Surviving a 3 hour plane ride....

[NeverbeenB4]

Thanks for your calming words about traveling with our mildly autistic 5-yr-old son. I am feeling like we can actually DO this AND enjoy ourselves! Any brilliant suggestions for surviving the plane ride from NY to FL? We will have Game Boys, books, earplugs and junk food. He is sound-sensitive. What if he wants to run around? Not really a WDW question, but...thank you in advance anyway.

 

[tammie]

hi.....we have a son that is age 8 and has autism and we have taken him to disney on a three hour plane trip twice allready.....we bing his favorite stuff pooh bear and a slinky and other favorit toys that he play with....we allso ask for the bokehead seats on the plane so if johnathan kicks he only hitting the wall.......johnathan love to fly.....we allso put him in overalls becouse saddy enfull he get naked and we do not want him to do that on a plane.......plus we take a direct flight to florida and the first flight at 7 am so we have to get him up at 3am and he so tired when he on the plane......we allso take a late flight home and he goes to sleep on the plane coming home......johnathan is a great kid.......if you have any question let me know.......tammie

 

[teri]

Autistic kids can be very sensitive to the feelings of others around them - if you are nervous then it will make them feel more nervous... just relax as much as possible, think of it as a long commute, don't make a big deal out of it. that is our strategy. The thing we try to do is to take things for our son to focus on, things that he likes that will distract him. Books, coloring books and markers, that sort of thing. But most of all we just try our best to stay calm and act like everything is normal, as much as possible. We do not let our son run around, it would not be safe... well, I try anyway! We have had our share of incidents on planes, I am sure there are plenty of passengers who tell stories about that out-of-control kid... but you know, you just do your best and don't worry. Getting the bulkhead seats is a good idea if you can arrange it. We always ask for a window seat for our son, because he will end up there anyway at some point in the flight. I would put in those earplugs or have him wear earphones from the start, when you get onto the plane - there are all kinds of high-pitched sounds on there that can be irritating to sensitive ears.

 

[momejay]

My ds is different every flight. Usually, as long as we ration the junkfood & bring lots of books he is fine. We have flown into Newark, NJ (there was 6" of snow on the ground) with my son wearing only a bathing suit. (You see, he thought that all that blue he saw out the window was water.) That was our worst flight ever. The flight was delayed & the plane temperature was hot waiting in Fla. We just deal with each small problem as it comes & don't loose your cool. When you start getting those "looks," just tell those around you about autism. You'd be surprized how many people don't know.

My dd listens to Disney music with her preschool version of a walkman. She is sensitive to noise & this helps alot. I also bring books, & her favorite doll. I used to bring coloring books, but ds likes to eat crayons. I found little Disney books that are like paint with water books only they use a marker. My dd loves them & we don't have to worry about where the missing crayons are. (she hates to loose things)