Welcome to SpecialGlobe!! I am truly
amazed that you are here. I am truly amazed that SpecialGlobe is
here. I am truly amazed that together we are going to change the
lives of million of families.
I was incredibly fortunate as a child
and young adult to be able to travel around the world. Those
experiences have had a profound affect on who I am today and how I
look at the world. I always knew that when I had children of my own
that I would want to give them those same experiences. Giving my
children those same experiences became a little more difficult when
at the age of one, my daughter Eliza was diagnosed with atypical Rett
syndrome. The doctors told me that she would never walk or talk. It
was, as many mother's and father's who have heard those same words
know, devastating. Life lost it's color for a moment but only for a
moment as I made a decision right there and then to never let that
diagnosis define my daughter or the life that she would live. I am so
fortunate that today at the age of 7, Eliza has far surpassed those
early expectations. She joins her friends on the soccer field, she
swims whenever she has a chance and she even ran a 1.2 mile run to
raise money for Rett Syndrome this last fall. She requires one to one
assistance but she talks more and more each day and she not only
walks but she runs!
The story of how SpecialGlobe came into
existence is a magical one. It all began June 5th when I
was awoken in the night to a voice that said “SpecialGlobe”. It
woke me from a sound sleep and I sat awake for a few hours wondering
what SpecialGlobe was. Certainly nothing like that had ever happened
to me.I finally fell back to sleep but thought of it again in the
morning when I woke. I went downstairs and turned on my computer and
proceeded to google “SpecialGlobe”. Nothing came up and so I then
went to GoDaddy.com and typed in the domain name and a wonderful and
life changing message came across the screen that said you can buy
this domain for $11.49. I bought it on the spot.
From there I set out to discover just
what SpecialGlobe was. It did not take me very long to put together
the pieces of that message I had received that night. It was so
natural for me to tie together my extraordinary passion for travel
and my personal experience of being a mother to a special needs
child. I knew from my own personal experience that there were not a
lot of resources out there for parents like me who wanted to travel.
Planning a trip would take days of curating information specific to
Eliza's needs. There was also always this nagging feeling that I get
whenever I take here somewhere. You know that feeling, that feeling
that my daughter is bothering the typical people around her. I
recently read a beautiful article in Huffington Post titled “Dear
Daddy in Seat 16C
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shanell-mouland/dear-daddy-in-seat-16c_b_4585865.html.It is a story of Mother traveling with her 3 year old daughter with
Autism on a plane. The mother is writing to a kind man who sat next
to her daughter. Apparently her daughter called him Daddy, rubbed his
arm, shared her toys with him and ultimately had a complete breakdown
on the plane and wanted to get off. All the while this man never got
angry or upset. Instead he was kind and communicative and
understanding. The mother speaks of her relief of not having received
“The Look” from him. For not having to apologize for her
daughter's behaviors as she has so many times before. I have been
that mother a hundred times,perhaps even a thousand. Eliza is this
wonderfully social and loving little being who will hug anyone that
crosses her path. She is curious and excitable and I have received
that look too many times already. For many parents, the fear of not
being welcomed and accepted has forced them to stay at home. I have
spoken to many parents through this process and many have said that
they are a family divided. While one parent remains home with the
special needs child the other takes the remaining siblings on
vacations. This is no way to build family memories.
So we set out to create a site that
would allow parents the ability to book flights, review hotels, share
their experiences and learn from other parents through forums and
user generated reviews. We also wanted to develop destination guides
that would include comprehensive information about special needs
travel. Where to stay, where to eat, what wonderful activities would
be available to you that your whole family could enjoy, where are the
hospitals, where are the pharmacies, where can I get a beach scooter,
where can I get a certified aid that could help my family while on
vacation in each of these locales and much much more. It is our
intent here at SpecialGlobe to gather any and all information about
special needs travel under one roof where you can take your time to
review and make decisions about what's right for your family. It is
my hope that through this information, SpecialGlobe will allow you
the courage and empower you to think beyond what you thought might be
possible for your family and thus give you the tools to start
building new memories that the whole family will remember and cherish
for a lifetime.
I hope you will join me on this
mission. I know I can not do it without you. Your voice is so
important in this sea of change that we are working to implement
around the globe.
Let's start building our passports
together!
Meghann Harris
Senior Founder and CEO SpecialGlobe
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