Published on 12, July, 2020
For those that have to travel for work, post diagnosis, have you tried to get any adjustment to allow you to fly business class for reduced sensory overload?
Very aware of other techniques, headphones, eyes masks etc, but specifically wondering if anyone has successfully lobbied for and achieved a change in their allowance when flying to fly business class.
Fascinated no one has gone through this before. I can’t be the only one that find flying surrounded by people (and babies crying) stressful.
I’m almost 10 years into my current job, well my title and responsibilities have changed but same company. Diagnosis came after my 9 year anniversary. Masking/ getting over it has been engrained over that time but I’m finding post diagnosis that accommodations are making the world of difference.
When i started it was economy and 8-14 hour flights every 6-8 weeks or so. It was hard but I could work from home a lot so I was ok with that. Eventually we got business but after COVID, it’s back to premium.
Overtime, I found I hated timing showers, the feeling of being sweaty or unclean I struggle with big time. Lack of sleep is another. At both ends of the trip sucks.
My travel in recent times has reduced a lot, that’s mainly my role changing too but it’s still there. I’m actually planning a trip to India in August which is a good 18 hours away (including stopovers), which is what lead me to find others in the same boat, and here we are.
I fly several times a year for work but it’s mostly domestic flights (1.5 hours or less) so business class wouldn’t make any difference. Even short haul euro flights to Paris or Amsterdam there’s no meaningful difference.
But I do have a long established routine to cope with it. I always book a window seat and make myself a little nest when I board, put my noise cancelling headphones on and watch someone on my iPad. I can pretty much block out the fact that I’m on a plane.