This past Thanksgiving weekend, we decided to visit where I work, Seven Springs Mountain Resort. I work as a Conference Service Manager at the resort in a hybrid capacity, so I travel to the resort a couple days a week. Friday, I was going to be working in the office and my parents were going to bring up Keelan, Zach, and Brooke later in the day. As I was preparing to leave for the resort, I struggled. What started out as (2) small suitcases, turned into a small tote bag and cooler as well plus a few other key essentials. See, we were going to spend (1) night at the resort and enjoy all the holiday cheer that was planned. BUT, Keelan was going to need food, drink, and his favorites to sleep/play. There is not a DQ between our home and resort and not any real close to the resort. So I packed some last minute items. It was like I never packed for him before. I make the trip to the resort several times a week, but never overnight with Keelan and I had forgotten I would need extra supplies.
This was eye opening on my end though. See, I’ve been working on a Neurodiversity Inclusion Initiative at the resort over the last 6 months. I’ve been presenting to our leadership teams/employees and meeting with our General Managers to help better serve guests like Keelan at the resort. We are working on implementing guest sensory bags including communication cards, neurodiversity training for our staff, and a sensory room near our central lodge area that hosts our restaurants and activities.
This was a great experience though because I realized how that even with Keelan’s high function, how our resort still has ability to grow to better serve neurodiverse guests beyond these items above that we are working on. For instance, Keelan didn’t eat ANYTHING prepared by the resort except Chocolate Ice Cream. Nothing. I packed his food for the evening and next day. He was set. What about guests staying longer?
Our first stop after I was done working my shift for the Holiday Market was the indoor pool. Keelan LOVES the water. He is such a fish. Neurodiverse people find water calming even though some can’t actually swim. After swimming was a visit to Gingerbread Dreams for chocolate ice cream. Overall the evening was very easy going.
Saturday morning brought breakfast at the Slopeside Restaurant. Keelan didn’t eat any of the buffet breakfast, but I had brought him a fruit bar and goldfish. He also brought along some fidget toys we had brought along. The waitress was very understanding of our situation. Following breakfast, we ventured down to the Mini-Golf and Arcade. Puppy tagged along to watch. Keelan lasted about 9 holes before wanting to retreat to his own space, with his fidget toys and stimming. As I watched him in his own space, I thought this is exactly why I am working on this initiative. The mini-golf was fairly empty while we were there, but if it would have been busy, he may have needed the sensory room to have a quiet place to unwind. Our arcade experience was the same way, he lasted for a short bit – then chose to go to a quiet enclosed corner area with his toys. Keelan doesn’t have a lot of meltdowns but if he would have one, we wouldn’t have had anywhere to take him except to a cold doorway or outside (chilly). We had already check-out of our hotel and just were enjoying the resort a while longer. The sensory room will be great for that small break.
My next step is to have Keelan learn how to ski with our ski lesson team and share the progress of our resort inclusive initiative for Neurodiverse guests. It’s a new adventure with many blessings and lessons, but it’s going to be so much fun to be a part of. Can’t wait to keep sharing with you all.