About SEND Holidays
SEND Holidays was created due to a need identified by me, Marie, mum to Tommy, the most amazing little boy, that has his own special requirements that need considering when we're looking at going on holiday.
Let me introduce myself, I'm Marie mum to Tommy, and, with 20 years travel industry experience and being a mum to a child with severely complex needs, I've created SEND Holidays to help families find their perfect holiday, a holiday that really is suitable for their families with SEND.
I know exactly what it’s like travelling with a child that has SEND, from the moment you leave for the airport, to needing special assistance when you arrive at the airport, to having the right room and facilities whilst in resort, and thats where I come in by using my years of experience both as a travel professional and as a parent that lives this every day, I can help take that stress away!
About Tommy
So this little bundle of joy arrived on the 8th June 2017, making a huge entrance by emergency delivery!
Weighing 4lb 7lbs, the doctors soon realised that Tommy wasn’t as we say the ‘normal’ appearance of a new born baby, his facial features were very different with a little tiny low set ears and a very wide bridge of his nose and prominent forehead… however he was 100 percent a little fighter….
Loads of tests later and still no genetic result, fast forward the milestone stages, Tommy was late sitting up, late even rolling over and didn’t take his first steps until he was 3 years old. He never did the baby babble and he didn’t really even cry tears which I always wondered why?
Among all the loads of testing, they just put it down to 'global development delay', however, they soon realised Tommy had sensory problems. He used to rub his head against cold floors and cold surfaces, this was a default occurrence, fast forward to age 3 1/2 and Tommy had his first epileptic seizure while scared the hell out of us and his 3 siblings (they're all older with a 9 year gap between Tommy and his next sibling!)
He was then diagnosed with epilepsy which caused us so much worry and we literally wrapped him in cotton wool as we all need to do when they are our precious little ones.
Finally a genetic diagnosis, that had 'only' taken 6 years to arrive, showed that Tommy has a rare genetic syndrome called mn1, only 30 people in the whole world have been reported to have this! This means that Tommy is unlikely to ever be able to speak, has problems with his hearing and his mobility is very touch and go, he falls over a lot!
Tommy cannot feed himself and is extremely funny with textures. Due to this, the risk of choking is very high and he can’t seem to chew properly which can have its problems going anywhere!
So that’s Tommy in a nutshell and his medical journey so far, BUT he is the most content, happy little soul, his smile lights up any room and melts everyone’s hearts, and his laugh is contagious.
Tommy’s favourite pastime, and thing to do, is lo and behold, go on holidays! From the moment Tommy sees the airport throughout the whole time he is just so happy, his excitement is something else and all he really wants to do is swim, run around and of course dance, he likes to move to the beat! Of course his trusted tablet is always in tow and is a lifeline for us as a family as I’m sure many of you parents and carers of send children and teens are familiar with!