There is no doubt that Charlie's first flight was a huge success. One trip doesn't make me an expert by any means. But I wanted to share a few things that we learned along the way that made this trip a little easier.
Call The Airline Before Traveling
This may not be helpful for everyone. Since we were traveling with a service dog, we needed to call ahead to make sure the airline knew we would have a service dog with us. Rules about service animals and airlines have changed drastically in the last few months. Calling ahead is a must. There is also now a DOT form to fill out online and submit to the airline before travel as well. It basically assures that your service dog is in fact trained, well behaved and up to date with vaccinations. When I called ahead we were also able to get better seating that could accommodate a 95lb animal and still give us some leg room. Delta Airlines had amazing customer service when I called and spoke with them.
TSA Cares
TSA Cares is a program not many people know about. Anyone with a disability or medical condition can call TSA Cares before they travel to ask for help navigating the security screening process. Anyone who needs special accommodations while at the airport can even ask a TSA officer for on-the-spot assistance from a support specialist to help them through the screening process. If requested, this support specialist will even meet you before arriving at security to help you through the security processes step by step.
I called TSA to let them know we'd be going through security with a service dog and with a child with special needs. They asked me what exactly they could do to make the security screening easier for us. I outlined that we needed a speedy process. I informed them Charlie would need clear, direct instructions from someone who could be patient and calm. Honestly I wasn't really sure what all they could do to make this part easier so this is all I went through with them. But if you need other assistance or have other directions on how to best work with your child, don't be afraid to tell them. They were actually quite amazing at the airport. Our small town airport wasn't quite sure what to do with a service dog coming through, but the numerous other airports we went through were so supportive and made the security process so simple and quick.
Prep Your Child
For most trips you'd have plenty of time to prep your child. For us, this trip was very last minute giving us only 2 days to prep. He does not like having his schedule change suddenly or to have surprises sprung on him, so having a little prep time was good. I spent as much time as I was able during those 2 days talking with Charlie about what to expect during the trip. We utilized his laminated social story cards about going to the airport and riding on a plan. We put the cards on a lanyard that he was able to wear around his neck while we were traveling and follow along during each step of the way. This was more helpful than anyone could ever know. It helped Charlie to know what we just did and what to expect next.
The night before we left I took Charlie to the store and had him pick out some special snacks and treats he could keep in his backpack with him. I helped him pack his backpack with his Kindle, headphones, books, snacks, small comfort blanket and water bottle. He got to pick out everything that went into his backpack. We even talked about what would happen when we got to North Carolina. I outlined that we would stay at someone's house, not a hotel. I told him there would be some family there that he knows and loves, but that there would be some people there he has never met or did not know very well. I reassured him I would be with him the whole time.
Early Boarding
Seriously, take advantage of this if you are traveling with someone with a disability! You can either let the gate attendant know when you arrive that you'd like to be part of their pre-boarding or you can just go ahead and proceed to the gate when they call out pre-boarding for anyone needing extra time to make their way to the plane and sit down. Charlie and I took advantage of this during each flight and it made a huge difference. We had plenty of time to make our way onto the plane, find our seats and get settled. Boarding a plane doesn't sound like it takes much work, but add a service dog and a child who has a hard time focusing and you'll be happy to have a little extra time to get situated before the majority of the people board the plane.
Navigating MSP Program
Take advantage of any local programs that help you practice navigating the airport. We live in Minnesota and were able to participate in the Navigating MSP program a few years ago at the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport. This program is a collaboration between Metropolitan Airport Commission, Fraser, and the Autism Society of Minnesota (AuSM). They have monthly dates to sign up for where autism families can have a practice run navigating security, a tour of the airport, board a plane (you do not take off) and meet a pilot. Each family gets their own volunteer to show them through the whole process. The volunteers are so amazing and patient. During your session you will get a social story, you can ask questions and get tons of great travel tips. If you don't live in Minnesota, look online for programs in your home state.
Stay Calm
I cannot stress this enough. Moms and dads, our kiddos can sense when we are anxious or nervous. Stay calm and show them that traveling does not need to be stressful. The very last leg of our trip home we had to change flights and I knew from our itinerary that we were going to have very little time to deplane, walk to the other side of the airport and board our next flight. I was super nervous to miss our connecting flight, but I didn't want to rush Charlie or stress him out that we needed to keep moving. I tried to make our walk across the airport fun and challenged Charlie to find as many moving sidewalks as possible (so we could go a little faster), which he loved. I even let him run as fast as he could (mom & Sunny jogged with him too) on the stretches of hallway where no one was around. It gave him the chance to get wiggles out and helped us get to our connecting flight quicker. We got there right in time to board right away and be on our way home.
Ask/Accept Help
I know what you're thinking....but, Kayla, what if it's hard for me to ask for/accept help? I totally get it. I'm that type of person too. But guess what?! There are still good people out there in the world who WANT to help. Guess what else?! It felt so good to get help to make things easier. Along our travels we had numerous people reach out and ask to help us. A couple times we had people offer to help carry/roll our carry-on luggage. One woman asked to help us get to our next gate. Let the flight attendants know if they can help with anything. People want to help if they can. Don't be afraid to ask or accept help when offered.
One last bit of advice- Check. Your. Luggage.
Since this was a short trip I didn't think it would be a big deal just to do a carry on. Boy oh boy would it have been so much easier to check our bag. Charlie and I each had a backpack and then had one small roller-carryon bag that we kept with us. Between hanging on to Sunny, balancing our gate check bag with Charlie's booster seat, rolling the carry-on bag and keeping tabs on Charlie to make sure he didn't lag behind or get too far away from me- boy was that a lot of work. It would have been so much easier to have checked that carry-on bag.
(Yes, I know Mike, you told me to check the bag. Next time I'll listen :)
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