Mike Bayer
Welcome back to the Vacation Rental Success podcast. It's Mike Bayer, CEO and co-founder of the Vacation Rental Formula Business School, and I'm thrilled to share the fantastic response we've had to our newest training program, THRIVE Essentials. Launched in October of 2024, THRIVE Essentials is designed to be the ultimate onboarding tool for vacation rental property management teams. It's perfect for quickly bringing new hires up to speed, cutting down on training time, and ensuring they have the essential knowledge to THRIVE in their new role.

Mike Bayer
With THRIVE Essentials, your team members gain the foundational skills they need to be effective contributors faster, building confidence, loyalty, and job satisfaction right from the start. The feedback from property managers and HR teams has been overwhelmingly positive. Many are saying they wish they had had access to this program years ago. Enroll your new team members in THRIVE Essentials today, and you'll see how quickly they adapt, contributing with confidence and being effective within days. For more details, visit the link in the Show Notes or head to vacationrentalformula.com to see how THRIVE can transform your team.

Mike Bayer
Now, let's get into today's episode. Here's your host, Heather Bayer.

Heather Bayer
Families with autistic children deserve vacations too, and your rental could be their safe haven. In this episode, I'm talking with Suzanne Hacker, a leading advocate for spectrum friendly accommodations. You'll discover simple changes that make such a big difference, how to cater to this growing niche and why inclusivity is good for your business and your heart. Tune in and learn how to make your property welcoming for every family.

Heather Bayer
This is the Vacation Rental Success podcast, keeping you up-to-date with news, views, information, and resources on this rapidly changing short-term rental business. I'm your host, Heather Bayer, and with 25 years of experience in this industry, I'm making sure you know what's hot, what's not, what's new, and what will help make your business a success.

Heather Bayer
Well, hello and welcome to another episode of the Vacation Rental Success podcast. My name's Heather Bayer, and I'm super delighted to be back with you once again. So it's only a few weeks to go, and I'll be heading off to the south, and not a moment too soon. I wished for snow before Christmas so that I would experience it before we head south and nature has not let me down. So on any given day right now, you can likely find me behind a snowblower or a shovel with ear buds in listening to a podcast about AI. I'm immersed in ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, NotebookLM. You name it, I'm figuring it all out. I'm looking at what works for each use case, how to make it impactful and effective without overtaking everything. And more importantly, how to keep the human touch evident and at the forefront. So more on this in a few weeks, as we're going to have a big announcement to make as we head into the New Year on where Vacation Rental Formula is going with regards to AI. It's really exciting, can't wait to share that with you.

Heather Bayer
But for now, I have a great episode for you, and one that's dear to my heart. My step-daughter, Freya, has a rare genetic disorder caused by a variant on the Syngap1 gene. This means she's nonverbal, she's developmentally disabled and autistic. So finding accommodation for a vacation has been hard for her family, but they've done it every year. But it's been tough. I'd love to find a way to make that easier for them. And if you've ever hosted families with autistic children, or even just thought about how to make your property more inclusive, you'll know how important this is. Traveling can be an incredibly stressful experience for these families. Unfamiliar surroundings, they've got safety concerns, and then there's the sensory challenges that can turn a dream vacation into a logistical nightmare. But here's the good news. With just a few thoughtful changes, you can create a safe, welcoming environment that not only meets these families' needs, but also sets your property apart in a growing niche market.

Heather Bayer
Today, I'm delighted to be joined by Suzanne Hacker. Suzanne is a vacation rental business coach, and she's a passionate advocate for inclusivity. She's the founder of Spectrum Friendly Vacations, where she helps hosts make their properties more accommodating for families with autistic children. From safety features like extra door locks to sensory friendly touches like calming colors and room darkening curtains. Suzanne's got a wealth of practical advice to share with you today. We're going to be talking about the small changes you can make and the big impacts they have, and why catering to this market is not only the right thing to do, it's also a really smart business move. So without further ado, let's go right on over to my interview with Suzanne, and you're going to learn so much about creating spectrum-friendly accommodation.

Heather Bayer
I'm super delighted to have with me today Suzanne Hacker. Suzanne, I have seen you all around the internet and Facebook groups and on different platforms. You were on Jen Boyle's Direct Booking Success Summit, which is one of the best online...., what do you call it...., conferences, events every year. I love your presentations. I am so happy to have you with me today to talk about spectrum-friendly places, and I think we're going to expand on that and talk about what spectrum-friendly rentals actually are. But welcome. Thank you so much for joining me.

