As a disabled frequent flyer, I’ve noticed a frustrating pattern in how TSA handles my incontinence briefs.
I’m a wheelchair user. Most of the time I travel with my power chair, but on day trips I can sometimes manage short distances with arm crutches and airport wheelchair support. I wear an adult diaper due to lifelong bladder incontinence.
What I’ve noticed is this: when I’m using crutches, I’m far more likely to be pulled backstage for a private screening and have my diaper visually and/or physically inspected. Yet when I remain in my power wheelchair for screening, I’ve never been asked about the brief, expected to enter the body scanner, or disrobe in private for further inspection.
That pattern is hard to ignore. The same medical garment is treated as less suspicious when I’m seated in a wheelchair than when I’m standing.
I’ve tried to tell myself I’m overthinking it, but after years of frequent travel, the pattern feels clear - - - and it’s not okay.
Before becoming mostly full-time wheelchair dependent, I had multiple TSA experiences that crossed the line. I’ve had agents require me to remove my diaper so it could be run through the scanner. I’ve had an SFO agent comment that my diaper was “too thick,” as if that’s suspicious and not simply the reality of managing incontinence while traveling internationally without an aide to assist with changes. On another trip through LGB, I was forced to discard a slightly saturated diaper, leave security without protection, change in the public lobby (restroom floor), and then re-enter screening... Resulting in soaked pants and an unnecessarily humiliating travel day.
I understand security has a job to do. But there has to be a more informed, consistent, and dignified way to handle disabled travelers managing medical incontinence. In my experience, maybe 20% of agents even understand what I mean when I discreetly say “incontinence brief,” which often forces me to say “I’m wearing a diaper” out loud in front of other travelers just to be understood.