Let’s be real here…in my line of work as an Autism/Neurodiversity Ambassador and Public Speaker, I do frequently travel whether it’s by air or land to both regional and national destinations. In fact, just this morning, I was travelling to Irvine where for the first time, I had to take my laptop out of my suitcase and put it in my carryon because of the lithium battery attached to it. Then, I had my portable blu-ray player bag searched by a TSA Security Officer.
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I will say that as a frequent traveler, these are kinds of airport snafus you are going to expect one way or another. That is why for neurodivergent families and individuals, practicing how to go through the airport process is essential.
If you have been following me since “Going the Distance” was formed, one of the first blogs I did was about airport security. However, as time goes on, you will see that we tend to forget advice that was given to us a long time ago. That’s why I wanted to give yet another fresh perspective on the importance of airport security practice for neurodivergent individuals and their families.
Being that I am speaking to special education teachers out here in Irvine, there are probably some students of theirs who might be going on a big field trip that does involve air travel in some way. Travelling with a class on an airliner can be exciting, but also nerve-wracking at the same time.
For example, you could have a graduating class of high school seniors flying out to Disneyland here in Orange County from say, Boston. Now, given that it’s a large class of say, 200 students, there is going to be a lot to digest and fears of what will happen during the airport process.
Given that there are neurodivergent special education students amongst the class, teachers and chaperones will have this sort of fear that the student may wander off (a common neurodivergent trait) or be prone to meltdowns. Now be forewarned that not all special education students who are neurodivergent will want to take the chance on travelling by air with a large group of students. But what if the parents/guardians feel that the student should build self-confidence by going on the trip?
I mean, it’s Disneyland for crying out loud!! One of the magical places on Earth!!
Well, this is where the practice comes into play. Many autism and other neurodivergent organizations do in fact have programs through partnerships with local airports and even major airlines. At one of the organizations I am affiliated with as a Core Team Leader, Autism Tree in San Diego, CA, there is a program called Blue Horizons where families under the care of Autism Tree are given the opportunity to practice all the aspects of going through the airport process:
Check In
Security
Being in the Gate Area
Boarding the Plane
In addition, the Arc of North America has a program called “Wings for Autism” which has slowed somewhat due to the COVID-19 Pandemic but is making a small comeback of sorts.
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It’s also a good idea to build bridges with the Transportation Security Administration Officers at your local airport. I will confess that I have been intimidated by them a couple of times, particularly at my home airports in Providence and Boston, but they have to be intimidating to keep you, me and everyone else around us safe.
In fact, that’s another layer of anxiety for the neurodivergent student to face and that is why building bridges with TSA is essential.
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Now, the reason I bring up the example of a senior class trip to Disneyland is because we are now entering the part of the school year where preparations for end of the year events start to really heat up, especially for graduating classes.
In fact, I’ve also created a training that is available to teachers called “Senior Class Trips and Autism,” that while geared towards high school seniors, it does also reflect on field trips of all sorts whether they be one day, overnight or multi-day.
In it, I discuss largely about my senior class trip to New York City in 2007 and the challenges that I had to overcome on that trip, and it didn’t even involve air travel of any kind by the way.
If you are interested in having me do this training for your teachers and administrators, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me today because I think you will benefit from it greatly!!
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Catch you all later!!
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