Like me, chances are you or someone you know is diagnosed or has a family member with an intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) or is on the autism spectrum. When my son Alex was diagnosed as autistic, travel wasn’t at the top of my list of concerns. However, we soon found that when we did travel, he needed more attention than his siblings. Making our home safer and comforting to his needs was easy, but we never knew what challenges lie ahead when arriving at an unfamiliar travel destination. So, like most travelers, we just winged it, adapting along the way hoping for the best.
Now 25 years later, the world is finally giving thought to travel accommodations for this demographic of disability. Short-term vacation rental property owners are making their properties more accommodating for those living with autism/IDD by making their properties safe and more welcoming. Even small changes such as muted color schemes, soft corner furniture, simple door alarms, and black out curtains in bedrooms go a long way in alleviating worry for a traveling family.
When we at Becoming rentABLE were creating our short-term rental accessibility search criteria, we made sure to include an “Autism/IDD friendly” search filter. This search criteria is a first in the short-term vacation rental industry. Properties specifically providing accommodations for those who have intellectual and developmental disabilities will show up in a filtered search on our site, and we are searching for more to list. Now, families like mine can be more confident in booking travel arrangements with such properties.
For more information on making your property autism/IDD friendly, please see our blog “8 Short-Term Rental Considerations for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disability”. In that article, you’ll see accommodation tips about topics such as emergency contacts, safety, security, sound insulation, and lighting as well as other considerations. Accommodations addressing these concerns will go a long way in creating a welcome and safe environment for your guests. Perhaps you already have some of them in place at your short-term rental? If your property is autism/IDD friendly, let us know so we can get your property listed on our site.
And remember, making your short-term rental accessible is not only good for those with a disability; it’s good business for you.
For more information on short-term rental properties, visit www.BecomingRentABLE.com.
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