Travelling with Autistic Children

For those of you that have never read any of my other hubs, I am the mother of six children, three of which have moderate to severe Autism.

A short time ago, it became necessary for me to move from the U.S.A to another country for the safety of myself and my children.

None of my children had ever travelled on an airplane before and the task ahead of me was both scary and a very stressful one.

Fortunately, I had my sister staying with me to support me through this. We discussed at length the different options open to us and decided on air travel and because of the cost involved, on commercial flight.

We visited at length the Air New Zealand website having decided that this was, at the time, the cheapest form of air travel for where we were going. The paper work that was needed to travel with the Autistic children was definately daunting.

We dutifully downloaded and printed it and pored over it for a couple of days. Travelling with a disabled person and travelling with an Autistic child according to their paperwork did not appear to be at first the same thing.

I took the medical clearance forms to our local clinician and she agreed with me that most if not all the things on the forms did not apply to my Autistic children.

Perturbed and increasingly concerned I contacted a friend in New Zealand who sent an email to a manager in the public relations section of Air New Zealand outlaying our difficulties with the imminent transporting of the six children via commercial flight for a fourteen hour flight from Los Angeles and noting that none of the children had flown before and we were uncertain as to how the children with Autism would react to the crowds at the airport, the waiting at clearance and the actual flight itself.

The email that he received back was very encouraging!

It appears that Air New Zealand had staff working for it that were actual people with good hearts who did not see things in black and white and were willing to work with people with difficulties and accomodate families with Autistic members.

We did not need to provide the medical clearance forms. My friend informed the manager of the difficulties that we foresaw could occur, but may not have, which meant that we could prepare for anything that might have arisen.

Armed with this support, we booked our flights.

Having travelled across the states via motor car to get to L.A., a couple of days were spent in a motel trying to keep the children settled. They were confused and not sleeping well and being confined to a motel room did not bode well with them.

We attempted a day trip which seemed to increase their agitation and for meals, we had to eat at a local restaurant. That was a job in itself walking the children to and from the restaurant which was a couple of blocks away.

The day of travel started fairly early. The children had not slept well the night before which meant of course that neither had we.

A friend of the family had flown into Los Angeles to fly with us which meant the ratio of children to adult was two to one.

My youngest child was only one so he was carried. I had purchased hand leads for the children with Autism, one of my biggest concerns that the noise and business of terminal bothering them to the extent that they would run. Los Angeles is a huge airport and I was afraid that if that happened, I may never recover them.

We took the motel transport to the airport, our group took up the entire shuttle. On arrival, the airport valets loaded our suitcases, of which there were many, onto a trolley so we didn't have to worry about them.

When we reached the counter, Air NZ had arranged to have a concierge there to assist us until we boarded. He sure was a welcome sight. A very pleasant young man. He also had a companion which assisted him.

Check in was over quickly and our baggage was whisked away.

Within minutes we were escorted thru clearance, I think the children were a bit bewildered with what was going on but they stalwartly clung to my side.

We were assisted with taking off the children's shoes and putting them back on, there was no wait., and then we were taken to a quiet lounge off to the side of the VIP area.

The children were provided with snacks, a big screen tv with disney movies, books and a small array of toys.

With a contained area, they settled quickly and it was on a higher level so it was much quieter. The familiarity of the Disney movies and the fact that the adults were able to relax a little seemed to bring a little more calm to my children with Autism.

The wait for the flight took about an hour maybe a bit longer. When our flight was called, the concierges escorted us to the gate. We were loaded first which meant that we could get the children settled before the hustle and bustle of the other passengers boarding.

This I think added a little more to their peace of mind.

It was very fondly that we bid farewell to those gentlemen who had really done more than their job in looking after us. They had soothed our souls.

Surprisingly, the flight itself went without mishap. We were seated close together. My sister had been assigned the task of looking after the baby and the two other girls and she sat with them. I looked after my two older sons who both have  Autism and I  sat in the aisle seat to stop them from getting up. Our friend sat beside my other daughter who also has Autism as she had bonded well with him during those past couple of days.

When I had visited with the clinician prior to leaving, we had discussed whether or not sedation would be an option. As it had never been taken by my Autistic children, we were loath to use it in case there was an unanticipated reaction during the flight. I had in the past give the children with Autism Melatonin due to the interupted sleep pattern that Autistic children can have so we decided that that could be used.

I gave the children their usual doses of Melatonin at night and gradually they nodded off. I didn't have to worry about the other two girls and the baby as the plane and the excitement rocked them to sleep.

The flight attendants were around regularly to see if there was anything they could help with and the meals for the Autistic children had been changed to McDonalds to ensure that they got something that they liked.

They woke shortly before breakfast and were quiet and contented to watch the movies on their tv screens so the flight thankfully passed without incident.

On arrival, the attendants asked us to stay seated until everyone else was off which we did, and then a concierge came and collected us, walking us quickly to baggage claim and a no wait custom line.

It was awesome!

The children did not have time to tantrum or scream and they stayed with their respective adults, the concierge helping with the baggage.

Air New Zealand did a fabulous job of helping us with our commercial flight. They made accomodations for my Autistic children and I am very greatful to them all.

When first we decided to fly commercially with my children with Autism and looked on the Air New Zealand website, we downloaded the medical clearance form and eyed them with dismay.

My children did not travel with oxygen, they did not require neither a stretcher nor a wheelchair for travel. They did not take antipsychotics or any other meds. They weren't due to give birth nor suffer from any other malady that the airline considered hazardous. They had Autism.

I called the help line for Air NZ and the person on the other end of the line was unhelpful and sounded, to me, fairly condescending and unbending.

I waited a day and called again with pretty much the same sort of reply that the first person had given me although I stated quite clearly that the children's condition was Autism and not anything on their medical clearance form.

Thankfully our friend in NZ sent an email that obviously hit on the right desk of the right person who saw that their job was to accomodate all people with disability which enabled us to get the awesome response that we got.

So, to anyone who is considering commercial flight with an Autistic child or pretty much any disabled family member, in the immortal words of Dory from Finding Nemo, "Keep swimming, keep swimming" Don't give up, keep trying different avenues until you find the person who is willing to listen and help you with your travel plans.

A big thank you to the gentleman at Air New Zealand who helped us, and all the staff that assisted us. Couldn't have done it without you.

And of course, Mase and your supportive wife and my best sister G. A huge thanks with much love.

And to my wonderful children, those with Autism, and those without, you shone! My little stars.xx