When You Fly With Your ASD Child....

[Disneylvr]

do you request to pre-board? This is what we plan to do (on American Airlines). Should I have this noted on my reservation now? (we booked online) Or is it ok to wait until we check in on day of departure? 24 more days and I am getting more and more nervous.

 

[DIS-NH]

We always request the pre-board (2 sons, both ASD). We normally fly Southwest or Jetblue. It has not been an issue with either carrier. I ask
for this at the gate....most gate attendents have seen this before and will
not give you a problem.

We find it easier to pre-board, and get the boys settled without the crowd, and the waiting in line.

Good luck

 

[Beautybelle43]

Parents of my students always ask for a pre-board when flying. They find that it really helps their kids get settled without the chaos of the other passengers & really helps them get off to a good start.

 

[BeckyScott]

We are flying SouthWest.

I know that we are "supposed" to go online 24 hours in advance to get our boarding passes, so that we can get in the A group.

If we ask for pre-boarding, do I still need to go online and get those boarding passes in advance? Or will it not matter?

Justin is pretty obviously autistic, if you KWIM, I am not particularly worried that someone will look at him and not see an *issue*. And I am thinking it will be even more so at the airport, because he will be over-stimmed.

 

[chaospearl]

In my experience with Southwest, it doesn't matter which boarding group you're in. Just go up to the counter at the terminal and tell the attendant that you need to pre-board and it shouldn't be a problem. I can never figure out a way to ask for pre-boarding when I book online because all the options for "check here if you're handicapped and need to pre-board" are very specific and I'm neither blind nor in a wheelchair; I just walk with a leg brace and a slow limp so I need extra time.

 

[breezy1077]

We actually do the opposite. We wait for final boarding call. I've found it helps instead to be mobile until the last minute instead of stuck in a seat, and sometimes boarding can take forever.

 

[chaospearl]

I guess it depends on your individual needs. If we were talking about any other airline with assigned seating, I'd also opt for the final boarding call and be the last one down the jetway so that nobody had to wait behind me while I hobble along. This is Southwest, though, and seats are first-come, first-served. If I boarded last, I'd be guaranteed stuck in a middle\center seat -- and in my case that's not merely squishy and uncomfortable, it's not actually physically possible. Because of the stiff brace, I can't bend my knee at all, so I have to sit in an aisle seat where it doesn't matter because I can arrange myself with my foot pointed out to the side and leg fully extended. In a middle or window seat there's nowhere for my foot to go. The space in front of the seats in coach class isn't big enough to fully extend my knee. So if there isn't an aisle seat available when I board, I have to speak with a flight attendant who then has to persuade somebody else to give up their seat so I can sit down. If I were the other passenger, I'd consider that much more of an annoyance than letting the disabled person board in front of me to begin with.

Edited to add: While we're on the topic of seats, I wanted to point out that there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with ensuring that your child gets the best seat for his particular needs during a flight. Sure, most kids want a window seat, but there's a big difference between a normal 6 yr old whining about being stuck in the middle, and an ASD child going into an over-stim meltdown at 30,000 feet. If your son's experience flying will be easier if you can both look out the window, or if he needs an aisle seat to avoid feeling pressed in and trapped, I'd consider that a medical need, not a gimme-gimme. Don't feel the slightest bit guilty if you do end up needing to speak with a flight attendant and request that another passenger choose a different seat. Even if this happens in the middle of the flight and you suddenly realize that your choice of an aisle seat for your son should have been a window, you'd be surprised at how understanding people can be. Press your call button and explain the situation to the flight attendant. Ask him or her to make an announcement along the lines of, "Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen. There is an autistic child on board who would really love to sit by the window. Do I have any volunteers to switch seats with him and his mother?" I guarantee you there will be at least half a dozen lovely people who will instantly jump up to help you, and at least one of them will be familiar with the needs of ASD families. You don't even have to specify "ASD child" if you'd rather avoid the label -- "a little boy with medical needs" is more than enough explanation.

 

[Disneylvr]

A couple of weeks ago we called American Airlines and the agent noted our daughter's disability and need for pre-boarded on our reservation. The reason we want pre-boarding is because our seat assignments are all the way in the back of the plane. We could not get bulk head. I felt it would be best to get her settled in our seats before the stampede begins. Even with assigned seats and seating groups, the passengers still seem to crowd and push to be first.

