Additional need's and travel

Mkchalloner

My partner and 2 children who both have ADHD and aspergers and my older son suffers with severe anxiety have a holiday booked in Spain we are due to fly at the end of August and have had it booked before the Corona Virus hit us I was just wondering if anyone could help my older son at the beginning of the virus had really bad anxiety and was convinced we were going to get Corona Virus and die he has trouble being separated from me and due to this school suggestion was to keep him and home because he was very distressed we haven't left the house in month's now only to play on the back garden but he is adamant we can't go away because of the virus everytime I mention the holiday he panics do you think we would be able to cancel and get a refund and if so who would you speak to I'm going to ring the aspergers helpline on Monday to try and get some advice I was just wondering if anyone had any helpful advice please one stressed mummy here 😢

[Deleted User]

 Do you have insurance that covers their medical needs ie you declared it when buying?

[Deleted User]

Can empathise with you Mkchalloner (have child with similar in family).      Who did you book through?   As it stands the holiday does look likely to go ahead although nobody knows if ALL people will be able to go (i.e. if planes will be flying to capacity or leaving some seats free).    You would need to wait to see how it pans out.

My gut feeling is I don't think you would be able to cancel and get a refund if you cancel yourself.  Have you looked to see what the t's and c's say about cancellation charges?   

Sadly am also thinking any insurance would not be an option, as your son already had Aspergers when you took it out. No harm in checking though.

Your best bet would be if you could defer the holiday but I know it is difficult speaking to anybody.

Other than that, and I appreciate just how difficult it might be, but might you be able to reassure your son that things are all great now as the Government have said it is fine to travel.   All depends how old he is for that one.   Ours is 8 and he gets anxious but can be quickly diverted.  The biggest challenge would be to get him to wear a mask but I think there are exceptions in place for such circumstances.   Not looked into it in details.     

Good luck and hope it all works out o.k. for you.

Mkchalloner

We have insurance and I declared their additional need's I don't even know if we would even get him on the plane without him getting too anxious he's petrified about the whole situation he's 10 and we've tried practicing wearing the mask but that's not going well either 

sue1976

I would look into your insurance and see what details are on your policy. My 12 year old son who has autism said that he wouldn’t get on a plane. He was also worried about the tests that he’d have to do once we arrived in Greece. Luckily our holiday (at the end of July) has been cancelled. 

Mkchalloner

Thanks I'm going to try and speak to someone tomorrow from the holiday company and hopefully try and get some answers 

spiro

Given you have a couple of months and your insurance is unlikely to coveer you, I would try getting your son to go out more and more each day even if you just start by going into the front garden so he gets used to seeing other people around. The longer it goes on the more it will take to get him back to normal.

pattycake

If your holiday operator is Tui, you can amend the holiday to a later date without charge up to the end of August.  Better than losing the whole cost although if the new holiday is more expensive, you would be liable for the additional cost.  Any extra would not have to be paid until nearer the new departure date.  

We are all hoping that the situation will have been resolved by next summer.

[Deleted User]

 I don't see why insurance wouldn't  cover you. You paid extra to cover their needs. Which applies from when you buy it until your holiday ends

elsien

Mkchalloner said:

We have insurance and I declared their additional need's I don't even know if we would even get him on the plane without him getting too anxious he's petrified about the whole situation he's 10 and we've tried practicing wearing the mask but that's not going well either 

It's too  big a step for him to think about going on holiday when you've not left the house for months.
You have two months yet  before you have to go. Time to start getting out and about and doing normal things so that he can see the world isn't the big scary place he's built it up to be at the moment.
Is he someone that social stories would work with? 

[Deleted User]

_shel said:

 I don't see why insurance wouldn't  cover you. You paid extra to cover their needs. Which applies from when you buy it until your holiday ends

It might depending on what they agreed to, and whether the insurance specifically insured against disinclination to travel because of a certain condition, whether it covers the whole party etc.

Not wishing to upset original poster in any way but I wouldn't give false hope either.   I would love to be proved wrong.