Using the REPLACE conceptual model and the psycho-emotional model of disability, this study aims to analyze the experience of families with children with disabilities (FCwDs) in a specialized vacation center to understand the nature of the resources that give them a sense of well-being and a strong place attachment.
The study uses an exploratory approach. The data consist of ethnographic observations, interviews with family members and center staff and activity leaders’ answers to a questionnaire.
The specialized vacation center studied in this paper offers FCwDs therapeutic resources but also social safeness resources, providing them with a welcome time of respite.
Without questioning the need to provide inclusive services and market accessibility for consumers with disabilities, this paper recommends solutions that the author calls “safe places,” where FCwDs feel neither stigmatized nor judged, have access to social safeness, relational and restorative resources and experience well-being with their loved ones.
