Have you ever given an airplane ride to people on the autism spectrum?

[N918KT]

Having known quite a few people around my age on the autism spectrum, I am curious if any pilot gave an airplane ride to the people on the spectrum.

Did they enjoy the flight, behave well, didn't put themselves or you in danger?

Did you have to do a different passenger briefing with that person rather than the usual passenger briefing?

What is it like having an autistic person on a plane ride?

 

[douglas393]

Loaded question and controversy may occur, but I think it depends on where on the spectrum they fall. My daughter for example has autism spectrum issues, aspergers, and auditory perceptual disorder, and flies with me fairly frequently, at least she did until she turned 18 and it is no longer cool to be with dad. She is a pleasure to fly with and I have never had a problem. I think you have to do it on a case to case basis, and depending on the person(kid?) you may even have to do it gradually. Taxi around the airport one day, fly in the pattern another day, small hop the next day,... You may also want to have a second person(possibly even another pilot) in the plane just in case. My guess is for most with autism it would probably be a great experience for you and them, though I am sure for some it would not work out.

As for briefing I always cover the essentials, and tailor it to the understanding of the passenger.

Good luck.

 

[jonnyjetprop]

Every time my 15 year old son flies with me.

My son is non verbal and would be considered a more severe case. There's no briefing him because he most likely would not understand the instructions, especially given in advance. I seat him in the rear seats of a C-172. He seems to enjoy it and spends the time looking out the window.

 

[jnmeade]

I took an autistic young man who was fascinated with airplanes on several rides with his parents full support and approval. It was him and me alone in the C172. I also am very close to a person on the autistic spectrum so have some appreciation for the condition.
In my case, I had no problems whatsoever. The young man was marginally verbal. I kept things simple. I let him handle the yoke for a while. He did fine. At the end of the ride, I made a log book entry for him. He was very eager and engaged and cooperative in the endeavor.

Autism is such a wide spectrum that you can get many different types of behavior. I was comfortable that I had assessed the specific situation and judged the risks accordingly. I'd think each case is individual.

As I recall, I gave a normal passenger briefing, but kept it focused and tried to express it in simple, direct language.

The passenger never made an attempt to interfere with the flight, open the door or do anything untoward in my case.

You might consider taking the passenger up in the back seat of a four seater with someone s/he knows and who can communicate with him/her if you are unsure.

If something goes wrong, you'll undoubtedly be blamed. That is the way society is. From my own perspective, I'd take it case by case. I'm glad I have the young man and his parents some enjoyment. I would do it only with my eyes open.

Sorry for the equivocating response. You'll get a lot of comments by people who have not done it. I have done it at least three times with one young man and several times with a young woman who was quite high on the autism spectrum. She'd probably be no worse than any other passenger.

 

[Abram]

As has been mentioned by a few others, the autism spectrum is very broad and different kids will have different tolerances.

I have flown for an organization called Challenge Air for Kids and Friends for about five years. They hold an annual event at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport which is designed to give short airplane flights to disabled kids. During those events, there are kids with all kinds of disabilities, but the majority seem to be autistic or have a form of Palsy. As such, I have flown many kids, some of which are extremely disabled and some of which are extremely high-functioning.

I have had all kinds of different experiences flying those kids. Some react very well and have a wonderful time. Other children do not react well to being in the airplane, the noise or the motion. In my case, a parent or guardian is always in the airplane.

My usual process is to evaluate the child on the way to the airplane and assess the level of the disability. I speak with the parents about what the child is going to experience and find out what kind of reaction to expect. In a normal situation, the child would ride up front with me, but if I have concerns, the child rides in the back with the parents. When we get to the plane, I do a complete briefing, but in most cases it is for the parent, not the child.

If the child is in the front seat with me, I allow them to fly the airplane once we are airborne. However, I also brief them to keep their hands on their laps and off the controls when I say so. The ability of the child to comply depends upon where they are on the spectrum.

In the times that I have done these flights, I have had numerous wonderful experiences and a few that were memorable for other reasons. However, I plan on continuing to fly these events and would highly recommend the experience of introducing an autistic child to the thrill of flying an airplane.

Abram

 

[steingar]

Everyone will fall on the spectrum somewhere, thus everyone who has flown anything other than solo has indeed flown with someone on the spectrum. I know I'm being literal, but I think in this case it is appropriate.

 

[Old Geek]

Yeah. I fly with myself

I'm 61, been Asperger's all my life, spent the last 40 years learning how to behave and appear normal.

Wife has some mild autism symptoms and is currently working on her sport pilot certificate.

To answer the specific question, I took up a friend's son. He's pretty much profoundly Aspeger's with some other autism stuff going on to the point where he's only marginally able to interact at times. He listened to everything I said, followed the rules and had a great time.

Yesterday I took up a kid with ADHD. He had no problems focusing, following the rules and also having a great time.

 

[N918KT]

Thanks for the responses everyone! I am slightly autistic myself and if one day I get my sport pilot certificate, I would maybe like to give a flight to a person who is autistic too.

Abram, I heard about Challenge Air as well, well at least I heard them online. I think that Challenge Air is a great organization for pilots to take autistic kids and other disabled kids up for a flight.

 

[Old Geek]

Everyone will fall on the spectrum somewhere, thus everyone who has flown anything other than solo has indeed flown with someone on the spectrum. I know I'm being literal, but I think in this case it is appropriate.

Well said.

 

[comanchepilot]

My son is autistic. He loves flying - but he is very highly functioning. He would never do anything to affect the safety of the aircraft. I took one of his other autistic friends flying - who was much less highly functioning but still - with a good brief - a short flight and something to see and look forward at the other end - like lunch - it works out ok.