Flying with autism
This situation is related to Holland but DPNA assistence is international.
All European Airports are obliged to offer this service and it’s free of charge.
Introducing: Kees Hoekstra, works at KLM’s Customer Care department and has a daughter with autism.
As a result of his own experiences and those of passengers with children with autism, Kees started the project ‘Flying with autism’ in 2016. Soon he discovered that there was a great need for more information and that much more is possible than is known to many people.
Parents of children with autism often don’t go on holidays by plane. The unpredictability and the amount of stimuli are too much for their child.
You can request special assistance via your travel agency or via the airline you are flying with. There are various means of assistance; for travelers with autism this is called DPNA assistence. Despite assistance, good preparation is very important. Therefore Kees wrote a booklet, but it’s only in Dutch.
Here are a few tips from the book:
– Make a small booklet in wich you describe all the steps that you expect at the airport and in the airplane.
– People with autism like to see what is going to happen and like predictability. So, in a lot of situations icons are a real help.
– Items you can mention in the book:
* Booking of the flight, show the details you fixed.
* The day before the flight; packing, what’s in the suitcase, what’s in your handbagage.
* How do you travel to the airport? By car, bus, train.
* Goodbye hugs when family or friends drive you.
* Arrival at the airport. Bagage drop-off, check-in, customs.
* To the gate, in the plane
* Arrival, the last part to Hakuna Matata Holidays
To read more about the special assistence you can go to this page of the CAA. It explains exactly what DPNA assistance entails.
Kees has made a button, making it easier for a crew to approach your child in the right way. An idea to copy?
Link to the English website: https://choekstra0.wixsite.com/website-7
