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First time flying and autism? |
Travel Info up to date.... I have heard of one report that a family was not allowed on the plane b/c the child had autism. Im wondering how do others manage to fly about a 3 hour flight or so with a child with disability or autism Im thinking benadryl and early morning flight I would hate to bother other travelers but I would like to fly down to FL next year ... so we are extremely concerned about our son this past week he only sat for one hour to watch a movie.... Any suggetions?\ Travel Tips It's hard to say how your child will react until you do it. If it is overstimulating, then certainly it will be more trying for him. On the other hand, he may suprise you. We have an autistic child who is quite active, especially in stressful situations and new environments - but he is facinated with flying. He sits and looks out the window at the clouds the entire flight. He's an absolutely perfect traveller despite having troubles in other areas. My suggestion would be start telling him about it via social stories and anything you can find on airplanes, way in advance of the trip so that he is not completely thrown off guard on the day you go - he'll kind of know what to expect. Portable video players or games are good suggestions. I don't believe in drugging a child without any symptoms for the drug's suggested use - for the sake of other people. Hearing people say that has never made sense to me. Only use drugs if there's a medical need - not for the sake of social expectations. That's not fair to your child. Others Well, depending on the age, handheld games are wonderful. We have autistic twins, and their Nintendo D/S can keep them occupied for a long while. Sony PSP is a good one too, you can watch movies or play games on it. If they like movies, or cartoons, (one of ours loves watching the Simpson's) you can get a portable dvd player. And, benadryl is always a help. I've never heard of anyone not being allowed to fly because of an autistic child. I hope they realize that is considered discrimination. Also, contact the airlines, a lot of them can help with "special needs" families. Good luck. well you are just going to either give him a sleeping pill or keep him intertained... or both.. i would also think about an early flight or a really late one... i would go for a late one just because if i wake up early then i wont go back to sleep.. take bored games.. a laptop or dvd player. and a book of puzzles.... it also depends on how a autistic he is.. just try not to make him get all excited and you know what.. everyone should have the right to fly with any disability... i say go on and get the flight to florida. my friend who is autistic flew to denver from kansas and he was fine.. just let the air port people at your gate know about him.... Good luck and have fun The one link you posted said that they would not let the man fly, but did state he could fly with an escort. I can appreciate this as flight attendants are responsible for the entire cabin. How would you spend the 3 hours on the ground at home? Incorporate that into your travel plans. You will not be denied boarding. You just have to take your great parenting skills for a special needs child up to 30,000 ft!!! You can do it. I have had many special needs passengers on my flights. We help where we can and try to accomodate. flight attendant with experience working with autistic adults We bought a little portable DVD player for my son when we had to fly cross-country for 4 hours. We loaded it with his "obsession" - Blue's Clues movies. The volume was turned low, since he won't wear the headphones, but no one seemed to mind. Also, we brought his regular car booster seat along, which I think helped. He also had his weighted vest, which he used on take offs and landings. Be careful with the Benadryl, unless you're confident it will really knock him out - we tried it with my son once, when we had to drive in a rental car with unknown relatives - and the stress of the situation plus the benadryl made him a cranky, overtired mess. It ended up making it worse in that case. Walking up and down the aisles was a BAD idea, BTW - way too overwhelming for him, but if your son gets the wiggles, it may be the only thing to do. Try to request the bulkhead seat, perhaps, and he can stretch out on the floor. |
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