Supporting Families, Enriching Lives

Our Mission is to enrich the lives of families with autism and other developmental disabilities by providing the support required for family bonding and stress relief opportunities.

We work to reduce disability travel-related barriers and increase public empathy through our financial assistance programs that help provide community support systems, travel subsidies, and professional staffing services.

Our Story

The Autism on the Seas Foundation was born from the understanding of the tremendous financial impact that having a child with special needs has on families.

Statistics show that caregivers of children and adults with special needs spend on average $20,000 more per year caring for their loved ones than families with typically developing members.

The health and emotional benefits of respite for parents has been extensively studied with overwhelmingly positive results. Based on the feedback from families, we know the enormous value that taking vacations has for them, both individually and collectively.

Unfortunately, due to the financial strains on so many families, a vacation is not a realistic consideration and in some cases is impossible without additional resources.

Our Mission

The mission of the Foundation is to provide financial assistance for families to access assisted vacation experiences. We achieve that objective through individual fundraising and attracting corporate financial backing to sponsor as many families as possible.

Our Vision

Our vision is that all families with autism and other developmental disabilities can improve their overall quality of life by experiencing travel and respite opportunities with the support and accommodations necessary to assist with their loved one’s disability.

Our Fiscal Strategy:

Maximizing the funds we can give in grants to families in need

The Autism on the Seas Foundation maintains tight control over expenditure to ensure the maximum amount of funds are available for grants.

Our overheads are approximately $25,000 per year, which we aspire to cover with operating cost grants from community foundations. These comprise personnel costs to maintain our programs and raise funds, and administrative and regulatory expenses. Our Program Director and Board are volunteers.

All grant travel is managed directly by the Foundation, we do not send money to grant families. We seek donations of hotel rooms and flights to mitigate travel costs. We constantly track reservations to secure savings and special offers.

We do not charge Donor Advised Funds a management fee, allowing them to grant the maximum amount of their donations to families.

If you have any questions about our finances, contact us using the form below.

Board of Directors

The Board of Directors of Autism on the Seas Foundation is dedicated to our mission and provides fiscal and regulatory oversight

Michael Sobbell

President

Since the first Autism on the Seas cruise onboard Royal Caribbean Cruise Line in July of 2007, the families that have joined us have formed a natural bond we like to call the Autism on the Seas Community. Together with the energy, effort and love from this community, it was only a matter of time before we addressed the need to share the opportunity and the given right of all to have a vacation by creating the Autism on the Seas Foundation.

Andy Coffey

Secretary

I graduated from Nova Southeastern Law School in 1996 and subsequently worked at the Broward County Clerk’s Office for 6 years. I have been in private practice since 2003 and continues to practice primarily in criminal defense. I’ve been happily married my wife, Channon, for 28 years and we are the proud parents of adult twin sons, one of whom is on the Autism Spectrum. Our family has been sailing with AotS for more than a decade. Furthermore, I honored to be a member of the Royal Caribbean Autism Advisory Board.

Alyssa SooHoo

Treasurer

I graduated from The College of New Jersey in 2013 with my Masters in Special Education and worked as a special Ed teacher for many years before pursing my PhD in Autism and Intellectual Disability at Columbia University. I have worked as an Assistant Professor at St. Joseph’s University in Patchogue and now Adelphi University in Garden City, teaching primarily aspiring elementary or special education teachers. I currently do research in the areas of family well-being and special needs, and teacher preparation programs.

Our Dream Team

Our team reports to the Board of Directors and is responsible for the day to day operations of the Foundation, including fundraising, grant making, and forging alliances to support more families in need.

Ian Hockley

Program Director

I grew up in England, and after college I trained as a Chartered Accountant and worked for several blue-chip companies. Our family moved to the United States in 2011. After my son Dylan, who had autism, died in 2012 I started a family foundation in his memory. I retired from there in June 2024 and began volunteering for Autism on the Seas Foundation right away.

Aimee Cayer

Program Manager

I am a lifelong resident of Shelton, CT. I have a degree in Small Business Management. In February 2014, I started working with Autism on the Seas and moved over to working with the Foundation in 2019. My husband and I have two daughters, our oldest was diagnosed with autism at the age of three. We have enjoyed five cruises with Autism on the Seas as a family.

Get in Touch

Autism on the Seas Foundation
494 Bridgeport Avenue
Suite 101-346
Shelton, CT 06484-4762

info@aotsf.org

Our relationship with Autism on the Seas

The Foundation has a working relationship with Autism on the Seas (AotS) a state of Connecticut Limited Liability Company.

AotS has been providing staffing for caring for children with developmental disabilities (primarily autism) since 2007, and assists selected cruise lines and vacation resorts in providing their daycare program to children with exceptional care needs relating to their disabilities. AotS is recognized within the vacation industry as the leading (and in many cases only) provider of these specialized services to families. The strength of their program is exemplified by the families who return year after year to vacation with AotS.

AotS provides travel-related special needs accommodations and professional staffing support to families on a fee-paying basis. The Foundation provides financial assistance to families who have financial burdens and/or disabilities that require the unique accommodations created and supported by AotS.