Life After Divorce | The New Me Mom

This weekend I flew to Ohio to see one of my oldest and closest friends of over 20 years get married. I live in the Nashville area, and she lives in Chicago, however, the wedding is in Cleveland and because I’m leaving Friday afternoon and coming back Sunday, flying is a have to. I haven’t been in an airport in a while. Not since the last time I flew with my kids to Florida for spring break this past March. If you know my experience with the airport with my kids (my son more so), it’s not an enjoyable one. My son doesn’t do well considering when he is in fight or flight mode, we can’t do anything but wait until they say it’s time for us to get on our plane. There were so many places I saw today that reminded me of the trauma we all felt at the airport the last time or the time before that or the time before that. I sat down and messaged my mom about the anxiety I was feeling just being in that environment. I’ve never felt like that prior to dealing with my son and his autism. I can just imagine for him how hard it must be going to a place he doesn’t know or hardly sees, having all these eyes on him when he can’t stand people looking at him, and having all the unwarranted noise from others, just another trigger for him. The reason why we now drive if we want to get away. Is it ideal? Of course not! But is it better for my son? Absolutely!

I saw a study not too long ago that said parents of children with Autism already have three times the amount of stress than other parents with atypical children, posing the issue of post-traumatic stress disorder. Going into an environment that is already sending triggers directly to the child themselves is so defeating. As a parent there’s nothing you can do to help them in this situation. And with a child that’s nonverbal, their behavior is clearly telling you something is off, and they don’t feel safe there. I felt that this weekend. It’s not something you can just shake off; it now becomes a trigger for us as parents.

The weekend went great! We all had so much fun but when it was time to come home, I couldn’t get through the Nashville airport fast enough. With that said, I read an article from The Arc, and that they have started a Wings for Autism program, that will allow families to bring their children to the airport for a “rehearsal” to go through the process of checking in, going to your gate, pass through security (this one is really hard for us), and board an aircraft, just for practice. Nashville doesn’t currently offer these services but I’m going to keep advocating that Nashville make some changes so other families like mine can have peace of mind while traveling.

John 14:26 says, But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

(this image is where my son had a meltdown on the airplane last Christmas and all he could do was sit on the floor and cry; it was truly heartbreaking)