Plane talk: Experts, parents discuss airline policies for people with special needs

OVER the last week, members of the public have been discussing and debating the dos and don'ts of how to treat people with special needs during flights.

This stemmed from a family's social media complaint about how Caribbean Airlines (CAL) treated their autistic three-year-old daughter.

Rishi Ramoutar took to Facebook to tell the story of the August 18 incident on flight BW1535 from Tobago to Trinidad.

Rayne is non-verbal/autistic and usually has no issues on aeroplanes.

However, just before takeoff, she "started to fuss" and unbuckled her seatbelt to get closer to her grandmother. But a flight attendant then tightened her seatbelt. Uncomfortable with strangers and physical touch, she began kicking and screaming loudly.

Eventually, Rayne's grandmother put her on her lap, extending her own seatbelt around the child. But children over two must use their own seat.

When the family told the attendant Rayne is autistic, Ramoutar said they were told to hold her down even if she cried.

He admitted he used obscenities when the flight attendant said the plane would have to be turned around if the rules were not followed.

But a second attendant, he said, was very kind and calmed the situation.

However, after landing, he was told unless he apologised to the first one, he would be arrested for cursing. He complied.

He noted that the airport security staff called the child "sick."

He objected, "While I understand that the law is the law, I know that discretion, common sense and compassion can be utilised as well."

His post went viral, but readers were divided on the issue. Some agreed more compassion could have been shown; others said the family sounded entitled, as they are not above the law.

Section 189 of the Civil Aviation Act says: a person on board an aircraft shall not interfere with a crew member in the performance of his duties; A passenger shall fasten his seatbelt and keep it fastened while the seatbelt sign is lit. Section 60 says a person shall not use abusive language or insulting words towards a crew member.

Navigating a spectrum

The Autistic Society of TT defines autism as "a broad range of conditions characterised by difficulties with social skills, repetitive behaviours, speech and non-verbal communication."

Rayne's mother Denise Manchabali said her daughter was diagnosed with autism within the past year and has flown to the US, Barbados and Tobago.

"We have never had an issue with her – zero issues – both when she was flying (while) on my lap, and after we started buying tickets for her after she turned three. We never had any sort of issue where she needed to be held down for takeoff or for landing."

On its website, CAL lists cognitive and developmental assistance as a service it provides. It also outlines how customers can request this service via the site or by phone. There is also this option on its mobile application.

However, it does not give details of what type of assistance is provided.

Asked if the family had specified that Rayne had special needs, Manchabali said no, as she was unaware of this option.

"I did not realise...I checked all of that after the fact. So no, I did not notify them."

She admitted it was an oversight, but added that after reviewing the option, the information provided is "very limited."

She said no two autistic children are the same, so there can never be black-and-white guidelines on how to deal with them.

"Now that I'm aware that these things are available, I will consider notifying the airline next time," she said.

She thinks CAL should explain its policies more thoroughly, instead of just saying help is available.

Clinical psychologist Dr Dianne Douglas said generally, air travel causes heightened anxiety, especially to a child who is autistic. "And parents feel a lot of anxiety too – whether old, young, travelling is an action of transition and, therefore, it involves change and it will bring with it its own anxiety.

"I think it really is wise for there to be additional training around possible issues that can occur – all the possible issues that can occur."

On catering to people with special needs, she said, "I do think a certain level of sensitisation has to happen as well; not just dealing with autism but special needs across the board."

Manchabali said many people have contacted them to show support and many families have said they experienced similar situations.

"We are continuously learning with our own child. From the time your child is diagnosed, you don't automatically know what you need to do in every situation."

On obscene language, she said both she and her husband have agreed it was wrong.

"In the heat of the moment, you are seeing your child completely distressed, you are trying to explain to someone that she is a special-needs child and not necessarily understanding the importance of what you are saying, and that person is just totally dismissive of you and uncaring in the situation – you too would be upset.

"To let that word just fly was an error, but it's also human nature."

While some people said they had experienced similar situations, many social media users said they'd never had issues travelling as a person with special needs or with family members who have special needs.

The mother of a child with Down syndrome told Sunday Newsday she has never had negative air-travel experiences with him. However, she too did not know CAL offered the option to indicate he is a special-needs child.

She said when she learnt of the incident with Rayne, she found it completely unacceptable.

The mother of another child with autism said her travel experiences have been "quite varied" but have had a consistent theme: a lack of "proper customer service.

"Rules are meant to enforced – I’m not arguing with that – but how you enforce them is something that can be taught, and something that requires common sense, empathy and sensitivity."

For example, she said, her daughter has sensitive hearing, and was being bothered by the noise of a CAL plane taking off from Trinidad heading to Florida.

"I tried to put on her noise-cancelling headphones, explaining that she’s on the spectrum. I was told to remove them immediately and so I had to hold her very firmly and keep her controlled, otherwise she might have tried to get up and run."

When departing from Tampa, this time via American Airlines, the noise affected her daughter again.

"An air hostess at the door saw me trying to calm her, walked over, took my bags and boarding pass so my hands were free and asked: 'How can I help?'

"And those four words made all the difference. She directed other passengers to go around us while I got the headphones out, she let me put them on and when I was seated I explained the need for them. She told me I can let her use them, but since she can’t hear, I have to be responsible for any and all instructions given during the flight. And that was that."

Dr Radica Mahase, Support Autism T&T founder/director and Newsday columnist, suggested that CAL arranges sensitisation sessions for its staff members on how to treat people with special needs.

"Some might not like to be touched, some might not like to be in crowded spaces, some might just require a different type of assistance.

"It's not removing the rules to cater to them or anything," she said.

She added, "You can't really blame the CAL employee for trying to buckle the seatbelt because she does not know about special needs."

She also said it is important for parents/guardians to select the option CAL has for people with special needs.

CAL responds

CAL's head of corporate communications Dionne Ligoure told Sunday Newsday all "public-facing" staff undergo training to deal with passengers with special needs, as well as safety, security, the differently abled, the elderly and young passengers. She added that passengers with mobility challenges are provided with wheelchairs and physical lifts.

"At CAL, safety is our top priority," she said. "Also, once the airline is advised of the special needs of customers, the customer-service teams and flight crews are briefed to facilitate careful handling of same."

Asked for details of the training staff undergo, she said, "The training exposes the participants to various scenarios from medical emergencies, security breaches, special needs.

"CAL focuses heavily on customer-service training with multiple scenarios and always in the interest of safety."

The International Civil Aviation Organization is a specialised agency of the UN that deals with principles and techniques of air navigation internationally.

In its flight-attendant training-standard document, there is no mention of any mandatory training for flight attendants for dealing with people with special needs.

One flight attendant with a US airline told Sunday Newsday that they are not trained to deal with people with special needs.

Training, she said, is mainly done for blind people, deaf people or people with mobility issues.

There are some international airlines which have taken it upon themselves to have their staff trained to treat with autistic people – LATAM Airlines, Breeze Airways and Flair Airlines.