A bit nervous about plane ride

[toy]

We decided to surprise our soon to be 13 year old with a trip to Disney for her birthday. She is on the autism spectrum. While she is not severe, she is developmentally between 4-6 years old. She has not been on a plane since she was an infant. I think she will be fine. She likes surprises but I am concerned about how she will handle the cabin pressure. My husband is worried she will freak out on the plane and they will kick us off. I doubt she will freak out, however, my flight home from the Princess 1/2 marathon last month was a bit on the scary side. The turbulence sent us airborne multiple times. I am hopeful we won't have THAT kind of flight. I am considering Benadryl but I don't want her groggy when we land and head for Disney. She weighs 100 lbs and I don't want to carry her. lol We are not willing to tell her early because she has a difficult time focusing on anything else and it becomes an obsession that makes EVERYONE miserable. Does anyone have any advice? Will the flight crew allow us to get on first to acclimate even though we don't have a "small" child?

 

[summy32]

We have a 13 year old with pretty severe autism. And although I know every child is different, we were surprised to find that he seemed to be calmed by the flight. The first time we flew with him he was 9 and we were scared about getting kicked off the plane or spending 2 hours listening to him scream and throw a tantrum while we tried to keep him in his seat. But he really enjoyed it and didn't seem to be bothered by the pressure. He does love to go for rides in the car, so maybe to him it was like a really long ride. He loved looking out the window. The last few times we flew, we asked the airline employees if we could board first because our child has autism. We explained that it would be easier to get him to his seat and settled in before everyone is crowding around and trying to get past us. They actually let us go on before the people with small children. That helped a lot to get settled in first. I believe it was Jetblue, but I'm sure most airlines will be accommodating. Good Luck and enjoy your trip!

 

[lanejudy]

Pre-boarding will depend on your airline's willingness to work with you, but it never hurts to ask. Some are very accommodating. Getting yourselves settled before the crush of passengers can make a world of difference.

For pressure, will she wear ear plugs? My DD uses the kids version of the ear plugs sold at drug stores specifically for flying (I forget the name offhand). She and my husband both like using them, I don't particularly care for anything in my ear. Will she/can she chew gum? Or another chewy candy (make sure you bring plenty)? I like gummy bears, but if you pull them out too soon or she chows down on a handful at a time they go fast and you won't have any left when needed.

Is there any chance you could show her YouTube videos "maybe we'll take a trip next year?" And see her reaction. Or a social story (I think there are some online), again with the same ruse that you are thinking of taking a trip "next year." with stress on "it's a long time away." I understand the obsessive focus on an anticipated event.

Also, make sure you bring along some items to occupy her time. And don't rely solely on an iPad or other electronic device. Talk about tantrum when it needs to be turned off! If she can understand turing it off when asked, that will be fine, but otherwise make sure you have coloring books, stickers, magic pen books - something low-tech.

Enjoy your vacation!

 

[fitzpa]

My son is 15 and he has sever autism. When we fly (we only go to Disney), we are able to pre-board. If your airline lets you do this, I would recommend it. One less thing to stress out about. For the pressure, I have him eat or drink something during take off and landing. He swallows gum, so I can't use that. We use a picture schedule too.

 

[bookwormde]

FAA regulation require that once you declare your child's disability that she and whoever need to be with her can prebord with the disabiity boarding. The actual proceedures vary a little, so knowing what airline you fly would help.

As for medications, unless they is someting you have done reasonably frequently and withing the near past it is a very bad idea to experiament with something on a flight.

I would suggest sitting near the back of the plane so people are not pushing by, conversly I would suggest waiting to the plane is mostly empty before leaving.

TSA and flight familiarity helps so dig out the U-Tube videos of both.

If she is hypersensitive to pain the ear pain can be an issue as the airplane climbes out adn decends. If she will do gum that is a good start.

Remember your child can only be removed from a flight if she creates a significant safety hazard not for the impact she has on the others.

Do not underestimate the extra incentive to deal with things that comes to our kids when they know they are headed to Disney

 

[a1tinkfans]

My suggestion with any child that your concerned about is to take the latest flight so that they can hopefully be groggy or if lucky get a nap in. Without knowing the carrier, procedures may vary but I suggest you go to the counter by the gate and explain that you have a child with a disability and you would request a preboard to get her settled in without throngs of people about her. They are very accommodating. I would sit towards the front, so you can be one of the first off and near bathroom. As far as benadryl, I would not try it if you have never used it before, some kids actually get stimulated by it, believe it or not. Not something youd want to deal with. Bring some small items for preoccupation...a special book, and I like Videos....a disney special one, even wrapped as a present for the special occasion.,\


Wishing you a wonderful flight/s and a MAGICAL trip..
sent you a pm

 

[Kristibo42]

My niece is autistic and she had been to Disney twice flying both times. My sister gave her Benadryl and she was fine. She also likes chewing gum so that helped with the ride. Does your daughter like music? We took head phones and a Ipod that worked great. We are from NY so the flight was over 2 hours and she did great. My sister also boarded last so that my niece didn't have to sit too long. We took all of her carry on with us so all she had to worry about was my niece. Everyone around us were very nice and supported my sister.

 

[mhnewcomb]

A tip for ear pain...

Happened to me last year on our descent. The attendant saw me writhing and digging in to the poor husband's arm and came running with a paper coffee cup. In the bottom of the cup, she had soaked a napkin with hot water. She had me press it tightly over the affected ear, and within one minute, the pain subsided. By the time we were at the gate, it was completely gone.

I am forever grateful to her for that! Hope it can help someone--that pain is AWFUL.

 

[toy]

WOW!!! I just sat down for the evening to check the boards to see if anyone replied to my question. You guys are awesome. I will talk to the attendants at the gate. I figured we would just get on with the parents with small kids. Being able to get on earlier would help so much more. I hope they will allow it. We are going to be on Allegiant Airlines. The flights were $60 one way. She like gummy worms so I will bring some of those. She will swallow gum and doesn't really like. She is addicted to electronics so we might down play the electronics so we won't have to deal with the tantrum when we have to turn it off. I like the idea of a new present of color book or word search. She would be very happy about that. I'm not sure she will wear ear plugs but if I buy some for all of us perhaps she will wear them. You all have helped so much.

 

[Kellykins1218]

She like gummy worms so I will bring some of those.

I never would have thought of gummy worms. What a great idea!

 

[North of Mouse]

A tip for ear pain...

Happened to me last year on our descent. The attendant saw me writhing and digging in to the poor husband's arm and came running with a paper coffee cup. In the bottom of the cup, she had soaked a napkin with hot water. She had me press it tightly over the affected ear, and within one minute, the pain subsided. By the time we were at the gate, it was completely gone.

I am forever grateful to her for that! Hope it can help someone--that pain is AWFUL.

I second this! We were descending into Haiti (which is steep between mtns.) and my then 4 year old was in terrible pain with his ears. The flight attendant quickly grabbed two paper cups, put hot paper towels in them and told us to hold them over his ears. *Magic* His discomfort ceased immediately. It was a lifesaver, and works instantly.

 

[parkhopping]

The ear plugs PPs have mentioned are called Earplanes: http://www.cirrushealthcare.com/EarPlanes-C8.aspx

These were a lifesaver for me when I was a kid and got very bad earaches from the air pressure changes on flights. Eventually I grew out of it, but for a few years there I used them every time we flew and had no problems at all