Autism friendly holiday

Health Care & Carte Vitale
1

Hello all. My very good friend and neighbour back home would like to take a holiday in France with husband and 3 young children. The eldest lives with autism, so I'm wondering does anyone have any suggestions. Below is her query put on Facebook this morning. Any suggestions or advice gratefully received. Thanks.



Some help please facebookers. We are thinking of the previouslly unthinkable. Heading abroad for a family holiday. This is the first time and we are understandably nervous. With that in mind here are the criteria. We are thinking France, ferry and within 200kms of ferry port, self catering, safe and preferably near beach/beaches. sleeping 6 and not sharing facilities with other families. Oh yeah it can't cost a fortune!!! Answers on a postcards please......
2

Again Neill thank you very much. Very good of you to remember. I have emailed my friend and passed along the link. Cheers!

3

Hi Sheila, coincidentally someone has just contacted us from this website: http://bespokefrance.co.uk/.

They have someone who would like to book our gite and when I checked the website, it seems ideal for your friends as well, they will have much more understanding of their requirements than I do.

4

Hi Neill. Thanks very much for taking the time to reply. I will pass on your suggestion to my friend. I don't know how well her son is doing, as we haven't seen them for nearly a year, but I think socialising is a bit difficult for him. And we are too far south also.

5

Hi Sheila,

firstly, can't help with accommodation as I'm probably too far south. Secondly, this isn't my area of expertise, our accommodation is set up primarily for guests with physical accessibility issues but some of my last few years' research may help. Here's a link to a site that should be a good starting point: http://www.tourisme-handicaps.org/. It is all in French, so if your friend needs a quick summary, I should be able to provide one. The "Label Tourisme et Handicap" section explains the label that properties CAN apply for (not obligatory at all, I haven't applied) if they offer facilities for any of the "quatre principales déficiences" physical, mental, aural and visual. I am using their words and terminologies by the way, which are more "matter of fact" than politically correct, their use of the words 4 principal deficiencies would not go down too well in the UK!

This site is as I say only a starting point, finding suitable accommodation is the next challenge. Some letting agencies do have search facilitis for wheelchair access for example but this wouldn't help your friend too much. If you can be a little more specific as to her requirements, or if she wants to contact me directly, I may be able give her some more help.

Bon courage,

Neill.