HENRICO COUNTY, Va. -- For parents of children with autism, traveling on planes can seem like a nearly impossible task due to fear of how their children may not be able to tolerate an entire trip in the air.
Fortunately, Saturday, the folks at Richmond International Airport (RIC), Delta Airlines and the Central Virginia Autism Society (CVAS) wanted to give 120 families the full airline experience to help these passengers prepare for their next big flight.
CVAS Director of Children’s Programming Kaitlyn Kammerman says it is all a part of their program Wings for Autism.
"We invited families to get the full airport experience to ease some anxiety they may have have already had,” Kammerman said.
To make the experience as authentic as possible, RIC cut no corners. Every child, along with their parents, received real boarding passes, went through TSA screening and waited to board their flight.
“It’s a very anxiety-producing process and everybody at the airport just coached them though it with ease, so now they can take their trip successfully,” Kammerman said.
For Passengers like Troy Petty, a trip to the airport is nothing new. The 13-year-old says the stress of travel does not phase him because he has traveled with his mom many times.
“I went to Texas, Florida and many more kinds of countries,” Troy said.
But Troy's mother Nataki Mahmood Petty says moments like this mean she’s less afraid of one day letting the her son spread his own wings and fly solo.
“Our job is to be a provider, a protector and a waymaker," Petty explained. "I feel opportunities like this keeps me being a waymaker. Because at some point I won’t be here to direct him through this, so it’s good for him to have these types of experiences so one day... he can go on without me.”
Still, for many families this would be the first visit in an airport setting. Kammerman says as much as the program benefits people with autism by familiarizing them with the airport process, it is a way for parents to build up confidence to take that child on their first flight in public.
“Sometimes the parents have more anxiety than their kids did. The parents really struggled with the idea of the what-ifs," Kammerman said. "How would we get through TSA, how would we get on the plane, how would we do with waiting? There were some scenarios that were tough that parents had to work through, but now they know what tools they need to have for next time to avoid any meltdowns or tears.”
The families spent nearly an hour on their Delta flight as it taxied around the runway. Even though the Boeing 717 never left the ground, the confidence in the cabin could not have been higher.
“This was key,” Joe Martin said. “This was absolutely huge for us to see how he would respond and he ended up doing fantastic."
Martin is the parent of two children, including his son William who has autism. He says his son’s positive reaction to the mock flight means they can travel as a family for vacation next May.
“In all honesty we were terrified to bring our son on a plane because I didn’t know if he would make it, if he would melt down, if he would scream the entire time,” Martin said. “This couldn’t come at a more perfect time and for Delta and Richmond Airport to do this, and for the Autism Society to be able to sponsor it, and have all these people out here just to try out is huge because we don’t get this experience elsewhere.”
“It’s not as easy to do on a normal day, especially for someone on the spectrum, so navigating that getting those routes in place, getting those schedules in place and feeling good about it kind of elevates the experience for everybody,” Kammerman said.
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