We are thinking of booking a holiday next year but we are worried about taking our son on an aeroplane. Partly because of his asd as it will be noisy and busy etc, partly because he gets very waxy ears for some reason and I worry he might get ear pain when we are landing. Has anyone taken their autistic child on a flight and what preparations did you do? Was the flight a success for your child or never again? Thanks
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Have you ever took your ASD child on a flight?
19 replies
Toni29 · 11/08/2014 09:04
OP posts:
Kleinzeit ·
11/08/2014 09:53
It’s usually been a success for my DS but he’s used to flying from a very young age as we used to do short flights to visit my parents.
I have used “special assistance” once or twice to avoid queuing for security and boarding. We had to arrange it in advance and arrive very early and we got to board early, with a stewardess to walk us onto the plane. Special assistance was a bit overkill for my son’s needs – he was OK with just early boarding along with the little kids! - but worth thinking about.
My DS doesn’t have specific ear problems. I kept a supply of sweets going so he could suck on them which helps with the pressure (and it helps calm him too) He wears headphones and an ipod to amuse himself and cut out the background noise.
Some airports offer extra help for families of kids with autism and information to prepare the kids themselves so they know what to expect, like these from Manchester airport and Manchester even seems to have a fast-track/wristband system too. But each airport is different.
With package type holidays abroad it's the return journey that I find most difficult. Busy airports near holiday resorts in high season can be a bit nightmarish. Mallorca has a huge modern airport which is very spacious but some of the others were pretty overcrowded.
Good luck 
fairgame ·
11/08/2014 10:12
Yes I took Ds to lapland, 3 hours each way and he was better behaved than the NT children!
We flew from Manchester and they have a social story type booklet for asd children that klein has linked to. You can ring and ask for one or download off the website - its free either way.
I booked pre boarding and reserved the same seats there and back so that he had his 'own' seat.
Pre boarding didn't really work as the airline staff forgot to call us 
DS took a rucksack on board with ear defenders, ipod, portable dvd player, magazines and snacks and it seemed to keep him entertained. He enjoyed looking out of the window a lot of the time and watching the map on the tv on the plane!
I made sure that the holiday company (Thomson) knew he had asd by logging it with there care team. This meant that at the welcome meeting they set out a special chair at the side for DS so we could easily leave without disturbing everyone else. Worked a treat when he bolted after about 3 minutes 
I thought flying would be a nightmare but it wasn't -apart from other people's kids-
zzzzz ·
11/08/2014 19:25
This reply has been deleted
Message withdrawn at poster's request.
Vitalstatistix ·
12/08/2014 22:03
yes. My two are teens now. oldest with autism and youngest with autism and adhd.
They've just come back from Kenya as it happens. not direct either, was two flights.
We were really concerned particularly about the youngest and we spent a long time going over and over and over everything that would happen. We looked up videos on youtube, wrote social stories, did story boards, etc etc. We planned for him kicking off, for him shutting down, tried to think of every possibility. Took earmuffs, games, etc
Turned out he LOVED it! He thought it was amazing. He played games and watched movies on this little screen they have at the back of the seat in front of them.
They were both very frightened of the toilets at first, that was the biggest problem.
Worst bit was airline left the luggage. we hadn't considered this so hadn't done any prep on it. My youngest couldn't cope with that and he was terribly upset. but it arrived the next day and he was ok.
My husband chose specific seats that he felt would enable him to manage them. He basically pinned them in
1805 ·
17/08/2014 12:56
we took dd - AS, on an 11 hr flight. tbh we very nearly cancelled as she was going through a very violent rage period and we were terrified of her kicking off on the plane.
However, she managed both flights really well. We contacted the airline (air New Zealand - can't recommend them enough, they were really fab) and they queue jumped us at both ends of flight, and we found a you tube video of the flight . We discussed the noisy toilets, and practiced lying down on the sofa trying to sleep in a small space, looked at the aircraft on line, planned what we would eat at the airport pre flight, everything we could think of.
dd also scared of toilets, but I went with her and flushed to loo after she'd gone!!!!
She wants to go back!!
Oh, another shout out for Heathrow terminal 1 too.
Phenergan sent her hyper, so do test out at home first if you're thinking of using this!!
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