Children with autism on air travel
Flying is a new experience for children, but when the passenger is a child with autism spectrum disorder as the airport is a busy place, the family must be prepared for air travel in advance, it has also crucial importance for parents to cooperate with employees in various sectors, including receiving boarding pass and delivering luggage, passing the security gate and boarding. Due to the symptoms and characteristics of children with autism, airport employees and air transport service providers need to have a cognition about autism disorder. Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that occurs with a range of symptoms and affects person's communication and behavior. Symptoms of this disorder usually appear in the first three years of life.
The main symptoms of this disorder, which are usually common to all people with autism, include:
- Problems with communication both verbally and nonverbally
- Problems in social interactions and understanding of social status
- Sensory problems: sensitivity to sound, light, smell, touch and various textures
- Performing repetitive and stereotypical behaviors such as spinning objects
- Resistance to change
- Behavioral problems such as aggression, self-harm or others
The family of children suffering from autism also use airplanes at certain times or long distances. On air travels, it is necessary for the children with autism to know what stages he/she is going through at the airport and the flight procedure, and what process awaits him/her, especially if the child is resistant to change and is the first time, he/she is experiencing air travel, so you should take the necessary measures before and during the trip along with your autism child.
Imam Khomeini International Airport is the first airport to support autism patients.
Passengers can contact the charity Autism (Doost) at 02188618534 and 02188615185 to answer their questions.
Here are recommendations and suggestions for parents of children with autism to facilitate air travel:
Contact the Commerce and Public Relations Department of the airline with which you intend to travel. Ask them to send you a photo of the plane, how the seat is located, a photo of the pilot and a photo of the flight crew. This item will help your child prepare with the plane, face and crew cover before the flight. You can even find this information on the internet.
Create a comic book of how to travel and steps, using photos on the internet that relate to air travel. These images include the airport, the plane, the flight crew, and the image of your child. Add in the last page of the book a photo of family members or places that the child sees after they arrive at their destination. Bring the comic book with yourself on the day of the trip to entertain your child.
Divide the steps of the trip into sections and small steps. Practice each step before traveling. The routine of a trip ranges from collecting supplies, putting luggage in the car, passing the hotel or house route to the airport, parking the car in the airport parking lot, arriving at the airport, delivering cargo and so on ... As much as possible, and airport rules allow you to do these steps with your child before you fly. At this point take a picture with a camera and put it in the comic book of the air travel you have prepared.
On arrival at the airport, you can visit the Office of the ambassador of kindness and get help from their specialist personnel.
When you get on the plane and before the flight time, have a short visit of the airplane. This will help the child become more familiar with the plane.
Bring a number of children's favorite toys and gadgets with yourself. Do not forget snacks. Also, put everything that the child needs in the specified bag so that it is available in case of delays or unpredictable events.
Before traveling, play flight operations with toy airplanes such as passenger boarding, landing and departure from the runway.
Most autism children respond better to visual programs. Show the steps to do air travel with comic cards to the child at the airport. Remind him/her a step every 20 minutes along with a favorite snacks. Strengthening the child increases his/her learning. Encourage and strengthen him/her after each step.
Due to the presence of stimuli such as light, noise and large crowds at the airport, it may cause anxiety and disturbance of the child and perform challenging behaviors, so reduce waiting time. Enter the airport when you don't have so much time to flight and Reduce the waiting time.
If your child escapes or does not have verbal communication, attach an ID card in the form of a bracelet or tag to her/his outfit so that he/she can be identified in airport congestion.
Use the introduction card “My child has autism”. This card will help you and your child get the flight card, security inspection and boarding faster.
If the airport is equipped with automatic security gates, use these gates to speed up security.
If the child has a sensory problem, use headphones at the airport and inside the cabin. It's also good for reducing sensory stimulation and preventing behavioral problems when the pilot announces that it's okay to move. Take a short walk with the child.
Dear parents, due to the different airport and flight rules, the steps mentioned above may not be applicable at some airports. Get information about airport facilities and rules before your travel.