some great successes and some epic fails but have learned much and enjoyed (almost) every minute he’s traveled with us.
I have one suggestion that is not mentioned in your article. Our grandson, like many people with autism, tends to run off unexpectedly from time to time. It’s called “elopement” in special-needs jargon. There are a variety of tracking devices available to help you locate a lost loved one in an emergency.
When camping in an unfamiliar place, the risk of losing him is even greater than at home. He loves the wide-open spaces of camping! We’ve found a wonderful solution in AngelSense, a GPS tracker for children and adults who wander. You can learn more at angelsense.com. This is certainly not the only solution to this problem, and there are other options out there. Some of the options are free and are administered by local public-safety agencies (police, sheriff, etc.). After a lot of research, we decided a paid subscription to AngelSense was the best one for us and our boy.
Our traveling buddy has been welcomed and accepted by kind campers up and down the East Coast. It’s our hope to take him to more new places as he gets older. It’s a blessing to know we can find him if he wanders, and this allows us to relax a little and enjoy the RV experience even more.
— Ann Yanchura
West Palm Beach, Florida
We want to hear from you! Family RVing welcomes comments about articles published in the magazine or topics of interest to RV owners. Gestures of kindness you’ve experienced or witnessed. An opportunity you had to do something for someone else that you’d like to share, in hopes of inspiring others to do something similar. Or just observations you have made. We’d love to hear your stories.
Email all letters for this column to readerswrite@fmca.com or mail to Readers Write, FMCA, 8291 Clough Pike, Cincinnati, OH 45244. Please include your name, city, and state/province. Letters may be edited for space or clarity.