Spectrum Holidays
Spectrum Holidays is charity that provides sensory friendly adapted holiday homes for autistic people, their families and/or carers.
Spectrum Holidays is a registered charity (number 1202291) short respite breaks for disabled children. We currently have 2 holiday homes in Northumberland which have been adapted to meet the needs of our beneficiaries and include a sensory area, sensory equipment and communication resources. We also work with existing holiday home owners and organisations to help make their properties more accessible to autistic people.
Autistic people can sometimes find it difficult to process sensory information around them and often struggle with any change to their usual routine – this can make a holiday, with a change of environment, very challenging for them. Any of the senses can be under or over sensitive – or both at different time, which can lead to increased anxiety and extreme emotional responses (also known as meltdowns) We help by providing all holiday homes on our website with a "Spectrum Pack" which is filled with the sensory tools needed to help manage anxieties and provide a way of regulating sensory input while on holiday. We also design and produce personalised visual stories and countdown calendars to help prepare the autistic person for their holiday.
Many of the families that contact us have never been able to holiday together as a family due to the needs of the disabled child not being met in mainstream holiday accommodation and parents often have to holiday individually, so the needs of siblings are also met. At Spectrum Holidays we believe that holidays should be accessible to everyone and create a holiday experience that the whole family can enjoy.