how to traveling with Autistic child??

Lisa - posted on 08/10/2012

You can DEFINITELY take your car seat on the plane. My son is 5 and has flown on about 50 airplanes. We took his car seat right on the plane with us so he could be strapped in during the flight. It is much safer than holding him in your lap and as long as the car seat has the correct approved sticker on it, it is allowed. Being in his own, familiar, carseat helped him feel safe.

We took along a lot of his favourite books, his iPod, and lots of snacks. the airline we flew also has individual monitors on the seats so I put on a children's channel and he was distracted by that too. He had several meltdowns but I just sang to him and let him get over it. I don't really care about people who judge us for his behaviour. All kids have meltdowns sometimes.

We haven't travelled since he was 4 and now I think we would not take his car seat on but at age 2, we couldn't have travelled without it.

Susan - posted on 08/09/2012

It isn't letting me in either. Put faa approved carseats in to google and there should be several links.

Stacey - posted on 08/09/2012

I was trying to go to the first link you sent and its not letting me :(

Fiona - posted on 08/07/2012

Although you will probably have already done this, try a social story. When they were little I used to "make up" stories for them at bedtime. Then when we went out, they would go "oh this is just like the story". Because the stories always had good endings they then expected this. A point to note though, is not to make the ending too specific. I did this once unintentionally and all hell broke loose.

Susan - posted on 08/06/2012

Ok, that helps me come up with some ideas for you. My daughter has Sensory Integration Disorder, and sound can be not just annoying, but painful for her. Having a smoke detector go off is annoying for most people, utterly terrifying for my child. There are noise canceling headphones, like these http://www.earmuffsforkids.com/ that you can get to help. Our school district has them for her at school, but we need to get a pair for home (for use for things like fireworks displays, parades, ...).

I hope your car seat is already FAA approved. Ours was, thankfully!

Security can be helpful, especially if you alert them as you get in to line that your child may need additional consideration. My daughter (then 8) and I flew out of Newark, which has pretty strict security. I let them know as I was getting in the security line, and reminded them as we got up to the checkpoint. They were fantastic with her. I told them up-front about her condition and that she might be frightened of the metal detector. I told her what the metal detector does and went through ahead of her to show her how it wasn't going to hurt her. The TSA agent was standing next to me, and called her to come and high five him. She sailed through the metal detector, high fived him, and didn't realize she'd just been through it. The next TSA agent called her by name over to her station to help her inspect my Kindle :) Maybe play statue with him? Make it a game having him stand in front of a mirror/door/screen and play statue for whatever length of time you think the scan will take, then you have a turn, ... until he thinks this is just a fun game.

Stacey - posted on 08/06/2012

He's mild but VERY busy. When we travel by car he does okay but that's just with me and him or his brothers, him, his, dad and me. We was with my sister and her daughter this weekend and her daughter was aggravating him with her baby sounds. He would just burst into tears so I wasn't concern bout the crowd till I seen that. The flight is like an hour max so he should be fine but in the airport with the crowd and layover times ughh you know lol. I completely agaree I would never take him on board and have him sit on my lap. Oh yeah and I didnt even think about the security, yikes! Here in SC they make you hold ur hands up and stand still while this machine scans you, I don't know how that would go.

Susan - posted on 08/06/2012

I wanted to add that while normally I use reusable items, that traveling I will use disposables. My DH and I flew to England with our daughter when she was 14 months old. Disposable diapers, changing pads, bibs and wipes made it easier in that I didn't have to worry about washing those items. The disposable changing pad also saved the day when her diaper overflowed. I changed her - standing on her seat because there was a long line for the bathrooms - and took a disposable changing pad, tore a small hole in it, and threaded the buckle for her car seat through it. Then I pushed the edges of the pad into the creases of the car seat padding. Now I could buckle her back in and she wasn't sitting on a wet car seat cover!

Make sure you pack an extra outfit for yourself as well as your son in your carry-on, because if you don't, something will happen and you'll need it!

Susan - posted on 08/06/2012

1) Check your car seat to see if it has approval. Here is a site about that: http://www.faaapprovedcarseats.net/

2) It is safer to have your child in a car seat than on your lap in event of severe turbulence or a crash. Yes, you have to pay for a seat for the child.

Pack a number of little distractions for him, some familiar, some new. Ask if your airport has a family bathroom near the gate you will be departing from. If they do, you can go there to calm your son as needed. If you don't mind my asking, where on the autism spectrum is your son? I have one friend whose son would probably have a lot of difficulty with flying because he has so many challenges; another friend has a son who is high-functioning and loves to travel - he'd love to fly, I bet, except his mom has a fear of flying, so they don't.

Anaquita - posted on 07/30/2012

Yes, you can take a car seat on a plane, but check the instructions (or online if you no longer have them) if it's one of those made to fit in a plane seat. You will have to buy a seat for him though. But then you have to for kids two and older, anyhow. If it's not, you can check the car seat in, as luggage so you have it when you are on your vacation.

Sharlene, they never recommend you hold the baby. They just allow it, at least in the US, up to age two. Then it's buy a seat.

As for the airport, go earlier than you absolutely need too, so if your son has a meltdown, you can pull him aside for a bit of quiet time before it's time to get him on the plane. Bring things he likes, and talk to the pediatrician on what to do, to help with ear pressure that will happen as you land. (That was the worst when I was little) I hear there *might* be medication for it. I'm uncertain if there is though, and if so, if a two year old can be given it. And invest... in a kid leash. I know a lot of people are against them, but it was about the only thing that kept my then one year old from running off the one time we flew to meet up with some friends for a weekend. Especially since he had to walk to the security scanner without me. :|

Stacey - posted on 07/28/2012

Hi there! I'm not good at handling his tantrums when we're out but I try to give him something to distract him or I carry dum dums which is his favorite candy :) With the plane my friend told me that I could hold him and im like uhh that don't sound safe to me. He needs to be like buckled down if not his gonna be up and everywhere. Like at home he sits but not for an hr which i think is bout how long the flight is. Oh in one of his Intervention meetings he showed interest in computers so I was think bout getting him a kindle fire and download some of those apps that may distract him long enough.

Sharlene - posted on 07/27/2012

Hi , They usually don't recommend you taking a car seat on a plane for safety reasons and they will advise you for him to sit on your lap on the plane and how do you handle his tantrums ?