Beaches Resorts ~ Camp Sesame Special Needs

Being a special needs parent is definitely unique. While most days it really doesn’t phase me. I’m blessed that my daughter is higher up on the autism spectrum. However, when it comes to activities and inclusion, ughhh!!!! This is the one area that really makes my heart ache. My daughter misses out on so much. Camps are too scared to take special needs kiddos no matter how high functioning they are. She “can’t” play certain sports. After school programs? Unless I’m wanting to pay out of pocket for an aide to attend or attend myself until the program feels confident she can do things on her own (I’ve done this with many activities, just call me the assistant teacher/coach lol), we are out of luck! While most parents send their kids off to camps and sports during school break to chill with their peers, us special needs parents are pretty much with our kiddos 24/7! As much as I love my daughter, 24/7 around anyone will eventually drive you mad!

When my husband and I first found out that ALL Beaches Resorts are IBCCES certified and everyone is included in everything, even the included in your fees kids camp ?!?! We didn’t believe it! We could run away to the tropics during school breaks AND my daughter can chill with other kids while hubby and I actually get some alone, one on one time?!?! I swear I reread the Camp Sesame page on the Beaches Resorts website 1000 times thinking there was a catch. THER HAD TO BE A CATCH!!!! This could not be real!!??!?

I’m here to say it’s 100% legit!!!! We went to Beaches Resorts Turks & Caicos and lived like a normal family for an entire week!!!! No one asked 72892 questions. No one glared at us. My daughter had the opportunity to take part in every kids activity the resort had to offer!!!! She had a blast!!! My husband and I had a blast!!! We all had a blast!!!
​When Beaches says that "The Resorts for Everyone" they mean it!

Camp Sesame

Camp Sesame is the children’s camp at Beaches Turks & Caicos open from 9am-9pm.Beaches team members have the requisite knowledge, skills, temperament, and expertise to cater to ALL children, including those with autism and other special needs, and offer age‐specific programs for infants, toddlers, pre‐teens and teens!!! At Camp Sesame, kids can truly have a blast and splash the day away in toddler pools, go on a shell collecting hunt, have their face painted, go on treasure hunts, watch puppet shows, costume time, magic shows, sand castle building just to name a few. My daughter even had the opportunity to celebrate Elmos birthday with cake and all!!!

Ibcces Certified

Beaches is the first resort company in the world to complete the rigorous IBCCES training and Autism Certification! Beaches is proud to offer families like my own and others with children with autism and other special needs specialized service, engaging activities and custom dining options so that all families may enjoy a memorable, award-winning Beaches Luxury Included experience.

Personal Experience

If you made it this far in the post, I’m sure this is what you have been waiting for! Our experience!

We did email Beaches Resorts concierge for info on Camp Sesame the week before our trip. We wanted to be as prepared as we possibly could! They sent us a two page questionnaire asking everything they possibly needed to know about my daughter and her diagnosis. Apparently they even cater to dietary needs! Honestly I loved that everything the certified nannies could possibly ask me was on those two sheets of paper meaning they wouldn’t have to ask me anything! I filled them out and sent them back ASAP.

When we arrived at Camp Sesame the staff already had our paperwork on hand. You just need to have your child’s passport with you to prove identity so do not leave the passport I the room.

This is when I got scared. Right off the bat, I was offered one on one nanny services for $15hr. Ummmm I like to think I’m successful and make decent money, but that was not budgeted at all. I was thinking to myself omg here is the catch!!!Once I stated I wasn’t interested and only wanted Camp Sesame they quickly changed the subject. I’m guessing they try to make a sale with everyone so do not get alarmed as I did! I almost had a heart attack lol.

We packed a backpack with a change of clothes, swim suit, sun screen, left it with staff with my phone number and off we went.

Not a single text!!! We went back several hours later after a fun day at the pool and as we arrived we saw my daughter giggling and smiling away before she spotted us!!!! She was truly having fun!

We picked her up and she did not want to leave. She celebrated Elmos birthday. She’s obsessed with Elmo! She swam in the kiddie pool out back! When I asked about her behavior I was told she did great and if there were any issues with other kids being curious. My daughter is “nonverbal” so questions were asked about this, they simply took my daughter out of the situation to do something super fun while they explained things to the kiddo asking the questions and then brought everyone back together to play! I loved this! A very good way to make sure everyone was truly having a blast all day long and my daughter did not have to witness “the conversation”.

There are also several nannies to care for the kiddos. I’m assuming someone was most likely assigned to my daughter to make sure she had an extra set of eyes on her if she was really that well behaved.

My daughter is 7 years old and we did however place her in the 5 year old camp. My daughter still loves Sesame Street and personality-wise relates to toddler better, so we all agreed this was the route to take. So if you have a kiddo and would feel more comfy if they were placed in the younger camp, they welcome it! Actually, I think they were re leaved I made the suggestion at drop off! Makes their job easier I’m sure! Plus, it gave this mama peace of mind! I know she gets along with younger kids great!

My daughter went back for a second day and had just as much fun! She made cookies with Cookie Monster!! Total bragging rights there!! It was truly a dream come true for her to take part in something fun while my husband and I had just as much fun together spending one on one time together as well! Thank you Beaches Resorts for thinking about EVERYONE and making sure all inclusive really is for everyone!!! Literally a special needs family dream vacation!

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