 

[Earstou]

We are flying SouthWest.

If we ask for pre-boarding, do I still need to go online and get those boarding passes in advance? Or will it not matter?

I always do, mostly as insurance. Also, depending on how many are flying, they have asked us to only have two preboard, so we get the boarding passes to cover the others with us.

 

[BeckyScott]

We are flying with four. So my "plan" was to pre-board or get A's for us. Then we could do one block of three seats, and let DH fend for himself. The kids can trade out the window seat, but we could still get out to an aisle without bothering anyone else.

My concern, I guess, isn't so much the flight to Orlando, because I know I can get on the computer at exactly 24 hours. It's the flight back. We're staying at Pop. If I go to the desk and explain the situation, they'll do our boarding passes, yes? I think I read that somewhere here. I'm just concerned that we won't be able to get A's for the flight back, and then if we can't pre-board, we will have a situation on our hands.

 

[Schmeck]

I guess it depends on your individual needs. If we were talking about any other airline with assigned seating, I'd also opt for the final boarding call and be the last one down the jetway so that nobody had to wait behind me while I hobble along. This is Southwest, though, and seats are first-come, first-served. If I boarded last, I'd be guaranteed stuck in a middle\center seat -- and in my case that's not merely squishy and uncomfortable, it's not actually physically possible. Because of the stiff brace, I can't bend my knee at all, so I have to sit in an aisle seat where it doesn't matter because I can arrange myself with my foot pointed out to the side and leg fully extended. In a middle or window seat there's nowhere for my foot to go. The space in front of the seats in coach class isn't big enough to fully extend my knee. So if there isn't an aisle seat available when I board, I have to speak with a flight attendant who then has to persuade somebody else to give up their seat so I can sit down. If I were the other passenger, I'd consider that much more of an annoyance than letting the disabled person board in front of me to begin with.

Must be tricky when the service cart comes by!

 

[mamacate]

Sigh. When we flew in February we had a situation where my son was expecting a window and didn't get one--nice meltdown on the runway. Lots of bad vibes too. (The worst part is that there were empty seats, one with a window, in the next row--which were taken by two adults from the seat behind us during his meltdown---of course they would have thought we were just being poor disciplinarians had we let him take that seat. In fact I was waiting to ask the flight attendant.)

Mostly, he's a good traveler, though, because the airplanes are FASCINATING. That's why the window seat is such a tough one when he doesn't get it. Since my son doesn't (yet) have an ASD diagnosis, no one is familiar with the alphabet soup we'd have to name to describe what's going on, so I just take a deep breath, focus on my son, and try not to let the scowls and the comments get me down. I'm also not sure I can explain it to an airline for pre-boarding.

I learned something on my last trip on SW. You can actually log in to get your boarding passes on your cell phone (by text messaging, I think). Then you print out the actual boarding pass at the airport, but your queue number is based on when you logged in. There's more info on the SW site. This is going to be the first time on SW for him. We'll have to see how that goes--I might just be explaining alphabet soup to the gate attendant on the way back.

C

 

[Earstou]

We are flying with four. So my "plan" was to pre-board or get A's for us. Then we could do one block of three seats, and let DH fend for himself.

We talked about doing it that way once, but my ds got so upset that dad might not be sitting with us. We decided it would be too stressful (on him) to do it that way.

The front desk should be able to help you print out boarding passes, if I remember correctly.

 

[bookwormde]

There are very specific FAA regulations for boarding/seating/accommodations for people with special needs. I looked but cold not find my link to the site but I think I have seen it referenced elsewhere on this site. I believe the procedure includes you calling ahead of time (I believe at least 24 hours) to let the airline know what the needs are. If it is just that you need to pre-board and for the family to be seated together (to provide proper care and comfort) that should be an easy one for them. If you have a problem, each airline is required to have a disabilities conflict resolution coordinator available at each airport (not sure if that is the exact title) so ask for him/her. It is a formal citable FAA violation if they fail to follow these regulations. And if for some reason there is a problem the only reason they deny transport is for safety reasons, not for the comfort or convenience of the flight crew or other passengers.

bookwormde

 

[tavettava]

I just bring a note from the Dr. and we have no trouble pre-boarding. It gives us time to get her settled in before teh crowds come pushing in. I try to get seats at the back of the plane to, so there isn't a lot of movement by us.