Autistic 4 year old v long haul flight?

[mandco]

My ds is currently waiting to be assessed for asd but having travelled with him to florida previously there are a few things I thought might be worth a mention
preparing them as much as possible with what to expect can really help its a huge change to their usual routine with lots of noise & procedures to follow like going through security

ds really struggles with having to do things he doesn't want to which can lead to major tantrums/meltdowns and a couple of our big issues were
getting him to go through the scanner in security in the end they let me guide/push him through even though they aren't meant to
putting on/keeping on his seatbelt this was a huge issue and caused a massive meltdown
He hated the noise on takeoff and wanted to get on my lap not easy to explain/get them to understand in the moment why they can't
He was also a bit freaked out with the toilets but he has issues using any public toilet anyway
Queuing on arrival he just wanted to run around it. Your all tired and can be a long wait after being cooped up for so long so for my ds who is not the best at waiting for anything anyway it was a challenge.

Overall he coped a lot better than I expected lots of ipad time and sticker books helped pass the time with minimal fuss once he got settled

Goodluck