A Special Way to Fly! (how we introduced our special one to air travel)

The first time we were going to travel by air as a family, we were both excited and hesitant at the same time.  We had read several articles before that there were cases when children with special needs were denied to board the plane.  Although the flight we were getting on would be just a short, domestic flight (about 1 hour), we still feared the worst.  We did a lot of research and consultations to prepare for the big day.

There are a lot of awareness campaign and considerations already for children with autism but we still can’t deny that they aren’t totally accepted by society yet.  Our best bet at the moment is to help prepare our kids for these new experiences.  A good way to start is through research, consultation with our specialists and exchange of ideas/experiences with other autism families.  It is important to note that not all kids in the autism spectrum are the same, thus they might not react the same way to a certain technique.  However, being armed with several ideas will definitely be helpful,

In our first air travel, our primary aim was to keep our son calm.  We consulted first with our son’s specialists (his developmental pediatrician and his therapist).  We considered giving medication to make our son sleep in the flight, but both specialists advised against it.  They told us that if we wanted to make our son feel sleepy, we should just not let him have enough sleep before the flight.  They recommend, however, to introduce him gradually to the experience of flying.

Weeks before our first air travel as a family, we introduced him to photos of airplanes and the airport.  We also played airplane toys with him and acted out its being in flight.  Then whenever we saw a real airplane in the sky, we would look excited, point at it and wave at it.  We were building an impression for him that airplanes are exciting and fun.

At the boarding gate: excited to see the planes up close!

Come our actual day of flying, when we got to the boarding gates of the airport, he was so excited to see real airplanes so close.  He was also all smiles and skipping with glee while we were boarding the plane.  Then upon getting settled on our seats, he was always looking out the window with that wide smile on his face.  So just imagine his reaction looking out the window during the take off and the first few minutes of flying (I had to keep him on his seat though because he wanted to stand up to get a better view)!  Before the flight, I talked to our eldest son if he could give our autistic son the window seat on our way to our destination and then he could have the window seat on our way back.  Of course I explained to him very well why we had to do that.  But during the middle of the flight, when our special one had become bored with the view, they switched seats.

Excited to fly! (taken at a domestic airport in a province)

Like I said, it is better to be armed with several ideas and come prepared.  Our plan B was to not give him enough sleep the night before (our flight was in the morning). He had only less than 5 hours of sleep.  We later realized that this could be torture for our little ones.  However, as you may already figured out, this technique didn’t work because he was so excited that day.

Next in our arsenal was the distraction technique.  We brought with us a fully charged tablet, a portable gaming device and headphones.  Although the first technique was a success, this one came in handy at the middle of the flight when the view out the window had become monotonous and boring.  So we still brought gadgets to keep him busy whenever we travel.

And when the view outside got a little boring...

Our last item in the list, which was against the will of our specialists, was the Benadryl.  They allowed us to bring a small bottle but warned us that we should only use it when we really, really, REALLY need to (as the very, very last resort).  Fortunately for us, we didn’t have to give him the meds and as he got used to the flight and grown accustomed to the other techniques, I guess we would no longer need to bring this in our travels.

I would have to confess that we didn’t tell anybody, not the ground crew nor the cabin crew, about our son’s autism during his first flight.  We tried to hide any indication.  We were afraid at that time that we might get offloaded.  Now traveling had become a casual thing for us.

When we first learned that our son had autism, our firm resolve was to let him experience and enjoy what any other person would enjoy.  This includes traveling.  We would like to encourage every autism family to make that resolve as well.  To let our children live a life full of love and happiness.  To travel with them and let them see world.  We can do this by helping each other and sharing ideas on how our kids can overcome obstacles that may hinder them from living a full life.

Share your experience!