Suzanne Hacker
Thank you. I appreciate the opportunity so much. And thanks for reaching out. I love to talk about, well, first, vacation rental hosting, but then also spectrum-friendly.

Heather Bayer
Well, yes, because you don't only just concentrate on spectrum-friendly, you talk to people about a whole variety of aspects of the vacation rental world. So tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got into this industry?

Suzanne Hacker
Lord. Well, I was in banking for forever, seriously, 25 years. And yes, I was old enough to work when I started in banking, but I had a fabulous career, but it ended and life changes and we pivot, just like we do in the vacation rental industry. It's all about pivoting. I think that's life in general. But, oh gosh, it's going on probably eight years now, seven to eight years ago. I had been looking for just an investment property for a while. I looked for almost a year, actually, just for the right rental property. And at that time, I was probably being a little bit more choosy. But all of a sudden, it was one of those things, my partner...., we started talking and it was, Hey, what about putting the house that we're living in as a vacation rental? It's only two blocks from the beach. It was a great location. It was a great home. And so in the end, we ended up buying a different house to renovate and then started and put that one listed on Airbnb. And I'm the type that I research and research and research, because I'm super competitive. And often that competitiveness is competing with myself and always trying to do better, trying to get more bookings, all that stuff.

Suzanne Hacker
Unfortunately, I guess, I fell in love with it and I got addicted to the vacation rental hosting. Then it was one of those like, I sold some properties and I wanted to keep helping people. I just kept expanding that. I originally thought I was just going to focus on interior design for vacation rentals. But then when I started to talk to people, it also pivoted to coaching as far as the business side. But a couple of years ago, I had brought on a new home, and a family checked in, and they had four or five kids. And all of a sudden, I could tell by the pings I was getting that a child was playing with the little deadbolt lock, the same one that a lot of us have in our vacation rentals. And it smacked me in the face, because I have so many friends and family with children on the autism spectrum that it was just like, Oh, no. If that child is autistic, my house isn't safe enough. And I just went… Then it was full bore. I got to research this. I have to make sure that my property is safe, first of all, but then also, how can I make it more comfortable? And that's how I got started in that niche.

Heather Bayer
That's fantastic, and I resonate with that so much. I mentioned in the introduction about my step-granddaughter, Freya, who is developmentally disabled and is high on the autism spectrum. And I remember going... They're in England, so I remember going over to stay with the family and arriving at their house and just seeing all the locks on the doors. I said, Oh my gosh, you really are security conscious. And Vicky said, no, we're not security conscious for somebody breaking in, we're security conscious for somebody breaking out. And while Freya is developmentally disabled, she is mobile and she loves the outside. And at any opportunity, she would get outside and she would be gone, because she has no sense of space and location. So there were locks on the doors from the inside to stop people getting out. And we forget that. And in fact, let's step back a bit, Suzanne, let's just talk about the Autism Spectrum Disorder, because I listened to an episode that you did on Thanks For Visiting, which was a great episode. And you mentioned that one in 44 children in the US had been identified with autism spectrum disorder. When I did my research for this episode, I see it's now one in 36.

Suzanne Hacker
Correct. Yes. So I mean, things are changing, unfortunately, and not for the better. And I want to even just... So I think I started to learn so much more about it years before when I had a really good friend of mine, when her little one was four years old and was on the autism spectrum, but they didn't know that much yet. But her little one, one evening when the whole family was having family movie time, she slipped out of the house. And nobody knew until it was time to brush her teeth and go to bed. And then I get the call like, Oh my gosh, Ninny is missing. And it was, they don't have the same fears. They have this huge tendency. They're very attracted to water. There's so many sensory things that they really struggle with, whether it's noise, textures, colors, lighting even. So yes, unfortunately, it is one in 36, or even some studies show one in 33 children in the US are diagnosed now every year or every, whatever, with autism or being on that spectrum.

Heather Bayer
And I appreciate that that rise is attributed to many different factors. So there's improved awareness. We're much more aware of it now, it's true. Better diagnostic practices. My eldest daughter, she's coming up on 50. And she was only recently diagnosed, because that diagnosis is there now. Looking back, I see all the pointers that we would see now would put her on the autism spectrum. But of course, it's better diagnostic procedures now. She's very, very high functioning, incredibly high IQ. These are all the things that make up that diagnosis. Then, of course, although some would dispute it now, certainly here in Canada, there is increased access to care. While care is a little bit difficult to find where we are right now, it is better than it was a decade ago. Those are the different attributions, really, to that. 312% rise in diagnosis since 2000, which is quite astonishing. But anyway, back to our business. Let's start at the beginning. Share the challenges that families with autistic children face when they are traveling.

