Aeroplanes, changing tables and a very special toddler

Traveling with a toddler with special needs...

Traveling with a child with special needs is really something else. Giovanni has grown taller and bigger and he still can't walk or sit up by himself yet. We took ethiopian airlines to Mumbai for our medical review, I must say the flight was much cozier than emirates. Seats were more spacious although the flight was fully booked. The journey was also much shorter than passing through Dubai and the air hostesses were much nicer.

Giovanni has outgrown the bassinet on the aeroplane  and also outgrown average sized changing tables in most restrooms. Now I'm faced with what most parents of kids with special needs face...how do I change my son's diaper? Especially when he does the number two. I truly didn't think this period for me would come so fast but here we are.

So from Kotoka International Airport in Accra, two rest rooms I went to didn't have any changing table at all and I had to change Giovanni at the side of the sink, I was lucky it was clean and there was space. Addis-Ababa airport had steady changing tables so that was a relief. But the changing table on the flight was way too small and so Giovanni's legs were hanging over sink. Hmm.

Traveling with a kid with special needs is definitely not easy for parents/caregivers but it's easily not easy for them. Once you take Giovanni out of his routine or usual environment he immediately gets irritated or upset which also causes seizures. At the beginning of the flight he was confused and uncomfortable but he eventually settled in.

Also because Giovanni can't walk yet, I strap him up in a baby carrier. Every time I reached immigration and had to pass through security, I would have to unstrap Giovanni, have one of the officers hold him while I got searched. Now I completely understand that they are doing their job, but it was very tedious for me to take him down and put him back in the baby carrier. Also because of his spasticity, which they are unaware of, they didn't know how to carry him. So I would have to explain to whoever carried him to please watch his neck bla bla bla. And they would be quick to tell me not to worry. Anyway everyone was kind but it was just hectic for me and knowing how heavy he is as well.

Society definitely has a lot more to do with providing better facilities for people with special needs and not just toilets for the disabled as they call them. But we also need to strategize on how to provide bigger sized changing tables or private rooms of some sort for people with special needs to clean themselves up. I know we aren't priority but it would be nice to dream a little that these things can and will be done eventually. I'm sure some countries are doing these things already.

There was one really kind flight attendant n Ethiopian airlines, she realized that Giovanni had a condition and asked whether we were Christians, she then offered us a prayer cloth and said there will be a testimony on our way back home. And there definitely will be a testimony! I can assure you!