Flying with Autistic Child

[DLgal]

Hi
I spend all day trying to get people to stop calling kids "autistic boy" "autistic girl" "autistic kid",,just saying.
Pet Peeve of mine. "Flying With A 5 Year Old Child That Has Autism." l

Respectfully, many autistics actually prefer to be called "autistic person." Person first language implies some kind of condition that the person has to endure. Autistic is a neurotype. Nothing wrong with using it first. Autism shapes everything about my kids personalities. They are autistic kids. And they don't mind being called that.

Unless you are autistic, how YOU feel about this is irrelevant.

 

[bababear_50]

Respectfully, many autistics actually prefer to be called "autistic person." Person first language implies some kind of condition that the person has to endure. Autistic is a neurotype. Nothing wrong with using it first. Autism shapes everything about my kids personalities. They are autistic kids. And they don't mind being called that.

Unless you are autistic, how YOU feel about this is irrelevant.

Ok
I disagree but agree that you have the right to your own opinion.
Take care
Hugs Mel

 

[Aladora]

Thanks everyone for your advice. We will try to work on some things until we go and I will bring his iPad. Hope it goes fast and we get there with no problem!

I would call your local airport and see if they have a program in place where they take ASD kids through a mock boarding. I think it is called Wings for Autism.

We have flown with DS many times and he has always surprised us. I know that many people swear by pre-boarding but if you have assigned seating, it might be beneficial to board later and let your son wander around a bit...get the wiggles out and such.

I make sure that I have his Nintendo DS fully charged, his tablet full of movies and his backpack stocked with snacks.

Good luck!

 

[stitchlovestink]

The only ones that have to be powered down are laptops.

Everything else is OK to leave on.

On my flight last week, they made people power off large tablets....

 

[SirDuff]

Respectfully, many autistics actually prefer to be called "autistic person." Person first language implies some kind of condition that the person has to endure. Autistic is a neurotype. Nothing wrong with using it first. Autism shapes everything about my kids personalities. They are autistic kids. And they don't mind being called that.

Unless you are autistic, how YOU feel about this is irrelevant.

Yup. I know many people with the same thoughts. You wouldn't say "boy with brown eyes" and, to them, having autism is as much of a part of who they are as having brown eyes. They actually find "person with autism" to be offensive, for the reason you say - it implies that autism is a disease that they suffer from.

We are another family that likes to board as late as possible (but we are in Canada and don't fly Southwest (or other "open seating" airlines).

 

[DisneyOma]

Yup. I know many people with the same thoughts. You wouldn't say "boy with brown eyes" and, to them, having autism is as much of a part of who they are as having brown eyes. They actually find "person with autism" to be offensive, for the reason you say - it implies that autism is a disease that they suffer from.

We are another family that likes to board as late as possible (but we are in Canada and don't fly Southwest (or other "open seating" airlines).

And I've had just the opposite experience. In the 15+ years that I've worked in special education, the students prefer 'student with' because they like being identified as a student first. We ask them at their IEP meetings, BTW, as the wording goes into their plans. None of them think they have a disease, and why would they, unless someone made them think this way?

 

[Aladora]

Yup. I know many people with the same thoughts. You wouldn't say "boy with brown eyes" and, to them, having autism is as much of a part of who they are as having brown eyes. They actually find "person with autism" to be offensive, for the reason you say - it implies that autism is a disease that they suffer from.

I have always compared it to diabetes. You can either say "I have diabetes" or "I am diabetic". Either works and both seem to be socially acceptable.

 

[ACJT]

We fly a couple times per year with our child who is autistic. A few things we have learned to do in our situation to help make the trip less stressful;

We seat him by the window as he enjoys looking out the window and likes being able to control the shade if the sun is too bright , etc. Having him by the window (vs aisle seat) also moves him away and obscures him from onlookers should he start hand flapping or making odd vocal sounds. We also have a member of our travel group sit directly in front of him as he is obsessed with the seat back tray and we don't want him disrupting a stranger by bumping and moving their seat. This way he can play and fidget with the tray all he wants with his understanding sister sitting in the affected seat in front of him. Bringing items of interest, and sugar free snacks help pass the time.

We find the challenge for our son is to keep him content while at the same time keeping him from disrupting fellow passengers. He's happier when he has the freedom to control the window shade and play with his seat tray. As his parents , we're a lot less stressed knowing he's not disrupting others.

Informing the flight crew of your child's condition is never a bad idea. That way if you have a meltdown to deal with they'll hopefully be understanding and give you time and space to deal with it how only you know best to.

From experience I can say that proper planning and preparing your child should go a long way to being able to have a successful flight experience.

Best of luck and enjoy your vacation!

 

[Betty Rohrer]

one thing to remember if you have a flapper, child may not touch the sides as you pass through security. grandson has trouble with this. first time I did not catch him but as they were going to do a pat down because he set off scanner. person behind said the touched the side so they had him go through again and he was fine but he has a hard time with not touching sides

 

[OurBigTrip]

Ok
I disagree but agree that you have the right to your own opinion.
Take care
Hugs Mel

Actually, it's not just her opinion. I think that we should leave it to the individual, including autistic individuals, to decide.

http://autisticadvocacy.org/home/about-asan/

 

[DisneyOma]

Actually, it's not just her opinion. I think that we should leave it to the individual, including autistic individuals, to decide.

http://autisticadvocacy.org/home/about-asan/

What's the reason for the link?

 

[OurBigTrip]

What's the reason for the link?

To provide info on the fact that there is actually an advocay organization, staffed by autistic people, that uses the term "autistic" rather than "person with autism", demonstrating that this is not just a one-off opinion.

Is that OK with you?

 

[DisneyOma]

To provide info on the fact that there is actually an advocay organization, staffed by autistic people, that uses the term "autistic" rather than "person with autism", demonstrating that this is not just a one-off opinion.

Is that OK with you?

I got that, but they don't represent everyone. Heck, they may not even represent the whole group, just the people involved in agreeing what goes on the website. That was the whole point in what others have said, and you said yourself? That people have different ideas and one does not trump the other? So I didn't see the point in the link, as it represents only a part of a designation.

 

[kamik86]

I got that, but they don't represent everyone. Heck, they may not even represent the whole group, just the people involved in agreeing what goes on the website. That was the whole point in what others have said, and you said yourself? That people have different ideas and one does not trump the other? So I didn't see the point in the link, as it represents only a part of a designation.

This makes sense. Let people decide what bothers them... So if you know an individual that has a preference use it. Just like if you know someone named William you would call them Will, Bill, or William based on their preference not the preference of that other person you know named William.

However that means that in a post where the parent of the child is making the post we can all assume that whatever terms the parent is using is ok and not feel the need to lecture the parent on what they should be called and bring it into the thread.



Now back to the original topic. I don't have much experience with autism but as someone that has flown frequently. I think the one big thing I would advise is to just give yourself lots of extra time. Don't get to the airport 90 min before your flight leaves (this is doable in many airports if everyone is an able bodied person that travels frequently... but wouldn't recommend you try it) no tight connections... anything less then 90 min I would even say 2 hours would be better.

Almost every really stressful situation in an airport came down to not having enough time (the few that weren't involved delays and having too much time in an airport but that one is harder to control).

Also if your kid is picky bring food. What food will be available is so hit and miss at airports that your better off making sure you have enough food for everyone without depending on airport food. If you have time and the airport has options better then what is packed... great bonus you get better food. If not don't rely on it.