The Sky's the Limit: Part 1

Anything is possible.  

Before we had kids, Tyler and I knew we wanted to travel as a family.  We had big dreams, big goals.  And we still do.  It's just that our goals have changed slightly over the years.  

At age 4 our son Charlie was diagnosed with autism.  When we saw the challenges he faced every day, we weren't sure that travel would ever be possible.  Riding in vehicles, noise sensitivity, changes in routine, transitions, unfamiliar surroundings, and large crowds of people are just a few things that make traveling difficult for Charlie.  Travel by car has always been challenging so we weren't sure if we'd ever be able to travel anywhere by plane.  

But that hasn't derailed our goals.  Traveling by plane is a goal we've had tucked away for numerous years.  We just knew it would take a little extra work to get there. Through his weekly therapies Charlie has worked on things like riding safely in vehicles, walking safely through parking lots, social skills, coping skills in large groups of people, waiting in lines, etc.  His service dog, Sunny, helps in these areas as well.  

Last year (2020) we decided to book a trip to Florida.  Charlie had been doing so well, had come so far, we decided we were ready for a big trip.  A trip on an airplane.  Unfortunately, Covid ruined those plans and we had to cancel.  And now this last year, being the topsy turvy year that it has been, we've seen skills that Charlie had worked so hard on for so long slip away.  It has been heartbreaking to watch.  Being home most of the year and months of canceled therapy sessions made it hard for Charlie to work on his skills.  But we knew we would claw our way back to where he was before.  We knew we had to keep our goals in sight, so we re-booked our trip to Florida for later this year (2021).  We figured we would have all Summer to regain those skills he lost.  

But then plans changed.  Charlie would travel by plane far sooner than we realized. 

Last week I got the news that my grandfather had a massive stroke and would not recover.  I'm in Minnesota.  He was in North Carolina.  I wanted to be there.  I needed to be there.  But the many struggles at home the last couple weeks made me hesitate to book that last minute flight.  Tyler encouraged me to go and assured me that he and the boys would be fine at home without me.  However, my mom gut reminded me how disregulated Charlie becomes when mom is gone and I didn't want to put my family through that.  You see, I'm Charlie's person and without me things go south pretty quickly and it usually takes a long time to recover.  

Then, an idea hit me.  It came out of no where really.  The idea that maybe I bring Charlie with me to North Carolina.  It sounded crazy in my head; me-traveling alone-with my son-who has difficulty traveling- and his service dog. Crazy, yes, but it also sounded like the best solution.  Tyler agreed.  We both believed that this could be an opportunity to practice traveling by air with Charlie and Sunny (Sunny had flight experience in her training, but we have never flown with her).  It would give Charlie one on one time to figure things out.  It would give me time to figure things out.  And it would give our other two sons much needed one on one time with dad.  

It was decided.  Two plane tickets were bought.  We began to pack.  And I began to prep Charlie as best I could in the short amount of time we had.  And by prep I mean going through day by day what our trip would look like, where we were going, who would be there when we arrived.  I went through things step by step with him.  Prepping meant getting out his social story about going to the air port and riding in an air plane and we studied that social story like our lives depended on it.  Because it kinda did.  The key to surviving this first flight was to be completely prepared.  And for me to be as prepared as possible for the unexpected.  

I made sure Charlie had his favorite snacks on hand, his kindle, books, games and noise canceling headphones.  Some incentives, I mean treats to get him through any tough moments.  I made sure we had everything needed for Sunny- her working vest, leash, collars, food, bowls and special treats for her too.  I'll be honest when I say it was a little weird packing dog food in my suitcase!

I had to prep more than just Charlie.  I never prepared for a trip more than I had for this one, and in such little time.  I also had to call the airline to let them know we'd be flying with a service dog.  A large one at that and to ask for accommodations.  I had to call TSA to let them know the same and to prep them on what we needed from them to make our trek through security successful. A little autism awareness goes a long way.  

Preparing to travel with kids is one thing.  Throw in autism and a service dog and it's a whole new ball game.  My tummy was in knots.

It's important to know that last minute changes to routine can really throw Charlie off so I knew this would be interesting.  We would be out of his comfort zone.  WAY OUT.  We were in new territory.  I could prep him as much as I'd like, but the reality of it all would hit when we were in the middle of our trip and there's no going back.  

Then, the time for our early morning flight arrived.  

We entered the airport and the most difficult part of the trip was the first thing we went through- security.  And let me tell you....this kid did so well.  But I'll save that story for another time.  Stay tuned. This is a mulit-part post. I'll have more stories about our trip and some tips on traveling with autism.