Suzanne Hacker
Oh, gosh, yes. I mean, I've talked to quite a few parents as far as the challenges that they face when they're looking for a rental. And some of it we talked about before, just like the locks or alarms on the doors. And a lot of us, we don't have enough locks, unfortunately, on even just the main entry door. If a child can easily get out, we don't have enough locks. And then alarms on doors and windows just because there's... I mean, people, kids, that can be really creative, if you will. If they want to get out, if they want to do something, they can be very creative. So that's, to me, safety is always one of the things that I will continue to harp on. And these things that are needed to make a property safe, they're not expensive, and they really don't take much time. It's more about most of us probably don't even know or didn't think about it, because I know, like you mentioned, the Thanks For Visiting Podcast. When I talked to those ladies, they were just one of these, like, we just didn't think about it. It's not something that they were exposed to.

Suzanne Hacker
They don't have family or friends with children on the autism spectrum. So I'm just trying to raise awareness and see what I can do to help those families. But the challenges are there's not enough locks. There's also a lot of times certain colors are trigger colors for children on the spectrum. Also, it's great to have a fenced-in yard because it's great to be able for the children to go out and play. But unfortunately, you don't want to have a leash or anything like that. I don't want to sound wrong here, but having a fenced-in yard that they can then just relax a little. Yes, they're going to still be out there, but we know how fast kids can run, too. If there's other kids, too, a fenced-in yard is so wonderful for them to have. Then just how many breakables and sharp corners and things to, fortunately, climb on, and are there quiet spaces for them to retreat to? It's those types of things that a lot of families are looking for.

Suzanne Hacker
So much more now, our tourist attractions, if you will, Disney, Orlando, zoos, local places, they're recognizing that there are different needs for families with children on the autism spectrum, so they're making accommodations. But then when the families, they want to visit there, they're having trouble finding somewhere that they can stay near those attractions. And so they're just not enough, and often none that are really safe and comfortable for those families.

Heather Bayer
Yeah, and you've mentioned some of these changes and additions are minimal cost.

Suzanne Hacker
Yes. I look at just the safety. So if you think about just adding a security lock on the door at a height where most of your small children aren't going to be able to reach, those are less than $5 for the actual little security lock. And then to have somebody screw those screws in, it doesn't cost much. And then there's little bitty alarms that you can put on every single door and window, and they're literally less than two inches. You don't even have to have them on. But if you're a parent with a child on the spectrum, you know exactly what those are when you see them. And they're super easy to turn on. And again, they don't cost much money. And they have great little sticky backs that are super sticky. Those things are tough to get off once you put it on. So even patio doors, you might think, Well, what am I going to put on a patio door to make it so that they can't open it? There's things that are super inexpensive that you can do. And I use them in my homes. And it's not requiring us to install an actual alarm system through any of the big companies. These are often small little things we can put on throughout the home.

Heather Bayer
That's really interesting because when I was thinking about that, I thought, Well, there's going to be cost involved in this and hefty cost because thinking that it's alarm systems that are all going to be wired in. But that is just so useful to know that you can buy something that just sticks and you can place it and the guests can turn it on when they need to. So if they've got guests without these special needs children, they don't have to have them on. I love that idea. All these things, by the way, for those of you listening, I'll be doing a little bit of research...., I'm getting Suzanne to do the research for me.

Suzanne Hacker
Exactly. I'll give you a list.

Heather Bayer
Send some links to go on the Show Notes, because this is really important. You mentioned the sensory nature of autism spectrum disorder and how you can help to alleviate issues by creating spaces. Tell me a a little bit more about these spaces.

Suzanne Hacker
Yeah. So part of it is I start more with the big picture of the home and making sure there aren't colors that are going to trigger, because unfortunately, colors like what I'm wearing on my shirt, if it's on a wall, if you have a red wall, unfortunately, red is a trigger color for a lot of children on the spectrum. Whereas just painting your walls more of some calming, soothing colors is so helpful. And then when you think about having the ability for parents to have... Making sure there's room darkening curtains and shades in the bedrooms, making sure there's nightlights. But then having a space, having a room, at least that's calm, and those nice calming colors, have a little quiet nook or chair. I offer noise canceling headphones. Those are in the home that I have. And then having even fidget toys, because a lot of us like fidget toys, even me. Sometimes if I'm on something, I think we think about it as adults, we often, a lot of us are pen clickers or just fiddling with a piece of paper.....

