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An information guide to help adults travelling with autistic children has been produced by Manchester Airport.
Airport Awareness uses images to show what to expect on a journey from arriving to checking-in, to going through security and returning home.
Airport press officer Katy Gough created the guide after several requests by carers for airport pictures to help children plan their trip.
The guide is free and launched to coincide with World Autism Day.
The unfamiliar sights and sounds of the airport can cause stress and worry for young autistic passengers and their families, she said.
Ms Gough has personal experience of the disorder through a member of her family and wanted to help passengers whose children have Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD).
"The main problems are that the airport environment is an alien one and processes such as check-in and security require co-operation with strict guidelines," Ms Gough said.
"However, by including chronological information in the guide about each stage of travelling through the airport and by illustrating the guide with photographs, parents are able to plan their journey with their child, helping them to understand what to expect."
The free guide is available from the information desks, airport website and has been supplied to local autism charities and schools with special needs units.
Jane Asher, President of the National Autistic Society, said of the book: "I'm delighted by Manchester Airport's useful and understanding initiative. An airport can be a very confusing place for anyone, and for someone on the autism spectrum it can be especially frightening and disorientating."
Beth Haller, Ph.D., is Co-Director of the Global Alliance for Disability in Media and Entertainment (www.gadim.org). A former print journalist, she is a member of the Advisory Board for the National Center on Disability and Journalism (https://ncdj.org/). Haller is Professor Emerita in the Department of Mass Communication at Towson University in Maryland, USA. Haller is co-editor of the 2020 "Routledge Companion to Disability and Media" (with Gerard Goggin of University of Sydney & Katie Ellis of Curtin University, Australia). She is author of "Representing Disability in an Ableist World: Essays on Mass Media" (Advocado Press, 2010) and the author/editor of Byline of Hope: Collected Newspaper and Magazine Writing of Helen Keller (Advocado Press, 2015). She has been researching disability representation in mass media for 30+ years. She is adjunct faculty in the Disability Studies programs at the City University of New York (CUNY) and the University of Texas-Arlington.
From the BBC in the UK:
