Flying, and upcoming fellowship applications

Well, Dave and I had a great experience flying to and from Denver. http://flydenver.com/exploredia  Dave sure has come a long way (figuratively, and literally) and can now consider himself "a frequent flyer". Next big flight is Dallas-Forth Worth Airport, where we will visit nearby Lake Grapevine:

https://www.grapevinetexasusa.com/ThingsToDo/LakeGrapevine/tabid/260/Default.aspx

Congratulations, David!

Also, he passed the preliminary examination. Yay!

So now Dave's taking a regular class, attending seminars and colloquia, doing research, and applying for fellowships.

Busy!

First Flight Recap

On July 20, 2010, I posted David's and my plan of attack to assure him an anxiety-reduced first flight. Some aspects of the plan we stuck with; others we abandoned. Here is what we did:

1. We visited the Sacramento Airport (SMF) and watched planes land and take off.

2. This was followed by reading about, and discussing, the physics and mechanics of air travel.

3. David practiced flight simulation online.

4. David then rode in a flight simulator at the Aerospace Museum of California, which replicates the experience of bad turbulence. (I rode in it too. It was fun!)

5. We phoned our nearby general aviation airport and arranged for a pilot to simply taxi David around in his Cessna, without actually taking off. The pilot was wonderful; he dispelled David's anxiety by calmly explaining the significance of sounds and flashing lights as they arose.

6. We purchased Sony Sound Isolating Headphones from Best Buy. These worked fine.

7. We made David's first flight just a little commuter trip from SFO to SMF, totaling a mere twenty minutes in the air, not including taxi.

8. We paid extra for the quick check-in through security.

9. When we made our reservations by phone, we INFORMED THE AIRLINE about David's autism, for which they were grateful.

We then did the same when we arrived at security. At the word "autism", TSA provided us our own security agent to accompany David and me through security, double checking that we had not absentmindedly left keys in our pockets, or water in our carry on baggage. How much of this was standard for autistic flyers, and how much was because I'd paid the extra fee, I don't know.

Finally, when we checked in at the airline itself (United Express), we double-checked that the flight crew had been informed of a disabled person's presence. All staff were friendly, and had David and I board before the "neuro-typical" passengers, so as to reduce the emotional stress that bumping elbows, etc, can create.

10. We got to the airport in plenty of time to use the restroom right before boarding, and to enjoy watching the tarmac dramas.

This plan worked for us. "Take what you want, and leave the rest". ~Peace and all good~

Success!

Yay! David's first flight went great! In fact, we both enjoyed it so much, (and David was so relaxed), that we're going to skip the round-trip to SFO-and-back that we planned, and will move on to the next step-- visiting friends in Southern California.

Peace and all good

 __________________________________________________
Post #28 in "Champagne" (6/8/20)

First Flight

Well, we've got reservations to fly from SFO to SMF on May 15. After that, we make the same trip round-trip. Then (o'jala), we'll fly on weekends further and further each time, until it's "no big deal" to zoom off to the other end of Planet Earth for physics conferences. (Of course, flying's not exactly the greenest form of travel, is it?)

(#29 in champagne)

New Directions

David has had a happy and successful year so far. He's done well in his classes, and looks forward to spending the summer devoted full-time to research.

He's progressing well in his preparation for flying. Last week, we visited Mr. Dick Tak at Sacramento's Executive Airport, who allowed us to taxi with him in his Cessna. Dave was perfectly fine. So, it's time, folks! The next step is flying. Here we go!

In the meantime, I'm still reading while David is in class or the laboratory. Recent reads have included Michon Mackedon's well-researched and highly entertaining Bombast: Spinning Atoms in the Desert. Also Freeman Walker by David Allen Cates. I've done some writing, too.

#30 (Champagen 6/8/20)

Lifeskill update-- flying

A lot of autistic people have a difficult time growing accustomed to flight travel, so I've designed a program to help David ease into it. We're starting by just watching planes land and take off at the local airport, and having David study statistics, so that he can see how much safer flying is than driving.

Next, we'll get into a small Cessna at a local airport.
_______________________________________________________

(#31 in "Champagne")

Airlines Preparation

So, now it's time for David to prepare for flight travel. As soon as we decide on an airline, we're going to coordinate with them to help assure success on Dave's first flight.

There has been disappointing press regarding autistic flyers. It's a tough time in history, because both caregivers of autistic people, and the airlines themselves, are pioneering in a society that only now is acknowledging the presence of neurological differences in people. And pioneering involves making mistakes. I choose to view the problems of airlines and autism as learning opportunities.

The first lesson I've learned is that there's a lot more involved in preparing neuro-atypical ("autistic") people for their first airline experience than we talk about at autism conferences or in our newsletters. Dave and I are trying to anticipate all that could cause discomfort (noise, nausea, anxiety, itsy-bitsy bathrooms...), and to establish a program of desensitization (as we have done successfully with certain phobias). It's also important to choose our airline carefully, and to inform the airline ahead of time that a neuro-atypical traveller will be on board. For instance, the reason Jet Blue and Southwest can offer cheap fairs is that they cut out the little luxuries-- in other words, they're uncomfortable. After David has gained experience, he'll be able to tolerate this. But, his first flight must be comfortable. A bad first impression could ruin flying forever...

1. So, first comes claustrophobia. David and I will save our pennies to buy first-class seats, on as LARGE a plane as we can. Once he's comfortable flying first class, we will switch to economy.

2. Second, David will start with short flights, and then move to increasingly longer ones. The objective of the first few flights is not the destination, but the flight itself. I'll take notes on how the flight is affecting Dave, so as to assess whether he is ready for a longer flight. There should, however, be a fun reward at the other end. Maybe we'll visit our old buddy, Father Chuck at San Luis Rey Mission in Oceanside, which would involve an hour-and-half long flight. Then again, Disneyland is less than an hour away.

If Dave's first flight is difficult, we'll keep taking hour-long flights until he's desensitized. When he is, we'll add another hour, then another, then another. When Dave can handle a five-hour flight, he gets his BIG REWARD:

a trip to visit his much-beloved FermiLab! Yay!

3. Third, David will wear ear plugs with silencing headphones to cut down on the engine noise. We were talking with an autistic friend the other day about her headphones and earplugs, and she said flying was still noisy even with those. We'll see...

4. So, what about fear of heights? Dave doesn't really suffer much from this, but I did take him on a couple train trips where we went high on a bridge. He was fine. Of course, 300 feet above the Carquinez Straight is hardly the same as 20,000 feet up on a plane...

5. Also, Dave has never taken artificial pharmaceuticals, because we don't want to risk their affecting his mathematical genius. However, we'll make an exception for the flight. We'll talk to his doctor about prescribing enough anti-anxiety medicine to bring with us on the plane. Maybe, Dave won't need to take it. The news stories never mention whether the autistic people kicked off of airlines had anti-anxiety medicines available. Neuro-typical (non-autistic) people routinely "take the edge off" their flying nervousness with an onboard alcoholic beverage. David is a non-drinker, so we'd better be prepared with an alternative to alcohol.

Dave and I had fun the other day when we drove to our nearby international airport and watched a plane take off. Being a scientist, he was able to explain to me the aerodynamics involved in that seemingly routine event. It isn't, though. It's really amazing that humans invented airplanes and rocket ships. Dave will probably take that first flight at Thanksgiving. We'll keep you posted as to how it goes.