Heather Bayer
I'm doing it right now!

Suzanne Hacker
Whether we're folding, unfolding. So it things It's like that, it's the same for children. Often, they just need something tactile to hold, play with. It helps to calm nerves. It just does. Then weighted blankets is another one to have. Again, it's not expensive, but if a child is on the spectrum, sometimes they need that pressure. And so offering a weighted blanket for children or even adults, again, not expensive, but it can calm and they can go in that quiet space, have that chance to settle. Having even things like your white noise machines in the bedrooms that anyone can use. Those are just some calming items that help to reduce some of those triggers.

Heather Bayer
I love the idea of weighted blankets because one of my other granddaughters loves her weighted blanket, but it's heavy. Oh, my goodness., I hadn't realized how heavy these things are. It's not something you can carry on an airplane because of that weight.

Suzanne Hacker
It's not. Correct. Yeah. I mean, it reminds me of a family, I interviewed a parent and they were going on their first vacation in five years. Her middle son is extremely autistic, severely autistic, where he has that huge tendency to escape or elope or wander, as they call it. And what they also started to... Well, what they were planning to travel with and actually worked out well, that they were going to put on the bed, or actually, they were going to take the mattress off the bed, put the mattress on the floor, but then actually put him in a tent that they were going to zip up so that he couldn't go anywhere. These are the extremes that some parents have to go to just to keep their child safe. So if you have a room that has just a simple alarm or whatever, unfortunately, we just need to offer those spaces that they can go and be quiet and calm and get away from everything.

Heather Bayer
It's interesting that, particularly on LinkedIn, and I often see these new properties being advertised where there's these fantastic murals on the walls and dark colors. They're vibrant. Let's call it vibrant colors everywhere. Clearly these types of properties are attracting a very certain type of family. But it's really worth remembering the statistics we talked about earlier, that if there's a family with a number of children coming, or let's say a group of people with six to eight children, there's a good likelihood that there's going to be a child there that's on the spectrum. So it's really worthwhile, although those bright, vibrant colors, they look great when you've got photographs, it's really important to really think about the impact that they're having and the fact that it could deter certain families from coming to that property.

Suzanne Hacker
I do believe there's ways to use color, because we don't all want our properties to get lost in that sea of sameness, as I like to say, because we can still use colors or we can use little pops of colors, whether it's in blankets or pillows, things like that. I'm not against colors. It's more, let's choose the right colors that are going to do both. Help your listing stand out, but also help the children. I think we can make our listing stand out in so many ways other than just using those bright, bold colors and patterns in our homes.

Heather Bayer
Let's talk about scent as well. Smells I mean, I do hope. Let's talk about that. I've been talking I think for about 10 years is, do not use plugins.

Suzanne Hacker
I know. I just took on co-hosting for another client, and I was actually at the home yesterday, and they had a plugin. And then they had in the owner's closet a stash of more plugins. And I would just want to be like, You are not going to use plugins. I think sometimes people that aren't necessarily in the industry, they just think what's pleasing for themselves. I get it. But yes, so many people, especially those who may be on the autism spectrum, can be extremely sensitive to scents. So using even the laundry detergent, when we use those heavily scented laundry detergents or fabric softeners or dryer sheets, those unfortunately have so much scent built in that can be really difficult to process for some people.

Heather Bayer
I'm with you.

Suzanne Hacker
Keep talking about it.

Heather Bayer
I never used to be like that. I used to wear perfume every day. I haven't worn perfume in 20 odd years, because I find it, not quite offensive, but I'm very sensitive now to smells.

Suzanne Hacker
I was sensitive when I was young, whereas when I was a teenager, and when you're a teenager, you want to start smelling good. But any time I would wear a perfume, I would get a migraine. And so it was like, I was sensitive from such a young age that I'm extremely extremely careful with scents, and they do really bother me. There's been so many times where I want to go into a store and I walk in and it's like, No, I've got to turn around and walk back out. And we don't want our guests in our homes to ever feel that way either.

