SPECIAL ASSISTANCE FOR FAMILIES TRAVELLING WITH AUTISTIC CHILDREN
WHAT IS SPECIAL ASSISTANCE?
Special Assistance is the general term used to describe the help and support available to a travellers with unique needs, this includes hidden disabilities such as Autism and ADHD as well as those with limited mobility.
There are no rules setting out what special assistance schemes should offer, and organisations are expected to abide by the laws that prevent disability discrimination. In practice we have found there can be massive differences in how different companies approach hidden disabilities and what they offer in terms of support (or special assistance).
MORE INFORMATION ON BOOKING AND USING SPECIAL ASSISTANCE SCHEMES
At airports
With airlines
On Eurostar departing London
On Eurostar departing Paris
HOW DOES SPECIAL ASSISTANCE HELP US TRAVEL AS A FAMILY?
Without Special Assistance our family would struggle to travel easily by plane - and certainly we would have struggled taking our two autistic boys on our dream holiday to the arctic circle!
SPECIAL ASSISTANCE HAS HELPED US IN THESE AIRPORTS:
OSLO AIRPORT
On arrival in Oslo we waited about 15 minutes to be collected by Special Assistance staff. we were then taken directly through passport control, avoiding a queue that was over 90 minutes long.
GATWICK AIRPORT
In Gatwick we were met by the most wonderful woman from special assistance, who took care of everything - passports, security, collecting items, help with taking our medicines through. She was calm, kind and so understanding of hidden disabilities, proactively taking my son to quiet places with dim lighting to wait while she sorted things for us. Amazing.
On another trip this same woman collected us in the passenger buggy, took us to the luggage carousel and let me wait in it with the boys as there was a pretty lengthy delay on bag delivery. This kept the boys contained and reduced the amount of sensory feedback they were receiving- it absolutely prevented a meltdown from our youngest. She also kept up a steady stream of chat with my eldest who was starting to get anxious and helped keep him relaxed during this unexpected delay. Once we had our bags she then took us through customs and out to meet the taxi driver who was waiting for us.
GLASGOW AIRPORT
In Glasgow a lovely young man collected us from the plane door, helped us get our luggage of the baggage belt and then pushed me (holding our son) in a wheelchair through the airport to the long stay carpark, all the while keeping up a friendly and low demand chat with our eldest son who was showing signs of anxiety. Just awesome.
RIGA AIRPORT
Riga airport was surprisingly large and our departure gate was as far as way as you can get from the check-in desk which made me wish I had taken them up on the offer of the wheelchair we had booked. Lesson learnt - never judge the distance you have to walk based on what you did on arrival!!
Having made our way over to the gate we were boarded first and had a few minutes to settle before the other passengers started coming on board.
BERGEN AIRPORT
On arrival in Bergen we were able to wait for ground crew to find and bring up our son's buggy to the airplane door. This made it so much easier transiting through the airport.
CATANIA AIRPORT, SICILY
Flying home from Sicily our son was very ill - we were boarded first, well in advance of the other passengers and given the time we needed to settle him properly. We were also provided with seating in reserved seats and offered water. This was very welcome as it was extremely hot in the airport.
TROMSO AIRPORT
Our plane was delayed leaving Tromso. Having already been boarded first and settled the boys we were faced with the disruption of taking them both back off the plane. The crew saw our faces, and after a brief discussion allowed us to stay on board. They even provided free refreshments and took our eldest son up to the cockpit to have a look at the space and meet the pilots - in his words - BEST DAY EVER
The Tromso delay meant we were late for our connecting flight in Oslo. Staff there were notified by the plane crew and we were put into a special minivan and driven quickly around the perimeter of the airport to the other gate. We were brought up right next to passport control, where we were ushered through without queuing. We made our flight with 3 minutes to spare!
HEATHROW AIRPORT
In Heathrow we were transported from the departures lounge to our boarding gate on one of the little golf buggies. The boys thought this was wonderful, and so did we, it was an extremely long walk and it would have been too much for them and we would have ended up carrying them for much of the journey - they are over 26kg each!
We have also been offered seating in special waiting areas at boarding gates - these are quieter and less stressful for the boys.
INNSBRUCK AIRPORT
Innsbruck airport is super small so we were sure about requesting special assistance. However they were absolutely fine with it and a young man wearing bright red medi-style overalls assisted us through security and declaring the medicines. He then seated us in a designated are with large screens which really reduced the noise and visual distractions.
When it was time to board he came back to collect us and after we'd cleared passport control walked us across the tarmac to the plane and helped us to board first.