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SALT LAKE CITY — It's Lisa Pauley's hope that her son will see the clouds one day. Not from below, but from above — skimming over them in an airplane.
But the Pauleys, who live in Sandy, have avoided flying since her 11-year-old son Davis was diagnosed with autism.
This isn't unusual for many families with children on the autism spectrum. The long lines, tight spaces and unusual sounds in airports and airplanes can trigger anxiety in many children with autism.
But on Saturday afternoon, 30 Utah families with autistic children boarded Delta Airlines flight 8245, nonstop to Cedar City.
The program, in its third full year, according to James Vaughan, co-founder and president of FAAST (Families of Autism and Asperger's Standing Together). Once a year, the organization partners with Delta Airlines and Salt Lake City International Airport to simulate a realistic flight — including check-in, security screening and boarding — so that the children can get used to the routine and procedures of air travel.
Vaughan said his own son, Kian, has experienced "meltdown after meltdown" while traveling. Flying is anxiety-inducing enough for the average person who has to deal with cramped spaces and possible delays, he said.
“Sights, sounds, smells will add to that anxiety” for a child on the autism spectrum, Vaughan said.
Even seemingly benign sounds like the clicking of the overhead storage bins or the flushing of the toilet could send Davis into a spiral, according to Pauley. Tight spaces and delays are another trigger.
The plane never actually takes off. But the event takes months of planning, according to terminal operations manager Gary Bilbrey. It involves securing a plane for several hours, finding a volunteer flight crew and getting scores of families through security.
Once onboard, families listened to safety demonstrations and accepted cookies from the snack cart. The captain, over the intercom, explained the seat belt chime. And flight attendants gamely answered questions about the color of the water in the toilet (sometimes clear, sometimes blue), how loud the flush is (pretty loud) and whether their mom could flush it instead (she can.)
Sandy mom Terri Williams showed her 14-year-old son, Dominic, how to buckle up and pull down the tray table. She said the experience — which included an hour wait to board the plane — went better than expected.
“All of us were a little weirded out by going through security,” Williams said. But nobody had a meltdown, and one of her daughters survived a hand swab.
Dominic “loved it,” Williams said. “Everyone should do it.”
Some of the flight crew offered advice from personal experience.
Captain Mike Rohman, who has volunteered for the program twice, gave tips from his experiences with his son, who has Asperger's. Among them: Explain everything. Bring headphones. And get a window seat.
“My son sits and looks out the window for hours,” Rohman told Pauley.
“We’re really excited,” responded Pauley, who said she hopes to take Davis on a trip soon. “It won’t be as nerve-wracking now. … Not just for him, but for me, too.”