Heather Bayer
I remember going back, it wasn't that long ago, actually, a couple of years before I sold my company, and we had a guest with sensitivities connect with us and ask about the property they were staying in. It wasn't autism. It was an adult with chemical sensitivities. We said, We don't use... There's no scented cleaning materials or anything, so we will make sure it is as best for you as it possibly can be. The family arrived and then we got the call, My wife's sitting in the car, she cannot go into the property. And the cleaner who'd been in had lit a scented candle.

Suzanne Hacker
Oh, no.

Heather Bayer
While she was cleaning. Thinking she was being so....

Suzanne Hacker
Oh, it all smells so good.

Heather Bayer
And yeah, we had to relocate them. And the thing is, is that we knew. We knew we had this issue. We'd gone to all the lengths and we never thought about talking to the cleaner who was using scent-free products, because we'd said, you have to use these scent-free products. And anyhow, I remember that well. So just something else worth being aware of.

Heather Bayer
So let's move to, do people want to attract families with children on the autism spectrum? And if so, given the prevalence of this now, how do they do it? We've talked about putting all these things in place and creating this space. How do they then get across to families that they've done this? And certainly, reassure families that they're needs will be met without coming across as intrusive in any way.

Suzanne Hacker
Well, on one of my listings, I do it just as simple as in that listing title, ASD-friendly or autism-friendly. It's really that easy. But then also in our listing description, if you've truly made your home more friendly for those families, put it in the listing description. Don't be shy about it. There's nothing wrong with that. Includes some pictures of the things you've done, the lengths you've gone to, whether it's the little alarms or the oven lock or those extra items in a basket with the way to blanket and things like that. Show it off. It is a niche, but it's a good niche to be in.

Suzanne Hacker
If you have a fence, make sure people know there's a fence in your yard, whether it's for dogs or for children. But the question as far as, do you want to make your property spectrum friendly or autism friendly? Look around where your property is located. Are you near a large tourist attraction or are you even near zoos or different things like that that have created special days or special hours for families with children on the spectrum? And if so, you have a great opportunity to attract more guests by putting just some little things in place. And I love to help people make their property safer and more comfortable.

Heather Bayer
Well, as you said, you mentioned the word niche or niche, depending on where you're listening to this. It's like potato potato. Exactly. It is a big niche now, and there's no getting away from that. We talk about pet friendly all the time. So if you're pet friendly, then have pictures of dogs, have information on the fact that you've supplied dog bowls and dog blankets, and you allow the dogs to go on the couch, and all those sorts of things. But we tend not to think about, Okay, so we've got a particular spectrum of people here that we can serve, and we need to be very upfront in how we are serving that audience.

Suzanne Hacker
Right. I do want to mention another great way. So let's say you've made your property more friendly for those on the autism spectrum or just cognitive disabilities in general, because a lot of the things that we put in place for children on the autism spectrum are fabulous for the aging people who might have dementia. And if people want to bring grandparents with them or whatever who are on the other side of things, it's also great for that. But I do want to put a little plug for my friend Lorraine Woodward with her becoming Rentable Site, because on Becoming RentABLWable site. Because on Becoming RentABLE now, you can list your property and there's a specific niche, if you will, for that cognitive disability and the ability to show your property off and list it on there as well. Lorraine and I co-host these days a 'Welcoming All' virtual summit, which talks about inclusivity and accessibility, because I do believe it's so important to keep that topic in the forefront, first of all, but obviously for our properties to become more friendly to people at no matter what spectrum they're on.

Heather Bayer
Yeah, I'm glad you mentioned Lorraine. She's been on the podcast a couple of times, and it's lovely to see how Becoming RentABLE is growing. And because, as you mentioned, the aging population. I haven't got those statistics like I have for autism, but there is a big aging population. I know that amongst some of my friends, there are people with the beginnings of dementia, sadly. But this doesn't mean that they can't go away on vacation and still enjoy that time that they have with their families. But those families that are booking that have to be looking more carefully at the places they're going.

Heather Bayer
And once again, coming back to those locks on the doors and alarms, years ago, it was a nightmare situation. We had a property that was accessible only by water, and it was landlocked. So you could actually get off the property, and eventually, you'd find your way back to Toronto. But there were no roads, there were tracks and trails. And a large family booked this place, didn't tell us that they had a relative with dementia with them until we got the panic phone call to say that she'd gone missing. They had no idea where she had gone. All we could think of was that this place was just surrounded by forest. There was nothing. The only real way out was by water, but she'd obviously gone off into the forest.

