Have you ever had an airport security screener ask you to remove your prosthetic leg, leaving you unable to stand? Did your pacemaker set off the metal detector? Were you offended by the way a full-body search was handled while you sat in your wheelchair?

Help is on the way in the form of a training video filmed at Denver International Airport. Forty scenarios cover a range of circumstances screeners might encounter.

Passengers with disabilities have special needs when it comes to screening, whether it’s due to a service animal or high-tech medical equipment. The Transportation Security Administration has to ensure that 43,000 screeners treat this diverse group of people with sensitivity and care, while at the same time maintaining strict security standards.

Coaching Security Workers to Help People with Disabilities
The training video helps standardize treatment across the U.S., as well as alerting screeners how to handle situations that don’t often occur, especially at smaller airports.

For instance, what should they do when someone with a helper monkey wearing a diaper approaches the metal detectors? It turns out that screeners aren’t supposed to touch the animal. Instead, the person travelling with the monkey is instructed to remove the diaper and show TSA personnel nothing was hidden underneath.

And what if you’re a blind traveler with a cane? In the past, you may have been asked to give your cane up for separate inspection while you were taken through the metal detector. Not anymore. The correct procedure allows passengers to go walk through with their cane, and then surrender it for extra scrutiny only if needed afterward.

Passengers in wheelchairs who cannot stand or walk can expect a full-body pat-down. Sensitive areas of the body should always be done with the back of the screener’s hand. A wand is used on the wheelchair to test for traces of explosives. Frequent travelers advise patience for the screening, which usually takes several minutes to perform.

Broad Coverage of Disabilities
The film explores a gamut of situations, covering passengers with guide dogs, oxygen and dialysis equipment, hearing loss, autism, impaired vision, implanted devices such as pacemakers and other medical conditions.

The TSA needed help developing procedures for so many different conditions and circumstances. It brought together a team of over 70 national organizations to provide consulting services for the film.
The group included the Paralyzed Veterans of America, the Amputee Coalition of America, the Seeing Eye school for guide dogs and the United Ostomy Associations of America. Craig Hospital, a nationally recognized spinal cord injury rehabilitation center whose patients have included Christopher Reeves, was also consulted.

Adaptive Travel tip: If you are traveling by plane and have questions about security screening, many airports have a disability coordinator you can contact, as well as numbers for security wait times and security screening complaints. To find the numbers, check listings for individual airports. Happy flying!

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See Secrets of Accessible Air Travel - Know Your Rights, for rules of traveling with a disability by plane.

For more accessible tips for traveling by plane, see Accessible Travel by Plane Tips.