Fyling with an autisitc child

[GarethC]

Hi I'm a dad rather than a mum so feel a bit of an imposter. Anyway one of our boys (he's 7)is autistic and we're flying to Australia at Christmas. Can anyone recommend a good airline? I've heard Virgin are good but they don't fly to Aus. The NAS offer advice on flying but don't seem to want to recommend any particular airline. Thanks.

Sorry I don't seem to be able to spell 'autistic' either!

We flew to Oz last year with Qantas and they were fab. My older daughter is ASD, she's 5.

Posting in haste as needed to mediate in a sibling argument but will come back later and post more. Is there anyhing in particular you are wanting to know?

Thanks, I called Qantas and they weren't very helpful but maybe i just got someone not particularly knowledgeable about special needs policies. It's essentially things such as being able to arrange a seat in advance so it's by a window (for distraction) and ideally in a row with no seats in front in case he decides to start kicking it. Being understanding if he has a tantrum. That sort of thing. We've flown before and he was fine but nothing like this distance.

On a longhaul scheduled flight you can generally pre book seats so that shouldn't be a problem. Having no seats in front could be a problem because they won't let children sit in an exit row- unless you upgrade. We flew once with BA in their Traveller Plus section and couldn't reach the seats in front. You can view plane layouts on line so you could always check the layout of the major companies planes to see what they do.

Hi Gareth

We've done this to New Zealand and the good news is that it doesn't have to be [too] hard work! The key for us was planning and preparation (of ourselves, of my step-son (then 8) and of the airline).

We flew Air New Zealand (being a loyal Kiwi) my partner is British! but we rang them in advance of booking to discuss what they could do and how we could make the process as stress free as possible. Key things for us to manage were pre-boarding (getting him on the plane and settled ahead of everyone else), thinking about the seat - we gave him a window as it was quieter and there weren't people pushing past. Obviously, prep was vital - what would happen at the airport, on the plane, how many sleeps on the plane, stopovers).

We chose to break the trip up into two legs but were lucky as we have family in LA. That did make it more manageable and by the end I'd say Jack's a veteran flyer - he has since flown to the US again without any problems.

Make sure that whatever airline you choose they are on side with what you need to do. Obviously, what we did won't be the same as you need as all ASD children are different. This brings in the point about making sure you have all the stuff your child needs for comfort and calming. COnsider also sleep issues and medication on the plane (we got a prescription for phenergan). We even took sandwiches as we knew Jack wouldn't eat the airline food :-) And on the subject of which, think too about toileting... 'I need to go now' takes on a whole new meaning when announced in the middle of the dinner service ;-)

Prior to boarding make yourself known at the gate, ask to talk to the in flight manager and ask them to make the crew in your area aware of your childs condition and needs (and your needs to support this). Explain to them what might or might not happen and get them on side... we had some amazing in flight crew and that made it easier for us. We used a wheelchair after the long haul, Jack's mobility was fine but this hasd two benefits, one it reduced his stress and the other was we asked for priority clearance through immigration etc.

Good luck with the trip, sounds like you're getting on to this early, which is great. Do feel free to contact me directly if you want to chat!
Best
Andy

Sorry, forgot to mention... google Manchester Airport's guide for flying with children with Autism... it's quite a good guide!
Andy

Thanks Andy that's really useful. I think i just didn't have any luck with Qantas as i went to their booking line so I'll try a some of the customer service numbers for the main airlines.

We're approaching this with some trepidation especially as some people are quite autistic unfriendly which might not be great at 30000 feet. Yet, as with so many things with autism, you'll never know if you don't try!

I might well get in touch directly with you for more advice.

Cheers

Gareth

The key is preparation I think. Talk a lot in advance about what is going to happen on the day. Practise 'good sitting' at home, with a seatbelt. Try to connect somethings about the flight with things the child is interested in, like going very very fast, or opening and closing table trays.

Personally I don't board until the very last minute to ensure mininum time having to sit still, and to avoid seeing the business of people-barging, and I'd keep a narative going. i.e. Good sitting and then in a minute start driving, then go fast, and then faster and then up in the air etc etc.

If you are a big party, you can get one of your members to sit in front of the child so that the kicking doesn't disturb anyone else. You can also mention to the person in front that your child has a disability and whilst you will try to keep him still they might want to request a change of seat. You can also suggest to that person if it bothers them you would be willing to swap with them (I guarantee this is an offer they will NEVER take up, but it also stops them from moaning as you have offered a way out). Ideally, you can perhaps suggest to the airline that you are put behind another family as they will be more understanding.

They don't go to Aus anyway, but do avoid Monarch. They split up the whole family and put my 3yr old with asd ON HIS OWN. The inflight team were very good actually and upgraded us all, but still, it was stressful for a while.

I don't knoiw what your financial situation is, but could you do a short flight before Christmas, say London to Manchester or something, just to get him used to the noise, and what happens? Might make it easier to cope with a 24 hour flight if he knows what happens...

one tihng seemingly neglected here is the airport itself. noise smells and chaos

might be worth calling the airport and asking if theres anyway to streamline the security process with you and you kids to make it less stressfull (if they can do it with unatended young flyiers im sure they can do it with special needs)

Just a reminder that a long flight with any youngish child is likely to be fairly stressful.

Can I suggest you try out the Phenegan before you go. It made my son more lively and then he was sick. That was fun at the airport.

I also left all the sandwiches in the fridge at home so went round the airport food outlets looking for things that he might possibly eat.

You might like to start collecting special very small toys that he might enjoy on the flight and also audio books if that would work for him. An audio book on take off might block out some of the noise (cos of the headphones).

Wishing you lots of luck.

Thanks for the comments and advice. In the end we went with BA as they will allow an advance booking of a bulkhead seat which Virgin (who upon researching do fly to Aus) will only put you on a priority list).