Doyouhaveastory to tellourcustomers?
INTHEIROWNWORDS
minglingwithother families.
Forsomeof thechildren, eyecon-
tactwashard toachieveand theywere
sensitive tosound.Oneof the things
that scaredmewas thecopingmethods
someof themused— theywouldslap
their foreheadswith theirhandsmulti-
ple times, leavingme towonder if Ihad
donesomethingwrong.
When itwastimetogetontheplane,
twokidsrefusedtoboard
becauseof loudnoises.But
asIgotontheplane, Isaw
thatmanychildrenwere
excitedandthatmade
mesmile. Isilentlysaida
prayer forthem. Iwanted
themall tohavethe full
experience.Wehad30
familiesonboardandI
wassogladIwasonthat
plane.
Those20minuteson
theplane,which taxied
down therunwayand
thenreturned to thegate,
mademegrateful forall that Ihave.
Without reallysayinganything,my
new friends taughtme tobebraveand
thatnothing is impossible.
When itwas time todeplane,
somewerehappy toget off and some
wanted to stay.Oneboywanted togo
somewhereelse. Ihope that oneday
hewill gethiswishandcanexperi-
ence theworld.
After theflight,wehadasmall
receptionand theroomwasfilledwith
emotion. Seeing theparentssohappy
aboutwhat theirchildrenaccom-
plishedwasexhilarating. I learned that
parentscherisheveryaccomplishment
of theirchildren, nomatterhowsmall
itmayseem.
Becauseof thisevent, Icanrecognize
thatsomeonemaybeautistic,but they
aren’tcompletelydisabledandwecan
be friends. Ihope thatwehavemany
moreevents like thisand thatIget
everyopportunity tomakemore friends
and learnmore.Autistickidscanbe
brilliantandclever.And thepeoplewho
run theseeventsarespecialbecause
theymake life forautistickidsbetter.
AMERICANWAY
OCTOBER2015
105
W
henwedecidedasa family
tovolunteer foraWings for
Autismevent,my13-year-
oldsonDevwas initiallynervous.The
program isdesigned toalleviatesome
of thestressexperiencedby families
withautisticchildrenwhen they travel
byair. Itallows families topractice
entering theairport, obtainingboard-
ingpasses, going throughsecurityand
boardingaplane.
Theeventwasheld inpartnership
withAmerican’sAbilitiesEmployee
BusinessResourceGroup, theArc (an
organization that servespeoplewith
intellectual anddevelopmentaldisabil-
ities), theAutismSocietyandKansas
City InternationalAirport.
Wehadanunforgettableexperience
inKansasCityandwhenmysoncame
backhome toDallas/FortWorth, he
wassomoved thathewroteanarticle
about it. Iamrelinquishingmyspace
because I’mproud tohavehim tell the
story inhisownwords:
Whenmyparentsfirst toldmeabout
volunteering forWings forAutism, I
wasreluctant togo. Iwasafraidof the
autistickidsanddidn’tknowhow to
communicateproperlywith them. I
foundout that someonewasgoing to
trainushow to interactwith them, so
thathelped.
Whenwemet them Iwasstill
uneasy, but thenoneof themcaught
myattention. Iwalkedcloser toher
andshegavemeabighug. Itwasas if
she toldme that Iwouldbefineand
shewasglad Iwas there. Shedidallof
thatwithout sayingaword.Thatwas
apowerful experience. Soon Istarted
Name:
ANILA JIVANJI
Job:
SENIORSPECIALIST,
DIVERSITYAND
INCLUSION
City:
DALLAS/FORTWORTH
Years at American
Airlines: 17
Americanholdseventsdesigned tohelpkidswithautism
feelmorecomfortablewith theflightexperience.
MAKINGNEW
FRIENDS
AnilaJivangi (standing third from leftwith
her sonDev)participate inanairport event
with fellowAmericanvolunteers tohelp
autisticchildrenovercome their fearofflying.
