autism

Travel Tidbits from an airport near you

Airports, , , , ,

Welcome to all the new Stuck at The Airport subscribers who have signed up over this past week. We suspect many of you found us through the mention of our site in this recent New York Times article about airport lounges.

But however you found us, we’re happy you’re here.

Here are some airport amenities we’re been researching this week.

Cruise to SEA airport luggage-free

Thnking abot taking a cruise to Alaska? Good for you!

More than a million cruise passengers pass through Seattle – and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) on their way to and from Alaska each summer.

And they all seem to bring along a lot of luggage.

When all those people finish their cruises and head back home, the bag check-in lines at the airport get really, really long.

In fact, Port of Seattle officials often point out that it is cruise season, not the Christmas/New Year holiday when the airport experiences its peak passenger count.

A good solution is the complimentary Port Valet service.

Cruise passengers can check-in for their flights and check their bags before they get off the ship. Port Valet does the bag transfers and the cruisers can hang around the city luggage- free before heading to the airport.

Whle the luggage transfer is free; regular checked bag fees apply.

Learn how to save a life while waiting for a flight

Los Angeles International is the latest airport to get a Hands-Only CPR Training Kiosk from the American Heart Association.

More than a dozen other airports have these kiosks as well and in just five minutes – the time it takes scroll through your Instagram feed (again) – you can watch a short instruction video (in English or Spanish), practice on a rubber manikin, get feedback on your technique and learn how to save a life.

 Get coffee made by a robot

In two locations at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and, starting this week, in Terminal 3 at San Francisco International Airport, travelers can have coffee drinks prepared and delivered by robotic baristas in a Briggo automated Coffee Haus kiosk. 

Orders can be sent ahead via the app, no pre-caffeine chit-chat is required, local coffee blends are featured, and there’s a robot on duty 24 hours a day.


Sensory-friendly Space with real airplane seating

Going to the airport and getting on a plane can be stressful for anyone, but kids or adults with autism or other special needs may need extra help acclimating and adjusting.

To help out, Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) just opened Presley’s Place on Concourse A.

In addition to a calming transition foyer, family room, soundproof adult area, and restroom with adult changing table and adjustable sink, Presley’s Place is the first airport sensory room to also have the walls and floor of a real jet way and a seating section from a realistic airplane cabin, courtesy American Airlines.

Have you come across a new airport amenity during your travels? Let us know in the comment section below. If your tip is featured, we’ll send you a fun travel-themed souvenir.

Airports, vacation spots get autism-friendly

family travel

Courtesy The Arc

 

Travel can be really stressful. Even scary sometimes.

For families who have children with autism and/or other intellectual and developmental disabilities, the trip to and through the airport, and on to grandma’s house or a vacation in another city, can be just too difficult to even consider.

But there are programs and truly caring people out there who are trying to make that process a little easier.

Here’s a slightly shortened version of my piece on autism-friendly travel efforts I wrote for NBC News:

Because her almost 5-year-old son Matthias has sensory issues associated with autism Latonya Bingham’s family only takes vacations to places they can reach by car, sometimes leaving the house at 2 a.m. when the roads are calm and quiet.

Bingham would love to take Matthias on a trip by plane, so this week mother and son signed up for an  air travel ‘rehearsal’ at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

The program allows families to practice going to the airport, passing through security, waiting in the gate area and getting onto a plane — all without the cost and commitment of a plane ticket — and is coordinated by The Arc, a Washington, D.C. organization that has hosted 75 similar events at more than 40 airports around the country.

Matthias has issues with crowds and loud noises, so Bingham was worried Matthias would have problems with the TSA experience and the boarding process, but all went smoothly until Matthias was on the plane, where “He felt too enclosed,” said Matthias, “He preferred the window to be open – and was ready to get off after 5 minutes.”

The chance to do an airport test run definitely made a difference for Katy Guerra’s son Danny, a 10-year-old with autism who doesn’t do well with change or fast-paced environments.

The military family is used to moving but has never had the opportunity to move together as a family overseas.

“We had put off taking trips because we didn’t want to be ‘that family,'” said Guerra, “and Danny has always made it clear he cannot go in airplanes because the air is too thin. So we knew there would be some issues.”

But after going through one of The Arc’s Wings for Autism programs, (also known as Wings for All) and spending two months preparing, Danny took his first plane ride: a 14-hour flight to Seoul, South Korea.

Test runs like this not only give families a chance to see how a child with a special need will react to the airport experience, they give airport, airline and TSA employees a chance to learn and practice how to interact with children and adults who have autism and/or other intellectual and developmental disabilities as well.

Sensory Rooms and Autism-Friendly Travel Destinations

In April 2016 Delta Air Lines opened a quiet, multisensory room at the Atlanta airport with a mini ball pit, bubbling water sculpture, tactile activity panel and other items to help ease the airport experience for customers traveling with children on the autism spectrum.

Myrtle Beach International Airport in South Carolina opened a “quiet room” for people with special needs not long after, and this month, Europe’s first airport sensory room for passengers with autism opened at Ireland’s Shannon Airport.

In the tourism-focused Myrtle Beach area “autism-friendly” goes beyond the airport.

