Tips to Help You Fly and Travel around with an Autistic Child
Taking a flight for business or leisure or to visit family can be quite overwhelming for most people particularly when traveling with an autistic kid. With so much going on at the airport from the many security checkpoints to the huge crowds, loud announcements and bright lights to mention but a few of the many anxiety triggers in an airport. These are few of the many things that can worsen anxiety attacks on a child with autism. Luckily, there are simple measures you can take before, during and after the flight to help make the process less stressful to you and your child with autism. Here are a few basic tips put together for you to get you started into preparing for and travelling with a child with autism. The following are some of the measures most parents have had a huge success with when it comes to flying with children with autism. Here are more or less effective strategies you can implement to get you started in the process.
One secret that has worked for millions of parents with kids with autism is to choose the flying route with the shortest flight hours as possible. It would even be best if you could find the right route that has zero stop overs along the journey. You see, the longer the flight is the many stop overs it may have and this never augurs pretty well with autistic kids who are naturally very impatient. When you take a long flight, it means you will minimize the two worst experiences for an autistic person during flight: takeoff and landing. See, the turbulence that comes with landing and takeoff can trigger a very bad anxiety attack on a child with autism. No doubt you may not have much control over the turbulence, but then cutting down on multiple stop overs can save the day.
You might also want to help your kid with autism prepare for the flight ahead both physically and psychologically. This way, you will be helping them control their anxiety e.g. by helping pack their own backpack. In their carryon bag, ensure you have packed enough chewing gums for the journey, noise cancelling headphones or earplugs and the calming objects they have used in the past. Chewing helps ease ear pain when the altitudes are changing. Still on point, it is important that you pack enough non-technology items with you for the journey. If you have flown before you know there will reach a point during the flight when the attendants will call for the shutdown of all technology stuff so its important that both you and your kid with autism are fully prepared. And how best to do this than with their favorite non-technology item that they have associated with happy emotional feelings in the past? No matter how turbulent the flight will get, probably the best feeling in the world is to give positive words of affirmation constantly both before, during, and after the flight.