Heather Bayer
Fortunately, very fortunately, the local volunteer fire department was doing an exercise around the lake, and they had a helicopter. They were doing search and rescue training, and there was a helicopter being used as part of the training exercise. Okay, let's get out there....

Suzanne Hacker
Real life training.

Heather Bayer
Yeah, they found this lady about 2 kilometers away on a trail, and she was just going for a walk, she said. But if there'd been locks or alarms on the doors, they would have noticed earlier. The other thing was with that place, there was no cell signal and no internet. It was a nightmare scenario, that one. But fortunately, things happened....

Suzanne Hacker
Turned out for the best.

Heather Bayer
But yes, so we're talking here about spectrum disorder, but a lot of these things that you are suggesting that go into place will be entirely relevant to other people with disabilities. So I'm glad you mentioned that. That was....

Suzanne Hacker
Well, and hey, if somebody also is just fearful, let's just say they're the type of person who, when they're in a strange place, let's say they're the type of person who is used to having an alarm system. This type of stuff can make them just feel safer and more at ease when they stay at your place.

Heather Bayer
Yeah, exactly. You mentioned water earlier on and children on the spectrum being very attracted to water. And I know that my granddaughter was, or still is, loved swimming, loved being in the water. They took her, have experience with dolphins and that thing, which is fabulous. But then you think about pools and ponds. And so that is so worthwhile. Real consideration on what's in your yard or what's around the property. And I know Justin Ford would be all over this about pool fencing and locks.

Suzanne Hacker
Yes. Well, and it's not just that. I, mentioned at the very beginning, my good friend and her daughter, who we all commonly refer to as Ninny. And Ninny escaped, you know, escaped, as I call it during family movie night. And that was before they put all the locks and alarms and stuff on their doors and windows because they just didn't know. But she was found at the beach, which was two and a half to three blocks away. And this little four-year-old had walked there by herself. And then I heard so many stories about children on the spectrum. They want to get out. They want to go to water. And even here in Florida, about a year and a half ago, I think it was, I first heard the story of little Evelyn, who was staying in what they referred to at the time as a VRBO because their family had been displaced from a hurricane, and they were staying in a VRBO. Little Evelyn was four, nonverbal, severely autistic. During the middle of the night, she got out of the home. Unfortunately, it did not end well for that family. There was a canal nearby that they ended up finding little Evelyn in. I don't want any more children to end up like that because they are very drawn to water. It's a very common thing.

Heather Bayer
Just having that in mind. I know where I live, I'm on a couple of acres, and at the end of my property is a river. Before we had this conversation, I know this stuff about children getting out, but I would not have really thought about that. You've got to walk a long way to get down to the water, but they can.

Suzanne Hacker
They can go faster and longer, probably than we can.

Heather Bayer
Yeah. I remember a story that my mom used to tell about me at age three. I ran away. I ran away with a friend, and they found us at a local pond.

Suzanne Hacker
You're giving me shivers.

Heather Bayer
Age three.

Suzanne Hacker
You're giving me shivers. No, and it seriously... It makes me anxious sometimes just talking about the topic because I'm fearful for the children. I really am. And I just am so afraid that if we don't do things with our vacation rentals, that it's going to... Unfortunately, this topic is going to continue to come up, and I don't want to hear those stories. I just don't. It's just... It's so sad.

Heather Bayer
I know. I know. But if that's the only way to get it across to people who are going into this business, or to property managers who are taking on new properties, and I think that's a really important area. Taking on a new property, somebody goes out and does that inspection. I know if they're following all Justin Ford's safety principles, they will be checking for things like floor rugs that are tipped up at the corner, or all those other safety issues that Justin talks about. But getting them to think about the types of guests they might have and whether these places would be suitable for children on the spectrum. Is there a checklist? Is there a checklist that property managers could use that they could add into their safety checks?

Suzanne Hacker
I have a checklist. I was left to give people a checklist because it's not... Again, like we said at the beginning, it's not that much, and it's not that difficult to just at least think about the safety.

Heather Bayer
Yeah, exactly. But it's just adding, I recall as a property manager myself, I might go out in one day and see three or four different properties to take them onto the program. In the back of your mind when you're doing that, you're in a sales mode.

Suzanne Hacker
Sure.