The new $3.2 million ADA-approved Savannah’s Playground has special sensory-friendly features, there’s a quiet room for people with autism at the Myrtle Beach Speedway and, with a special card secured online or in-town locations, families can secure special accommodations for a child with autism at area attractions, hotels and restaurants where staff has been specially trained.

And to make sure potential visitors know the community gets that traveling with kids who have autism can be especially chaotic and unpredictable, in January, 2016 the town council in Surfside Beach, on the southern end of the Myrtle Beach, signed a proclamation declaring the area to be the first official autism-friendly travel destination.

 

Flying with autism

Airports, Kids, Kids travel,

Littlejohn Family

Henry (in center, with red shirt) and his family during Wings for Autism event

 

Air travel can be stressful for even the most experienced road warriors. But it can be much tougher for families with a child on the autism spectrum who becomes unnerved by the lines and security procedures at the airport and the tight quarters and strange noises on an airplane.

For the Littlejohn family it was dreadful.

In 2010, they had plane tickets to fly from Boston to Orlando for a vacation at Walt Disney World. “My son Henry, then 6, has autism but had traveled well before. This time he was very anxious on the way to the airport. And by the time we got on the plane he was melting down; kicking and screaming,” said Susie Littlejohn.

Before the plane could take off, they had to make a decision: Her husband ended up going on to Orlando with their older son, Jack; Henry and his mom got off the plane and went home.

Littlejohn thought the air travel process might go smoother if children like Henry had a way to practice going to and through the airport and getting onto the airplane. She mentioned that idea to Jennifer Robtoy, the director of Autism Services at the Charles River Center in Needham, Mass, and Robtoy got in touch with Massport, which operates Boston Logan airport, to see if something could be worked out.

“Within an hour of sending an e-mail to Massport, I got a reply,” said Robtoy. And within six months Massport, TSA,  the Charles River Center (which is a chapter of The Arc) and several airlines (including JetBlue, United and Delta Air Lines) had created Wings for Autism, now a regular event offering families with children on the autism spectrum a chance to go to the airport and get on an airplane during a low-stress, dry run.

“A lot of families aren’t sure if air travel is a possibility for them if they have a child with autism. But during this event they simulate everything as if you’re traveling,” said Littlejohn, whose family has attended all but one of the Wings for Autism events Boston Logan has hosted.

“You park, take the moving walkway from the garage, wait in line, show your ID, get boarding passes and make your way through security. Everyone has a boarding time and gets on a plane,” she said.

During the event, the airplane engines are kept running so kids can feel – and hear – what that is like. The planes don’t actually leave the ground, but when it’s time for “takeoff” the cabin door is closed and safety announcements are made. During the “flight,” beverages are served and there’s a snack service.

Kids are also invited to visit the pilots in the cockpit.

Wings for Autism

Rebekah Tirrell, of Johnston, R.I., receives a flight lesson from Jonathan Wakeman, first officer at JetBlue, during “Wings For Autism” program at Boston Logan Airport – Courtesy JetBlue

 

 

“We’ve found that some kids have issues walking down the jetway or when it is time to step on the plane,” said Brad Martin, director of customer service at Boston Logan.

For others it’s when they’re getting strapped into their seatbelts or going through the emergency drill with the flight attendants.

“We know that for some kids it’s just not doable,” said Martin, “But some kids are just fine with everything and then the family knows they can do this.”

Martin said Boston Logan’s Wings for Autism program not only helps kids and their families tackle some of air travel issues, it also teaches airport and airline employees, as well as TSA officers, about the challenges autism can place on traveling. “They learn what to look for and how to handle certain situations and it teaches them to be patient and to see how they can help,” he said.

And that attitude can rub off on other travelers.

“If other passengers see a staff member willing to give a hand when a child with autism is having a hard time at the airport, they may also be more accepting, aware and sympathetic,” said Littlejohn.

Autism now affects one in 88 children nationwide. So while the Wings for Autism program is a big success at Boston Logan airport, families traveling with a child who has mild to severe autism would like to find sensitive and trained staff at all airports.

That may happen.

The Autism Society of Minnesota participates in the Navigating Autism program at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and, thanks to a grant from Autism Speaks, The Arc has licensed the Wings for Autism program and will take it  nationwide to more than 50 airports within the next three to five years.

Wings for Autism events are currently planned at the Detroit and Baltimore airports. JetBlue is hosting a program at the Burbank Bob Hope Airport in California on May 4 and another one at New York’s JFK International Airport this fall.

“Because of this program, there will be fewer wedding, graduations and other important family occasions missed,” said Greg Principato, president of Airport Council International – North America, “More people will experience more and more places. And one of the limits autism can place on so many good people will be removed.”

And what about Henry Littlejohn, the 6-year-old whose meltdown inspired the Wings for Autism program in the first place?

Now eight, he was able to get on the plane during the event held at Boston Logan Airport earlier this month.

“It took a lot of hard work and patience,” said his mom, Susie Littlejohn. “We’re getting there, but air travel isn’t an option for us right now. We’re just so thankful there’s an opportunity to practice.”

(My story, Flying with Autism, first appeared in April 2013 as my At the Airport column on USAToday.com)