Best Vacation Therapy Options

Therapy is a common everyday task when you are home. One day may be filled with occupational therapy and physical therapy. The next day, there may be another therapy appointment or a doctor’s visit. All these appointments stop when you venture out on a family vacation. This time away from home may allow you to get a break. However, your autistic child may not love the change from your usual routine. This is why you may want to consider a little vacation therapy for your family member with autism or another disability. There are a few different vacation therapy options available. I am going to share the best ones with you today.

Best Vacation Therapy Options for Autistic and Disabled People

Hippotherapy

Hippotherapy allows people with disabilities to work with a horse during their therapy. However, it is slightly different from equine therapy. Hippotherapy actually utilizes equine movement to engage cognitive, neuromotor, and sensory systems.

During a five-minute session, neuromotor inputs for a person are high. This is due to a horse walking approximately one hundred steps per minute. During all those steps, five hundred neuromotor inputs are received by the person on the horse.

The hippotherapy sessions are normally between fifteen and twenty-five minutes. That’s a lot of neuromotor input for such a short session.

Physical strength can be built while sitting on the horse. Muscles will be toned from sitting and riding the horse too. Communication skills can improve while learning how to communicate with the horse.

Adding hippotherapy to your vacation can be quite beneficial to your child. It allows them to keep up with their therapy sessions and continue to improve the skill sets they have been working on.

Dolphin Assisted Therapy

Autistic families, and families with special needs, will love participating in dolphin assisted therapy while on vacation. There are quite a few dolphin assisted therapy organizations available. These organizations offer different types of therapy programs to fulfill the needs of everyone who visits.

You can easily choose the therapy session that meets the needs of your family. If you are unsure of which therapy might be best, we can always contact the organization and have them guide us in the right direction.

Play Therapy

Autistic children normally play on their own. They don’t venture out of their comfort zone. Instead, they stick to what they know. While you may be working on this during therapy sessions at home, you can encourage play therapy during your vacations.

Start by finding a children’s museum or other interactive attraction at your vacation destination. Then watch as your autistic child plays with other kids. Or mimic what your child’s therapist does at home by playing with them if you see they are struggling.

Music Therapy

It is a little more difficult to find music therapy while on vacation. However, if you plan your vacation in a music destination like Nashville, you will have an easier time. There are dozens of places where you can sit and listen to music while in Nashville.

You may even want to plan a vacation where your family can try out different musical instruments. I like to consider what my boys are interested in and then plan therapy sessions from there.

Recreational Therapy

While on vacation, you may have the chance to participate in activities that qualify as recreational therapy. Cooking classes, art classes, and dance classes are only some of the activities you may be able to choose from during your vacation.

Having your child participate in sports or a community outing also qualifies as recreational therapy.

All these activities will have your child practicing their social skills while working on their occupational skills. It is a great way to incorporate learning and play while completing therapy.

These are some of the best vacation therapy options for autistic and disabled people. You can easily add them to your itinerary during an amazing vacation in the destination of your dreams. I would love to help you find the vacation therapy options that will benefit your family the most during your time away from home. Contact me to see how I can not only find the best vacation therapy options but also plan the rest of your next vacation. The result will be the therapy time your child needs, as well as an adventure you will remember forever.