First time abroad - do airlines offer assistance to ASD children?

[nervousflyer]

Ds is a teenager but has never been abroad or on a plane before. We have had a year of extreme stress in the family and a relative has very kindly offered us a holiday in Europe for a week. This is great but ds is already getting a bit anxious and there's several months to go yet.

Do airlines generally offer any help in this kind of situation i.e enabling a carer to sit with him rather than him being alone? We will be flying with Ryan Air. Any advice or experiences would be appreciated. Thanks

I would personally look at other airlines to fly you to your destination.

Too late attila - are they that bad then?

Well they are not great at all but you should hopefully be okay - as long as you stick assiduously and to the letter to their many rules on baggage, carry on bags, boarding etc.

You absolutely must print all your boarding passes before heading to the airport; if you can do the ones for the return trip as well so much the better. They seem to charge for everything except use of the toilet on the plane and use smaller regional airports outside the main cities because the landing fees are cheaper. Where are you flying to btw?.

Ryanair are introducing fully reserved seating from 1 Feb this year, but you have to pay to reserve specific seats/guarantee you are sitting next to the people you are travelling with. I don't know if this is waived for disabled passengers who need to sit next to someone- it should be, but a few years ago they had to be forced to stop charging people who needed to use a wheelchair to get to /from the plane extra, so their record isn't great!

You should contact the airline and ask.

I have found many quite inflexible though. I mean they do offer assistance, but what they want to provide rather than is what is useful to us.

So for example, I have needed baby ds' buggy to be available to me as soon as we leave the aircraft, not for it to be put into hold. This is so he is strapped down and I didn't have to carry him allowing me to focus entirely on ds with ASD. Not possible!

I needed to board to seats kept free for us, at the absolute last minute so that ds could spend the least amount of time sitting down in a small space waiting for take off. Not possible. The only do disabled people boarding first. After that, you're on your own.

So lots of them have processes in place for disabled people, but whether it will meet your needs or not really depends on their willingness for flexibility or attitude.

Hi, I saw this and flew last summer with Ryanair from Stansted with my ASD son - and we had a really positive experience (surprisingly!). We contacted the airline beforehand and they were totally unhelpful, but we went to the special assistance desk on arrival at the airport with a copy of his diagnosis, they stamped our boarding passes and we got whizzed through all the queues to the boarding gate. On arrival there our hearts sank at the massive queue… but we asked the boarding gate attendants if we could be pre-boarded, and they let us all on the plane first - we couldn't believe it!
On the way back (from France) it was a little less flexible but they let us on just after the priority boarding people, without having to queue. So we got seats no problem.

Actually we just re-booked with Ryanair and I saw they now have a category for special assistance when you book, that doesn't require a wheelchair but does need assistance to/from the boarding gate. We have ticked that for my son this time.

Good luck and enjoy your travels!

My teenage DC with ASD took a flight to France last December. Managed without assistance one way and was unexpectedly offered assistance on the way back. I don't know anything about Rayanair, except they would need to comply with legislation. I researched the issue and it seems there are two types of assistance available.

First, you can have most needs met by your airline if you choose their option of paid assistance for children and teenagers travelling alone. I researched BA, Lufthansa and Air France and the offer is similar. It works for children up to 18 years of age 40-50£ one way. The airline person would accompany him 1:1 through departures, assist with priority boarding, keep an eye on his needs during flight, offer games/entertainment in flight, bring him to the gate at the arrival. The service and flexibility would depend on the airline, but they would not modify any of the airport safety procedures, like taking buggies out. They say they would try as much as they can meet the needs. The key is to contact the airline and explain the needs in the context of purchasing assistance for a minor traveling alone. .

However, the legislation in EU requires the airports (not airlines!) to provide free of charge assistance to disabled passengers. The key words are "Special assistance". The airlines are paying for it and you can only pre-book through the airline by requesting special assistance, or present yourself at the special assistance desk at the airport well in advance of boarding. This special assistance is provided on behalf of the airport by a company that would ensure the same assistance in the airport of arrival i.e. taking from the plane to arrival hall. Try to find the info about special assistance and procedures at the airport website. Heathrow specifies their practice in detail.

The cautionary tale here - typically this is interpreted as needing a wheel chair. When requesting this through the airline, BA specifies that they offer free of charge special assistance to passengers with learning difficulties (i.e. not needing a wheel chair). However other airlines don't even have an option of requesting any assistance except for a wheel chair. We had a difficult discussion with one airline where they told us that they can't book special assistance if the passenger can walk/ doesn't need the chair; that the airport person is attached to the chair and if my DC would not sit in the char the person would walk away. On the argument about broader interpretation of disability they said that if a person has mental disabilities and unpredictable behaviours or reactions, they have the right to refuse boarding because that passenger would be a safety risk in flight or in case of evacuation. They have full discretion to deny boarding. I know this is infuriating, but we didn't want to start another tribunal. You could say we caved in to this intimidation and DC with ASD walked to the gate alone. It was a success. A milestone in independence.

However, on the way back, with the same airline the airport people accepted out explanation and accompanied DC to the gate. So basically it depends on your luck - the people you come across. I know it feels very uncomfortable to take any chances with AS DC.

If you feel your DS really needs help, talk to the airline, but be careful how you articulate his needs and disability.
Look at Stansted and Rayanair websites for info about special assistance.