my sons love their leapsters. its a total distraction from the rest of the world and they learn while they play. my sons(both are autistic) get obsessions. I use those obsessions to get things done. So figure out your sons obsession and work with it. If your son gets overstimulated try working on techniques before you go to the airport to help his fears. We've always counted backwards when things get really bad.
Good luck! ↑ |
I always carry a bag with interactive toys (ie. a doodle, book of puzzles, books, etc.), laptop for watching movies, earphones (so others won't hear the movies), food, etc. During the flight, I am constantly (every half hour to an hour) changing the activity (ie. he will read a book, then play with the book of puzzles, then doodle, then watch a movie, etc.). Use the time while waiting in the terminal to purchase drinks and food. During take off and landing, I usually have him drink some water or juice to help with the pressure within his ears. This will relieve him so you won't have a child screaming during the flight.
I hope this helps. I also have an autistic child and write about my experiences in my blog at http://raisingsucautistic.blogspot.com/
I hope this helps. Good luck! ↑ |
I just returned from Jamaica. We had to take a connecting flight both ways in Miami. I have a 9 year old autistic son. What I did with my autistic son was carry a backpack with (what I call) "busy items". In this backpack, I had his favorite book, 2 of his favorite DVDs, a portable VCR/DVD player, snack items (purchased at the airport), a water bottle (also purchased at the airport). etc. What I did first was while taking off, I had him drink from the water bottle as much water as he could. This swallowing method will help equalize the ears when flying on an airplane and provide him with relief. When the pilot said that we could take off our seat belts, I had him take his off in order to move around in his seat. We would trade off on the "busy items" (ie. read a book for 30 minutes, watch a movie for 2 hours, walk up and down the aisle, eat a snack, etc.) He was a bit restless but the trip was manageable. The trip to Miami was a little over 5 hours. I did the same thing on the connecting flight from Miami to Jamaica. This was only a little over an hour. We made it and he was happy. Hopefully, this helps.
You can read more tips and get more suggestions at my blog at http://raisingsucautistic.blogspot.com/ . Tell me what you think. ↑ |
