southwest airlines & autistic child?

[ZPT1022]

Does anyone know if they will allow us to preboard so that we can get my son settled in in a window seat (so as not to be near strangers) and hopefully involved in game boy or something before everyone else boards? This is his first time flying and I'm slightly worried

 

[srferson]

Looks like it.

http://www.southwest.com/travel_center/disability.html#notice

Customers with Cognitive and Developmental Disabilities

Upon arrival at the airport please inform a Southwest Airlines Agent or Skycap at your first point of contact, either at the Skycap podium or ticket counter, if you need assistance within the airport. If assistance is needed during boarding or onboard the aircraft, please notify our Employees at the departure gate, and, if applicable, one of our Flight Attendants when you board the aircraft. When considering air travel as an option for an individual with a cognitive or developmental disability, please consider the possibility of flight delays, diversions, or any other flight irregularities. Although we will provide assistance to any Customer with a disability, we will not provide a personal escort to remain with the Customer for the duration of the irregularity. If a Customer requires personal or continuous assistance, he/she should travel with an attendant.
The services we will and will not provide when the Customer travels with us are as follows:

We will:

* Offer preboarding
* Introduce the Customer to our Flight Attendant and make the Flight Attendant aware of the Customer’s special needs
* Advise the Customer that he/she needs to deplane at his/her destination or that he/she needs to remain onboard at a stopover city. (We cannot, however, guarantee that he/she won’t deplane at an intermediate stop if he/she does so without our knowledge.)
* Assist the Customer from his/her arrival gate to his/her departure gate if his/her itinerary involves a connection. However, the Customer must identify him/herself as having requested assistance when he/she arrives
* Expect the Customer to follow our Crew Members’ instructions for his/her own Safety as well as the Safety of others

We will not:

* Provide custodial care or stay with the Customer on the aircraft or in the gate area prior to departure or during a layover.
* Escort the Customer to a specific party or check said party’s identification.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Be aware that from the time the cabin door is closed until the aircraft reaches 10,000 feet all electronic devices must be turned off. Similarly from 10,000 feet down until on the ground again all electronic devices must be turned off.

 

[bookwormde]

The short answer is yes you can preboard with other individuals with disabilites. In most airports you go to the SW sutomer service kiosk in the gate concourse and advise them that your child has a disability and needs to preboard. They will give you a preboard card (typically blue) and you then wait for the disability preboard call and board.

Your child has other rights such a he may not be discriminated against for a manefestion of a disability unless it constitutes a significant safety risk. Here is a copy of the final rule

http://www.southwest.com/travel_center/14cfr_part382.pdf

While it is not required we "brief" the cabin crew as to the nature of our DS Aspergers so there are no missunderstandings.

bookwormde

 

[Mel6197]

My DD is 13 and Autistic, and Yes we Pre Board..
Ive just gone up to the desk by the boarding door, explain that she is autistic and we need to pre board to get her settled, and its never been an issue, we get a Blue slip and pre board with the wheel chairs.

 

[ZPT1022]

Thank you everyone, I feel better knowing that. He's not big on strangers or people in his personal space, so if we can get him on and seated and distracted while the big rush of people are getting on, that would be great.

Be aware that from the time the cabin door is closed until the aircraft reaches 10,000 feet all electronic devices must be turned off. Similarly from 10,000 feet down until on the ground again all electronic devices must be turned off.

Thank you. I think as long as we distract him while people are boarding, putting their luggage up, etc... that will be enough, the "crowd" is the issue more than the flight. I'll get him in and seated next to the window, his twin in the middle next to him and either DH or I sitting in the aisle seat to kind of shield him from other people and/or distractions like people being in your personal space while trying to put bags in the overhead bin, etc.... He's actually excited for the flight itself, he's very into vehicles and how things work, etc... (he's 6), it's more just the large groups of people that are the issue.

 

[WheeledTraveler]

double post as I got an error the first time. See below for my actual comments (which changed slightly)

 

[WheeledTraveler]

Since your location says CT, I assume you're flying from Bradley?

It's not generally a very crowded airport, but if Southwest is still set-up the way there that it used to be, you may want to make sure you get there early enough that before boarding you can stake out a quiet corner by your gate to wait in because the gate areas are not big. Then send an adult up to get all the preboarding stuff if they'll let you. Then you can wait in that bit you've staked out until they call preboarding rather than dealing with the people lining up to board and the people rushing off the previous plane.

(Bradley is my home airport and, while I don't have any experience there with someone with autism, I'm a wheelchair user so have had some experience with preboarding and some of the other access stuff.)

 

[shanasbananas]

I'm so glad you asked this!! I was wondering the same thing regarding our 7 y/o autistic son. I was afraid with SW not having assigned seating, but hoping they would let us preboard. My DS is terrible about standing in lines with people and he would totally stroke out if we got on the plane and he couldn't sit with me and his mamaw. I can't even imagine what would happen if we were all split up or something! Yowsers!!

Last year while waiting in the screening line my DS was whining loudly because the line was reeeeeeally long and this old bitty kept shushing him! Now my DH is a very quiet, laid back kind of guy, but finally he turns and says to the lady "WHY DON'T YOU SHOOSH?!" She looked mortified that SHE was just shushed by this man, but, really??!! She had no idea what my son's circumstances were! And none of us felt it necessary to explain them to her, although maybe I should have since she was being such a "behind", maybe she would've thought twice about doing it next time. I was so proud of my DH.

 

[kaytieeldr]

My DS is terrible about standing in lines with people and he would totally stroke out if we got on the plane and he couldn't sit with me and his mamaw. I can't even imagine what would happen if we were all split up or something! Yowsers!!

While, yes, Southwest allows preboards, it's always smart to be proactive and check in online 24 hours in advance, especially in a situation like the quoted poster. This way, if something goes wrong - and I've been on flights where the Gate Agents have simply forgotten about the preboards - there's little risk of the party being separated. It's even less likely now that Southwest has created its Early Bird Check In option for a relatively small fee.

Last year while waiting in the screening line my DS was whining loudly because the line was reeeeeeally long and this old bitty kept shushing him! Now my DH is a very quiet, laid back kind of guy, but finally he turns and says to the lady "WHY DON'T YOU SHOOSH?!" She looked mortified that SHE was just shushed by this man, but, really??!! She had no idea what my son's circumstances were!

Respectfully, while it's certainly not your, or any parent's "job" to educate someone like this woman, why not take the opportunity to briefly explain to her your son's medical condition and that his reaction in the (or to) lines is one of the results? It's obvious what your son was doing was bothering her, for whatever reason - maybe she had a migraine, maybe she had very sensitive hearing, you don't know. And you could have explained his condition to her briefly and politely.