{"id":57109,"date":"2025-11-22T23:45:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-22T23:45:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/57109\/"},"modified":"2025-11-22T23:45:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-22T23:45:08","slug":"holiday-travel-rush-begins-as-families-of-children-with-special-needs-get-extra-help-at-mia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/57109\/","title":{"rendered":"Holiday travel rush begins as families of children with special needs get extra help at MIA"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"c-paragraph\">MIAMI \u2014 With the busiest travel days of the year underway, a record 81.8 million Americans are expected to travel at least 50 miles from home for Thanksgiving, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">They say most travelers will hit the road, while millions more take to the skies.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">The most hectic day at airports nationwide is expected to be Sunday, traditionally the day TSA screens the most passengers ahead of the holiday. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">FAA officials say Orlando, Fort Lauderdale and Miami rank as the top three destinations for Thanksgiving travelers this year \u2014 meaning South Florida\u2019s airports are bracing for heavy crowds.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">To help families prepare, Miami International Airport this week offered a dress rehearsal of sorts for parents traveling with children who have special needs. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">The program, known as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.miami-airport.com\/miaair.asp\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.miami-airport.com\/miaair.asp\">MIAair<\/a> \u2014 short for Airport Instruction and Readiness \u2014 gives children with disabilities the chance to practice the steps involved in air travel long before their actual flight.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">The walk-through includes everything from receiving boarding passes to waiting in security lines, interacting with TSA agents, placing belongings in screening bins, speaking with gate agents and finally boarding a parked aircraft.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">For many children with autism, Down syndrome or other developmental disabilities, the unfamiliar routines and sensory overload of an airport can be overwhelming \u2014 often discouraging families from flying altogether.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019ve kind of been hesitant to do it because of Joey and him having autism,\u201d said Cecilia Garcia, who plans to fly with her son for the first time this holiday season. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Garcia said the most challenging part for Joey was the security checkpoint. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s a lot of waiting in line and a lot of just standing there. He doesn\u2019t understand why we\u2019re giving them our bags, why we have to wait for our bags,\u201d she added. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Catherine Duarte, a therapist who works with children with special needs, said preparation is essential. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cSomething you and I can learn on the fly, on the go \u2014 they have to have it drilled into them,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Practicing in person, she added, helps children connect what they\u2019ve learned at home with the real-world experience of an airport.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">During rehearsal, parents said they left feeling more confident about their upcoming holiday travel. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cNow we\u2019re more calm and not as anxious about him being anxious,\u201d Joey\u2019s father said with a laugh.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">MIAair, now in its 10th year, continues to help South Florida families navigate one of the most stressful parts of the holiday season. More information about the program is available with this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.miami-airport.com\/miaair.asp\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.miami-airport.com\/miaair.asp\">link<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\ud83c\udfe0 News From Your Neighborhood<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph b-article-body__copyright\">Copyright 2025 by WPLG Local10.com &#8211; All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIAMI \u2014 With the busiest travel days of the year underway, a record 81.8 million Americans are expected&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":57110,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[225,227,226],"class_list":{"0":"post-57109","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-hialeah","8":"tag-hialeah","9":"tag-hialeah-headlines","10":"tag-hialeah-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57109"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57109\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}