Facilitating Air Travel
The power of preparation, schedule and social stories
This story comes from Subodha Learning Community where we support families with older children on the spectrum.
Recently, one of our students had to travel by air and the parent was concerned about whether the child will understand the various steps and co-operate during waiting. We took it upon ourselves to facilitate air travel.
What we had
- The child can do some activities independently, which the mother has been facilitating at our center.
- The child is used to following a visual schedule with a timer. He has been practicing this for six months.
- The child has successfully used social stories to regulate himself in the past.
What we did
- We wrote a social story about the travel and put in his Avaz.
- Had a detailed discussion on how to go about the various steps and waiting at the airport.
Here is the schedule.
What the parent did
- His mother made a written schedule detailing the entire trip.
- His mother carried the materials required for him to work while waiting.
- He had a schedule for sequence of things to do along with a timer.
Guess what happened…the family travelled without any issues!!
Here is a video of the child engaging himself with stitching while in the airplane. Notice the timer!
This makes us so proud. Such a clear example of how preparation, scheduling and social stories work. When we talk about building indepence in children, this is the direction.
Please note that these interventions are shared for general guidance. Designing and executing interventions - more importantly - noticing how the child responds and modifying the interventions so the child does not get distressed, is a specialist job. Consult qualified therapists as necessary.
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