has anyone got a solution to air travel. I;m afraid of a melt down and getting kicked off the plane
I wish I had, we wanted to take our son to Florida this summer but we were terrified of the exact same thing.
Although I have to say during this summer he seems to have gotten a bit
better with loud noises as we went on a boat and the loud engine didn't
seem to bother him, thank god.
I'd be curious too, to see what others have to say.
I DUNNO but I always weigh in on these threads to say, DO NOT USE BENADRYL unless you know how it affects your child!!!! It makes some kids (and I mean NT and ASD) HYPER AS ALL GET OUT.
This from my knowledge as an adoptive mom who flew toddlers who did not know me, three times. Fortunately, mine did GREAT!
Hi I am kinda new to this I have a 11yr old brother who has high functioning austim. AKA Aspergers. I just want someone to talk to who knows how i feel
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[QUOTE=foxl]I DUNNO but I always weigh in on these threads to say, DO NOT USE BENADRYL unless you know how it affects your child!!!! It makes some kids (and I mean NT and ASD) HYPER AS ALL GET OUT.
This from my knowledge as an adoptive mom who flew toddlers who did not know me, three times. Fortunately, mine did GREAT!
[/QUOTE]gwen5 - I would talk to your child's doctor. If you are willing to medicate, perhaps there is something they can give you (and you can try out before you actually fly).
Otherwise, bring new (quiet) toys your child has never seen before to give as "surprises" along the way. If your child likes to draw, new crayons, markers etc and paper or coloring books.
If sensitive to noise, some noise cancelling headphones may be worth the purchase.
Any comfort items, favorite toy, blanket etc.
Non perishable snacks and drinks. My fear is getting caught in one of those nighmares where you're stuck on a runway for hours. If your child eats PB&J, I would definitely pack one just in case.
It will be good to take a night flight more around there bed time .they might sleep during the flight and many new toys and book to make it easy for the child.
We've flown from Norway to America at least once a year (a looong day of air flight and car travel) ever since my oldest son was a baby. It has never been a problem, but it was exhausting to help keep them occupied until we bought a DVD player this year.
Magnetic drawing boards are good entertainment, since it can be used even if the tray table needs to be up, and you don't have to keep searching for dropped pencils/markers. I know someone else who swears by Wikki Stix for airplane flights. When the kids were smaller, we also attached toys to elastic bands. We attached the other end to our child's hand or beltloop so we could recover the toys easily when dropped.
Meltdowns have never been a problem for us, but it has also sometimes been a problem to keep them from kicking or pushing the seat ahead of us. The fact that the plane is noisy also helps drown out some of the noise my children make.
Remember, both the airport and the airline have services for passengers with special needs. I've never used them, but here's where you can look into this:
Airlines: One click and you'll go directly to the place on the airline's website where they have information for passengers with special needs.
http://specialchildren.about.com/od/inthecommunity/qt/airlin einfo.htm
Airports: You can go to www.ifly.com, enter the airport in question, and find "services and amenities" on the menu to the left. There you will find a section for "People with special needs/Persons with disabilities" with contact information. It also tells you where the companion care bathrooms are so you can have a more peaceful trip to the bathroom with your child.
Here are some other online resources (let me know if any of these links don't work):
http://www.askaspecialist.ca.gov/archives/2006/ADHD/June_200 6.htm - a sample social story about flying.
http://drchris.teachtown.com/2006/12/21/traveling-with-child ren-with-asd-over-the-holidays/ - tips for travelling with an autistic child.
And here's a good one from the National Autistic Society in the UK. You can even e-mail them for their information sheet "Guidelines for airline staff" (hopefully this doesn't have to be sent by regular mail).
http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=1064&a=7246 - more tips from the National Autistic Society in the UK. They even have an information sheet "Guidelines for airline staff" which they may be able to e-mail you.
http://www.conquerfragilex.org/summer_travel.php - article about travelling with kids who have Fragile X (they have issues similar to autistic kids)
There are TONS of other great tips on this forum, for example under these topics:
http://www.autism-pdd.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=15583&am p;am p;KW=ifly%2Ecom
http://www.autism-pdd.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=18063&am p;KW=ifly
Good luck with everything!
The sites Norway Mom has mentioned are very good ones.
I will add contact the airline or airlines that you are using a few days before you are to fly and inform them that you are flying with a child that has special needs. Then when try to inform the cabin crew of this when you are boarding. Often I have found that they already know about my son's issues because of my notifying the airline ahead of time.
I also cannot stress enough using the airports guest services office. The I FLY site that Norway Mom has listed has them for all airports. They are especially helpful in dealing with long security lines and all kinds of other things like getting to the gate assistance etc.
I also want to suggest flying as early in the day as you possibly can. I have to deal with the worlds busiest airport every time we fly and typically the delays start happening as the day progresses . Late afternoon thunderstorms here especially in the summer time reek havok on the place and it is one nutty place to be.
Also keep in mind that the pilots of commercial airlines are used to hearing all kinds of sounds coming from the cabin. Screaming , cryng babies ussually will not affect them. With the cabin crews ,this maybe a different story , but ussually they are pretty seasoned and used to dealing with all kinds of things that can come up while in flight.
Living in an airline town you cannot immagine the stories that I hear about from my pilot ,stewardess and steward friends about what they have to deal with durring flights.
When the story broke about the woman and her toddler son being kicked off the plane for her son saying " Bye to the plane " and her refusal to give him benadril on the flight . I was working out with four of my friends - all of whom work for the airlines- 2 are long time stwardesses , one is a steward and the other a commercial pilots wife. They were totally appalled by how this woman and her child were treated and you should have heard the comments fly !! They were ticked to say the least.
Like foxl was saying, Benedryl makes Ali HYPER!!! She is very, very out of control hyper on Benedryl. Ali hates meds and since she refuses to take her daily allergy med. I occassionally have to give her Benedryl for out of control allergies....and I wait till her face is puffy or I see the beginning of a hive cause I dread her on Benedryl.