Travel Challenges with Kids with Special Needs

 
There were three young adults with special needs that I noticed in the airport on my way to and from Tulsa, OK, in July. Two were sitting quietly on the floor, or in a special chair. The young man on my flight was sitting with his mom, grandma, and two siblings in front of the huge tarmac window. "No!" he'd shout out now and again. Every so often his mom would say, "You need to stop that," and he did for a while. "I'm sorry you don't feel well," she said -- he refused any food she offered him. His family appeared to ignore him most of the time. When we boarded the plane, he and his mom sat across the isle from us. He continued to moan, and make nervous noises and gestures. One of the teenagers in front of me made a remark that prompted his seat-mate to say, "Stop it!" After the plane finally took off, he leaned his head on his mother's shoulder and arm, and went to sleep until we were back on the ground. When we were waiting to deplane, I said to him, "You did a good job!" and he grinned. "Yes, didn't he!" said his mom, "Thank you!" ~~~This experience reminded me of the time 12-year-old Jeff and his sister, Jennifer (7) and I flew to Colorado to visit a friend. Jeff was very nervous, and was nauseous when we landed. Jen made no indication she was having a hard time, too. Being the sibling of someone with special needs carries a special challenge of its own. (Photo of Reisch family visiting)

Age-Appropriate for an Eighteenth Birthday

"Age-appropriate. What makes something age-appropriate, or especially suitable or fitting? We had been hearing this term since Jeff began his weekends at the Culver Road Home. In the spring of 1979 Jeff was eighteen years old, and we were looking for age-appropriate gifts for a boy who loved music and animals, books and inner tubes.~~We had discovered The Electric Light Orchestra, a teenage rock group that both Jeff and we could enjoy. That was a bit of age-appropriate serendipity.~~Jennifer's idea was to give Jeff a fish tank for the fish he had won at a carnival two weeks earlier. She brought two more fish and gave them both a name. Jeff's face litup with joy and delight when she gave it all to him. We considered that a thoughtful, loving, age-appropriate and downright ingenious gift!~~A friend of ours, a counselor at a junior high school where I tutored invited Jeff to a birthday party at his house. It was on Sunday, so we all enjoyed a woship service at his church beforehand. We took lots of instant photos of guests and of Jeff jumping on his inner tube in Bill's back yard. Jeff smiled non-stop through this fitting birthday celebration~~When we shopped for a suit for his birthday, we found a brushed denim suit jacket, vest and pants that really made him look sharp! With a yellow "foxy shirt," a handsome blue "foxy sweater," plus two more shirts and pants from Penney's, these clothes seemed especially suitable for a handsome young man.~~(Excerpt from "Journey With Jeff")~~(Photo of Jen's hand-made Christmas gift.)