Heather Bayer
Because you want to communicate with the owners and encourage them to come with your company. You're in sales and you've got your sales and marketing head on. At the same time, you've got to have your safety and security head on. That can be a lot, particularly if you're multiple properties in a day. I know with my immersion in AI right now that it's become much easier to have checklists that you can follow and photos that you can take. I'm sure you can show a particular room to your camera now, and it's going to tell you... There must be something out there that will tell you whether this is spectrum friendly or not.

Suzanne Hacker
If not, I guess I should help create it.

Heather Bayer
I think you should. Can you imagine that? You get your camera out, you show it the room, and it says, Oh, you need darkening shades. That power outlet needs to be covered. There needs to be more space between the bed and the wall, all those sorts of things. It's just come to my head.

Suzanne Hacker
Yeah, right. We'll have to talk about this now. Love it.

Heather Bayer
Let's say that people listening are thinking, Yes, I can do this. I can go ahead and make some of these changes. Then they have people staying. What's the best way of getting feedback from those families? Because it's going to be over and above the feedback that you normally ask for. I don't agree with the, Hey, give me a five-star review.

Suzanne Hacker
I know.

Heather Bayer
But actually, how do you go about asking for very specific feedback on how they, as a family, were able to negotiate the house, were able to experience the house in in the way that they best possibly could on vacation, and to encourage them to come back to you with suggestions to improve how you do it?

Suzanne Hacker
Yeah, you have such a good point, because I think so often we're all just focused on.... We're moving on to the next guest, probably. And whether or not those guests leave a review, we're still good. We're hoping they leave a five-star review. But you have such a good point in, again, it doesn't take much time to just be like, We'd really like some honest feedback from you. Whether it's just a private note back to me. What would you like to see improved? And how likely are you to stay again? Because those aren't things that we really get in the simple little review through Airbnb. It's like they check boxes, they pick a star. And most of the time, unfortunately, most people are just like, Yeah, five stars, five stars, five stars. Yeah, thanks. Or they don't leave one.

Suzanne Hacker
But you're absolutely right. Just reaching back out to those guests through just a little note as they're checking out. Thank you so much for staying with us, can give us a little bit of feedback? It's not difficult to just ask those questions. And then to go a little step further of if you or anyone you know is on the autism spectrum, do you have any other thoughts or suggestions of anything that would be helpful for your family during your stay?

Heather Bayer
Yeah, and I think that's so important, because if you're not, if you don't have personal experience of how a vacation would play out with a child on the spectrum, then it's really tough to know how that family's experience is going to play out.

Suzanne Hacker
Yeah, so true.

Heather Bayer
So have you got any other stories? I mean, you've told a couple of stories, any other stories about how a spectrum friendly rental made a difference to a family?

Suzanne Hacker
Well, so one of mine.... I have everything. Well, I feel like I have everything. I'm sure somebody would be like, Oh, no, it could also use this. But I still remember there was one family who they checked in, and then they sent me a message and they were just like, Thank you so much. She said to me, she goes, my 12 year old brother is on the autism spectrum. She goes, And I didn't even realize what... She's like, I didn't even realize when we booked the place, what all you have. But it is making our stay so much better by having these little things in place. And it just meant so much.

Suzanne Hacker
And I think that's the thing, is unless you're a family with a child on the spectrum, you don't understand what it means to those families to have those things in place and to worry a little bit less. They're not going to stop worrying, but they can worry a little bit less, and they can relax a little bit more when they're on vacation, because isn't that what vacation is about, typically, is about relaxing? So to me, it just means so much that I'm helping those families to have a better vacation and a better time together and make some of those good memories. And it's just those things That those are the types of things that mean the most to me, having those families appreciate that and understand.

Heather Bayer
You made some really good points in this conversation. There's a couple I just want to just double back on. One is advertising, is marketing on Becoming  RentABLE. If you're listening to this, then you're probably not just an Airbnb host. You're out there advertising on multiple platforms. And this Becoming RentABLE is just such a great platform, because the people that are going there looking for accommodation are looking for all these things that you've been talking about. Is there anywhere else that they should be advertising?

Suzanne Hacker
Well, I mean, get your own social media accounts. Advertise. And I look at it as every platform where we list our property, it's our opportunity to advertise. And then get direct booking, get your own website, and then start marketing it through social media, through Facebook and Instagram. Just those places, really. I don't look at it as other than Becoming RentABLE. There's not that many places, really, that are very specific to this. So that is, in my opinion, the best first place, other than listing on all the platforms, but making sure that you're highlighted in that listing, in that headline, and have some pictures, and really almost start to advocate for that.

