This is a very interesting topic.
My grandson is autistic and has a host of 15 different Airbnb units my concern is that with many cities in Florida attempting to clamp down on short term rentals and prohibit companies like Airbnb from operating, they are limiting the choices that families with autistic family members have to stay when traveling. My office manager has an autistic child. My cleaner works with Daughter who is in the early 20s and also has autism. My attorney has 2 autistic grandkids, so we are surrounded with people who have autistic family members and so we understand their needs.
As more and more cities in Florida clamp down on Airbnb’s and prevent them from operating, it removes the choices that families have when they need to stay in a quiet home environment.
When we travel with the family we generally stay in Airbnb’s because of the homely environment that it creates for people and family members on the spectrum
We are looking to try and put a petition together to petition our state of Florida to override the cities limitations they are placing on short term rentals therefore hopefully protecting families like ours was autistic members so we can accommodate their travel needs.
while doing some research on the needs of autistic travelers I also came across the needs of religious travelers who prefer to stay in Airbnb‘s because of their religious address and or food needs. One person commented to me that it is much more peaceful and coming for them to stay in an Airbnb when dressed in religious clothing and they do not have to struggle to find restaurants that can accommodate their religious food needs and staying in a Airbnb where they can cook for the entire family it’s just so much simpler and less stressful.
at the same time I was contacted about the LGBTQ community and asked if I was willing to put my properties on their site as a safe haven for folks in this group ensuring them safe and peaceful accommodation where they are not persecuted or ridiculed for their sexual identification.
I was not aware that this group also faces major challenges when traveling because they are often persecuted in other types of accommodation or hosts who do not feel comfortable helping hosting people who belong to this community. We signed up immediately with them.
So while autism is definitely one of the groups that we definitely would like to assist because it is so close to us, they are also other groups who are restricted or will be restricted by these types of rulings.
Any input from community members who can help with this would be most welcome.