A few weeks ago I attended the DxDublin event with Abbott in Ireland, where I saw for the first time, the hidden disability lanyard on a fellow blogger with T1D. I'd heard a little bit about it beforehand from a post on social media from JDRF. But hearing about it first-hand and that it made for a positive experience of travelling, I thought it would be worth giving a go when I next travelled. On the way home from Ireland flying from Dublin airport, I asked the staff there about the lanyard. However, they said that they couldn't help because you had to order them online 4 days in advance of travel. So of course, flying home made this too late.
However, a few weeks later as a 30th birthday and wedding anniversary present I was travelling to Lyon in France. Flying from a big international airport like Gatwick I hoped there was a good chance that I could find the lanyard. Therefore, after checking in my luggage, I made my way to the disability help desk to enquire about the lanyard. The person helping me on the desk didn't ask me what my disability was, just told me how it should work- that I was to wear it in the airport. Particularly, when going through security and whilst sitting in the airport. As the staff have been trained to spot the hidden disability lanyard and so the process of going through security should be smoother.
I think wearing the lanyard certainly made people more patient and understanding whilst going through security. As when I travelled through Gatwick airport for my honeymoon 2 years ago, I had a terrible experience of a member of staff shouting at me because they didn't understand about my insulin pump. Once given one lanyard, you're able to keep it then for remaining travels. I have a few trips planned in October, so it will be interesting, especially if flying from other airports, to see what the response is then.
However, a few weeks later as a 30th birthday and wedding anniversary present I was travelling to Lyon in France. Flying from a big international airport like Gatwick I hoped there was a good chance that I could find the lanyard. Therefore, after checking in my luggage, I made my way to the disability help desk to enquire about the lanyard. The person helping me on the desk didn't ask me what my disability was, just told me how it should work- that I was to wear it in the airport. Particularly, when going through security and whilst sitting in the airport. As the staff have been trained to spot the hidden disability lanyard and so the process of going through security should be smoother.
I think wearing the lanyard certainly made people more patient and understanding whilst going through security. As when I travelled through Gatwick airport for my honeymoon 2 years ago, I had a terrible experience of a member of staff shouting at me because they didn't understand about my insulin pump. Once given one lanyard, you're able to keep it then for remaining travels. I have a few trips planned in October, so it will be interesting, especially if flying from other airports, to see what the response is then.
0 comments:
Post a Comment