Wings for Autism in Boston area

[clanmcculloch]

A new service run by the Charles River Center called Wings for Autism is being offered at BOS (Boston's Logan airport) and MHT (Manchester NH airport). http://www.charlesrivercenter.org/index.cfm?pid=14828

From the site:

The Charles River Center, in collaboration with Massachusetts Port Authority, JetBlue and Transportation Security Administration (TSA), created a new program called Wings for Autism. This is an airport rehearsal for children with autism spectrum disorders and their families. To alleviate some of the stress involved in taking a family vacation with a child with autism, families can practice entering the airport, getting boarding passes, going through security and boarding a plane.

The Charles River Center also trains personnel at Logan Airport to help them accommodate families when traveling with a child with special needs.​

 

[Mrs.Malone]

That is TERRIFIC! Wonderful, wonderful idea. Wish we would have had that for DS when he was younger.

 

[disneyfool_1202]

We used it out of Logan in May 2011 when we went on our Dream Cruise and everyone at Logan was fantastic. We flew out early to minimize crowds and someone met us in the lobby and had a pin for my son that he or I could wear. We were escorted through security as a family and the flight crew was alterted (discretely) about my son's disability. We pre-boarded as well - not because of his autism, but he also has food allergies so I am anal about wiping down the seats / tray tables and that's hard to do while the masses are boarding.
I would HIGHLY recommend the program to anyone. We found out about it very close to our trip so didn't have time for a trial run but I have met a lot of families who go to the practice to even determine if they think the'll be able to fly or not.
We love Jet Blue because the TV keeps him distracted almost an entire flight so that helps too!
We are flying out of Boston early October and we'll have him wear his pin but don't think he'll need the escort (but it was new then so I think that was for them as much as for us). The only thing that stunk- nothing like this exists on the flight BACK from Orlando!!!