Neurodiversify Your Summer Travel
This month we talk about navigating summer vacation in a way that works for the needs of you and your learner.
Hello Gifted Guides!
We’re so glad you’re here! An extra special hello goes out to all our new friends from this year’s ASCA conference! If you’re looking for program info, you’ll find that at the bottom of this newsletter.
How are you doing?
Last month, we talked about how to move through the days of Summer Break in a way that supports your learner’s needs. We discussed how changes in schedule, routine, and rhythm can be overwhelming, and how to address or minimize such overwhelm.
As I’m sure many Gifted Guides will attest, it is one thing having to navigate a change in routine while in a known, familiar environment, and it is quite another to navigate a change in routine while also being in a new, unfamiliar environment.
That is, it is likely easier to navigate the school-to-summer transition and routine change at home, as opposed to navigating brand new transitions (ex. from activity to activity, from preferred task to non-preferred task) while in a new environment on vacation.
Why is that?
Well, for one reason, home has certain routines, rhythms, and expectations. These are likely known to your learner (even when they require nudges and reminders to remember that they know these expectations). Even when school is taken out of the routine for summer, your learner is still familiar with the routines and expectations around things like chores, meal times, play times, etc.
Because of this familiarity with other parts of the “typical” home routine, your learner will have some touchstones and structure to help them adjust during the school-to-summer transition.
However, summer vacation can look quite different.
If your family visits the same summer vacation spot every year, or on a somewhat frequent basis, it is likely easier for the family to adjust to that location and rhythm, as it is a known environment, and there are likely shared expectations within family about how you will all exist in this place.
Is there an ice cream shop you visit every summer while visiting this place? Do you start every day with a specific summer breakfast? Is there a specific time of day that you tend to reserve for swimming? Another time of day set aside for individual hobbies? For rest?
If your learner has experienced a place before, it is likely to be at least a bit easier for them to readjust to that space, and associated routines and expectations, in the future. However, if you’re visiting a new place, that might be a bit harder for your learner to know how to navigate.
Guiding your learner through summer vacations is not a new topic for Guiding Gifted. In the past, we’ve talked about why vacations can be challenging for neurodivergent travelers, and we’ve talked about how to find accommodations that will fit your learner’s needs.
Below, we’ve collected some articles to help you and your learner navigate your summer vacation experiences with more knowledge, confidence, and communication. We’ve divided the articles into two groups: resources to help navigate planning the vacation and resources to help navigate the vacation itself.
Making the Vacation Plan
Articles from the Davidson Institute Resource Library:
“Tips for Parents: Your Family, Your Terms: Navigating Extended Family When You’re Raising a PG / 2e Child” - Debbie Reber, MA
“Tips for Parents: More Than Keeping the Peace: Nurturing Healthy Sibling Relationships in PG and 2e Families” - Debbie Reber, MA
“Family Meetings: Why They Are Important and How-To Do Them” - Catherine Gruener, MA, LCPC, NCC
Accommodating the Vacation
“Supporting Your Gifted Child’s Unique Interests: A Practical FAQ Guide” - Davidson Institute
“Traveling with Neurodivergent Youth” - Livia Cheung, MA
“Travel for Neurodivergent Families: How to Enjoy a Family Vacation Without ADHD or Autistic Parent Burnout” - Corrie Goldberg, PhD
“7 Tips for Neurodivergent Travelers” - Jamie Davis Smith
As ever, please take what you need and leave the rest, as you read through these articles. Don’t forget that you also have all of your own Gifted Guide experience as well. You know your learner, your family, and yourself. You know what has helped during previous periods of transition. You know the routines and rhythms of your learner, your family, and yourself. That is expertise that no external article or resource could hope to approximate.
Conclusion
Whether this is your first issue with us or if you’ve been here since the beginning, we are grateful to be part of your advocacy community, and we’re here to support you how we can.
If you’re in one of our programs already, you know there are lots of resources for you to access via our private, member’s only website.
If you’re not currently participating in one of our programs, there is still a wealth of information and support available to you. Check out our Resource Library or our free resource guides or any of our other curated resources (like our Spotify and YouTube playlists or our Bookshop.org reading lists).
Finally, a fundamental part of advocacy is making sure basic needs—like food and shelter—are being met for both us and our learners. If you or someone you know might need extra support, findhelp.org may be a useful resource. It can also help you find organizations to support, if you’re in a position to help others.
We are wishing you and your learner a wonderful summer vacation, whether you’re traveling far or camping out in your backyard or in a living room blanket fort. We’ll see you back here in August!
What’s New at the Davidson Institute?
Apply to Young Scholars!
If you’re interested in joining the Young Scholars program, you can learn more and start your application today! Get started by visiting our How to Apply page!
If you want to learn more about our program, explore our website, or register for our upcoming virtual Application Q&A. Our next Q&A is taking place on September 21, at 4pm (Pacific). Does that time not work for you? Don’t worry. If you register for the event, you’ll receive a recording of the Q&A.
Testing Opportunities – Join the Fall Waitlist!
Through our partnership with Northwestern University’s Center for Talent Development, throughout the year, we are able to offer low cost, remote testing for students in grades 3-10.
This testing can be used to apply to the Davidson Institute’s Young Scholars program, along with the Davidson Academy, Reno and Davidson Academy Online.
To learn more and join the Fall testing waitlist, check out our Eligibility Assessment page today!
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We’ll see you next month. Stay well, Gifted Guides!