Blake family first vacation ever with Autism on the Seas

Every day we live with the direct effects of autism. The challenges are great and require a constant devotion from each family member, with some days requiring more energy than others. Amelia has blessed us with so many wonderful moments but has changed the way we are able to approach events that others are able to do on a regular basis. Autism affects us as a family mentally, physically, emotional and financially. We haven’t actually ever had a true family vacation together! We've been to special needs horse camp, but even that is filled with OT and it is a lot of work for both Amelia and I. I want so badly to give my girls the world, but to be honest many times I struggle just to keep us afloat. I try my hardest but there is only so much I can do alone. They deserve to have some fun and experience adventure.

Autism on the Seas is a non-profit company that allows families like ours to experience a vacation that at one time we would have imagined to be impossible. They arrange specific special needs accommodations with the cruise lines and they provide professionally qualified staff to assist us with expedited port check-in, meal assistance, pool time supervision, beach excursions, respite (time for Amelia and Magnolia to be well cared for while I can practice a little bit of self care), and many other perks and assistance. Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}