Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), participating airlines and partner agencies today launched its Flight Experience Program, offering a practice airport experience at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) from check-in to boarding for families with autism to help prepare for future travel, and help reduce anxieties and fears associated with flying. American Airlines hosted today’s program.
“There are many families that do not fly simply because they fear not knowing how their loved one with autism will act or how others will react to possible behavioral situations that may arise,” said Larry Rolon, LAWA’s Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) coordinator. The program gives families with autism an opportunity to experience the airport environment, including the inside of an airplane, increase the comfort level, and reduce anxiety through familiarization with the travel process.”
Students from the LeRoy Haynes School, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping children with special needs, participated in this first run of the program. They started by registering for the flight experience by visiting www.lawa.org and clicking on the ADA symbol. Upon arrival at LAX, the participants checked in as if they were actually taking a flight, received their boarding passes, and proceeded through Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screening, and on to their gates. When the flight was called, families boarded the aircraft, took their seats, and followed the usual airline procedures, giving participants an educational and realistic travel experience.
LAWA has been working with its partners including airlines, airport tenants, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), wheelchair service providers, and the LeRoy Haynes School to address the needs of families with autism when traveling by air and to create public awareness about autism and possible behavioral issues that may arise at the airport or in-flight.
Recently, LAWA also initiated an autism self-identification program that allows persons with autism to share that they have an intellectural disability by wearing a specially-designed sticker created by a team of 13 students from the LeRoy Haynes School.
It is hoped that the sticker will help minimize misunderstandings. When a police officer or airline employee responds to a situation and sees the autism sticker, it alerts them that the individual has autism. They may, in turn, handle the situation in a different manner by offering assistance in a quiet area or other options.
Rolon added that the self-identification program is the result of input from families with autism who expressed a fear of flying with family members with autism.
“Family members worry that loved ones with autism might may become confused in an airport environment, creating an outburst that could result in a negative response, when in actuality, the person may only be trying to communicate or is reacting to stress caused by being in an unfamiliar environment,” he said.
Both the “Flight Experience Program” and the self-identification program are free and voluntary. The programs are sponsored by LAWA and its airline partners. Families wishing to self-identify can ask for stickers at the ticket counters of participating airlines.
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