Heather Bayer
The other area that I would talk about, I would mention, is that your own website is not just having a website that showcases your property, but to have information. You talked about information on local attractions, but maybe having a spectrum-friendly page on your website.

Heather Bayer
Years ago, we went to Cyprus with my family, and we're all able people. But the place we'd booked was truly disabled friendly. The family that owned the property had built it specifically for that purpose. They had a basement apartment which had the wet bathroom and a spare kitchen. It had two bedrooms, one for a carer and one with a special bed. So it was actually built to accommodate a quadriplegic. And that aside, the website, and this was... You can't see the website anymore because they've sold the property now, which is very unfortunate. It was probably one of the most accessible properties in Cyprus at the time. But the website had a page for anybody that was bringing a disabled guest, and it listed absolutely everything that they would find in that property, from just down to the minimal things that would help them make their own cup of coffee in the kitchen.

Heather Bayer
Everything was listed. I thought that that was quite amazing. Because we were able-bodied, we did not really spend time on that page because we didn't need to, but it was a special one for any family that did have those needs to go to. I'm thinking, create a page, like you might have a pet friendly page, create a spectrum friendly page and list every thing that you do, whether it's alarms or whether it is scent-free and what you've done in terms of design to make it calming. You've mentioned so much in this conversation about things you could go out and get for your property and just list them. That is one way of getting that message out.

Suzanne Hacker
Yeah, I love it. Definitely.

Heather Bayer
Suzanne, this has been such a great conversation. You've shared so much. There will be a lot on the Show Notes. How can people find you and what help can you give them?

Suzanne Hacker
Sure. The first place to find me is really, if you want to just send me an email. The best place to email me is Suzanne@welcomingwow.com. I have two websites. I have welcomingwow.com; it's pretty simple. And then my other website is spectrumfriendlydesign.com. Those are the two best places. My welcomingwow.com is more focused on the coaching and co-hosting, social media management type of work that I do. Spectrum Friendly Design is obviously just focused on spectrum friendly design for vacation rental owners and how they can set a date with me, get some information, all that good stuff. Those are the best places to find me.

Suzanne Hacker
I would love the opportunity just even for a 30 minute chat; there's no charge. Start talking about spectrum friendly design with a vacation rental owner and start to discuss just all the little things that people can do at not much cost to really make their homes more safe and comfortable.

Heather Bayer
Yeah, I think from a pure marketing standpoint, we're out there to promote our businesses. This is one really great area to get into, because there is minimal cost involved and you're being super helpful to the people that need this.

Suzanne Hacker
Well, yeah, and when you think about... So many of us do focus on pet friendly, pet friendly, pet friendly. And it's great. I love my dogs, and I often travel with my dogs, and so that is what I'm often looking for. But when you think about it, it's like there's, to me, at least, there's so much more meaning to making your property spectrum friendly or autism friendly. You're helping people by doing that. You're providing a real benefit. Yes, dogs are fabulous benefits, don't get me wrong. But to make your property spectrum friendly, to me, has so much more meaning. And you're helping people.

Heather Bayer
Well, the statistics are very clear that this is a big niche. I would encourage anybody to take more time over thinking about what you could do to create more welcoming and spectrum friendly properties. Suzanne, thank you. It's been an absolute pleasure.

Suzanne Hacker
I agree. Thank you so much for having me on. I appreciate it.

Heather Bayer
A huge thank you to Suzanne for sharing her expertise and passion for creating spectrum friendly spaces. This is such an important topic, not just for making travel more inclusive and enjoyable for families with autistic children, but also for standing out in the competitive short-term rental market we're in today. By taking steps to accommodate this really underserved niche, you're not only opening your doors to a broader audience, but you're also contributing to a more compassionate and accessible travel industry.

Heather Bayer
If you found this episode valuable, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode. And if you've got a moment, we'd love for you to leave a review. It really helps us grow and continues to allow us to bring you insights like these. Thank you so much for listening, and we'll see you next time on the Vacation Rental Success podcast.

Heather Bayer
It's been a pleasure as ever being with you. If there's anything you'd like to comment on, then join the conversation on the Show Notes for the episode at vacationrentalformula.com. We'd love to hear from you, and I look forward to being with you again next week.