2015 was the last time we went abroad. Becs, Victoria and I had a great week in Menorca but that feels like a lifetime ago in a life pre-autism, pre-Emily and pre-Jasper. For one reason or another we’ve not ventured outside the UK since but that’s not been an issue, we’ve hd some excellent breaks in the UK since.
Part of our apprehension for going abroad was how Victoria would deal with the whole experience but she is now of an age that she is beginning to understand her autism and Emily is older too, so we’ve the plunge and booked a week in Majorca. This is important family time for us after a pretty tough year for one reason or another so I don’t plan to update this blog much over the next 7 days, but I wanted to pop a few points on here of things that have helped or challenges we face before, during and after our trip
Location Location Location
We have booked 7 nights in an all inclusive ”Holiday Village” in Majorca for a couple of reasons. The flight is quite short and is served by BA (more on that in a sec) but the reason for going all inclusive wasn’t just our love of all things alcoholic… we wanted something familiar and consistent for V. I love eating out at a different restaurant every night on holiday but why add to the anxiety of never knowing where we are going or what will be on offer, how noisy the restaurant will be or how accommodating. All inc gives us consistency from day 1.
Airline and Airport
As mentioned, we are flying with BA and so far they’ve been excellent (and we havent left the airport yet!). I dropped their customer services an email a few weeks back and they responded with some great advice. But more than that, they pre-allocated our seats for free so we would all sit together and have informed the flight crew that V has autism. We should be able to board the plane first, last or when it is out turn, whatever suits us best.
on BA’s advice I booked Premium Security at Gatwick which was well worth £16. We breezed straight through security with minimal fuss and a friendly smile from the staff.
Last 2 tips for now: grab a sunflower lanyard from the Assistance Reception (on the 3rd floor) to ensure those staff smiles and gate openings. And before you leave home print off the ”Social Story” from the Gatwick website that walks children through the process of checking in, going through security and boarding the plane. And on that note we found some good videos on YouTube of someone walking through an airport, boarding a plane etc. so there are no surprises.
The girls are now in the soft play in departures while we wait for our gate to open so I should probably watch them! More later…
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