In this blog, we describe our experience when flying with an autistic child.

When our AS son was younger we always holidayed in the UK.  The prospect of even a short flight seem fraught with risk. The long wait at airports, crowds, queues and the whole sensory experience felt daunting before even getting on the plane!

Since he hit his teens and his understanding has improved, we have done some short flights - thankfully with no problems.

Airports offer assistance if you are travelling with someone with a "disability" and we have used this with mixed results.

Airport Assistance - Our Own Experience

Firstly, only the child and one carer often receive the special assistance,  meaning that if you are travelling as a family you are likely to be split up with the remainder of the party.

If your family take the "normal" route through security you may not be reunited until you are on the plane.

If you have not pre-booked seats, making sure you are all seated together takes a bit of negotiating.

The main issue I found when flying with an autistic child, was getting myself and my son through the security scanner. We could only go through one at a time...

Does he go first and I hope he doesn't wander off or do I go through first and hope he follows?!

Easier to do this as a family - send Mum or Dad through first to receive him on the other side!

We also found the service at UK airports better than the ones abroad.

At one airport my son and I had to wait in a corridor for 1/2 hour whilst my wife and daughter enjoyed some duty free shopping!

One of the really helpful aspects is priority boarding - no waiting in a long queue to board.

We have used airport assistance on 2 trips now (so 4 times in total) . The last time my AS son was in a wheelchair having broken his ankle - so assistance was essential.

Now that he is fully mobile again we won't bother using airport assistance. We have found that some forward planning (pre-booked seats and online check in) can help to ease the process anyway. It also means that the whole family can stay together.

The one area that is always fun is security! His lack of social skills and awareness can bring some funny looks! We are well used to that by now!  Happy holidays!