We recently returned from visiting family in Sweden and the travels went smoothly – something worth celebrating! I would consider Lucas a good traveller as when we used to live in Switzerland, we often travelled to the UK and Sweden to visit family.
However, there have been a couple of memorable occasions (but not for the good reasons) at the airport and it taught us some lessons. Let’s start with the ugly and work our way through to the good.
The Ugly; “Airplane, airplane”
Lucas must have been around 5 years old when he came with my husband to pick me up from the airport. I was happy to see them again.
As we started to leave the airport, all of a sudden, Lucas started pulling me towards the departures and started shouting “Airplane, airplane”. When I explained that we were not going on an airplane, he started crying and continued to pull me. He became more and more distressed. It got to the point where we had to pick him up and carry him to the car.
Once we got to the car, we managed to snap him out of this meltdown by giving him my phone. He recovered quickly but we needed more time to recover and decompress from the episode.
It turned out that whenever we had been to the airport before, we had always gone on a flight. He enjoyed the flights as he would get to play on his iPad. We didn’t realise that he was expecting this and by leaving the airport, it had completely gone against his expectations hence the meltdown.
In hindsight, at this point, Lucas’ diagnosis was quite new so although we had a basic visual calendar, we weren’t familiar with using social stories or preparing him for different scenarios. To be honest, it didn’t cross our minds at the time.
The Bad; Confronting Fears Post-Lockdown
Post-Covid, our first trip to Sweden was met with an unforeseen reaction from Lucas, who expressed fear as we neared the plane — a stark contrast to his previous journeys.
He started crying and pulling me in the other direction from the plane. We managed to get through the gates, but he continued to resist through the tunnel and all the way up the plane aisle. You should have seen the looks we got.
It was only when we sat down, and I handed him his iPad that he quietened down and proceeded to play. Just like before, it took me a lot longer than him to recover and process the incident.
Reflecting on this, it’s clear that while we prepare for the foreseeable and on this occasion, we thought we had, there’s always more to learn in supporting Lucas through new challenges.
The Good; A Recent Success Story
Our latest trip was approached with proactive measures. We drew a plane on his calendar to outline our journey to Sweden. We discussed the trip with Lucas to ensure he understood that we were picking him up from school, taking the car to the airport and getting on the plane.
We reassured him that he could play his iPad and showed him our snacks for the flight. As I know his ears can sometimes hurt from the change in pressure, we have gummy bears for take-off and landing so that he can chew. This preparation paid off, leading to a peaceful travel experience for all. Phew!
To all parents navigating similar paths, I hope that some of these stories can help you better prepare your little ones for any upcoming trips. I wish you happy and smooth travels and adventures.
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