Austistic teen kicked off plane.....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just don't see how the mother's words and behavior equal a "threat". "I'm going to blow up this plane if you don't wire money to my Swiss bank account" is a threat.

She said her daughter would harm herself. Do you disbelieve her?

[Anonymous]

So if I say, "I need a barf bag because otherwise, my child is going to barf all over the floor of the plane", is that a threat? Worth diverting a plane for?

How about, "if you don't allow my child to go to the bathroom right away, she is going to pee her pants". Threat? Or just a description of what the reality will be if the flight attendants don't show a little human understanding and flexibility?

"If my child doesn't get something hot to eat, she is going to have a meltdown and start scratching" doesn't sound like a "threat" to others or the plane to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just can't get over the idea that a "high functioning" 15 year old will only eat hot food. That seems incredibly limiting and like something her parents should be trying to help her with. I just can't imagine living with someone who will only eat hot food.

Food/drink issues are really, really common with autism. I'm surprised you don't know that.

+1. Our neighbor's teen dd has high functioning autism. Since they ditched baby bottles, she has refused any beverage but room temperature plain water. !5 years and not a drop of anything else. And too hot/too cold water? Forget it-she is completely revolted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just can't get over the idea that a "high functioning" 15 year old will only eat hot food. That seems incredibly limiting and like something her parents should be trying to help her with. I just can't imagine living with someone who will only eat hot food.

Where are you getting "high functioning" from?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/05/11/oregon-family-says-were-kicked-off-united-flight-due-to-autistic-daughter/

The mother asked for warm food.
The flight attendant said it was only for 1st class.
The teen started to get fussy.
The flight attendant gave her food.
The teen stopped fussing.
The plane made an emergency landing and the police got on the plane and made the family leave.
The family quietly exited the plane.

I vote the flight staff made the wrong decision to divert the plane and force the family off.

+2. How hard was it to give a kid with special needs something to eat and STFU about it? Yes, the mom should have planned better. Brought some food or something. But, she didn't. This was in no way an emergency landing situation. They were making a point and that is why this is a further demonstration of airlines being assholes. Across the board.

-1, because mom did not book in 1st class but she wanted 1st class treatment and kept making demands and threats. The mom was the problem, not the airline.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just don't see how the mother's words and behavior equal a "threat". "I'm going to blow up this plane if you don't wire money to my Swiss bank account" is a threat.

She said her daughter would harm herself. Do you disbelieve her?

No, she said IF her daughter doesn't get hot food, she MIGHT get upset. This is not a threat in any way, shape or form.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just can't get over the idea that a "high functioning" 15 year old will only eat hot food. That seems incredibly limiting and like something her parents should be trying to help her with. I just can't imagine living with someone who will only eat hot food.

Food/drink issues are really, really common with autism. I'm surprised you don't know that.

+1. Our neighbor's teen dd has high functioning autism. Since they ditched baby bottles, she has refused any beverage but room temperature plain water. !5 years and not a drop of anything else. And too hot/too cold water? Forget it-she is completely revolted.

That's not high functioning then. My kid is high functioning and is a very picky eater and will only eat/drink specific things but we have gotten him to the point where most places we can find something to eat and have had to force the issue for basics and finally were successful. He knows eat what we have in a situation like that or wait till the plane lands and we'll get you food. Not hitting, no scratching at best a frustrated child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/05/11/oregon-family-says-were-kicked-off-united-flight-due-to-autistic-daughter/

The mother asked for warm food.
The flight attendant said it was only for 1st class.
The teen started to get fussy.
The flight attendant gave her food.
The teen stopped fussing.
The plane made an emergency landing and the police got on the plane and made the family leave.
The family quietly exited the plane.

I vote the flight staff made the wrong decision to divert the plane and force the family off.

+2. How hard was it to give a kid with special needs something to eat and STFU about it? Yes, the mom should have planned better. Brought some food or something. But, she didn't. This was in no way an emergency landing situation. They were making a point and that is why this is a further demonstration of airlines being assholes. Across the board.

-1, because mom did not book in 1st class but she wanted 1st class treatment and kept making demands and threats. The mom was the problem, not the airline.

She paid for the food. First class treatment would be getting it for free. I see this as a reasonable accommodation for someone with a disability, like early boarding etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/05/11/oregon-family-says-were-kicked-off-united-flight-due-to-autistic-daughter/

The mother asked for warm food.
The flight attendant said it was only for 1st class.
The teen started to get fussy.
The flight attendant gave her food.
The teen stopped fussing.
The plane made an emergency landing and the police got on the plane and made the family leave.
The family quietly exited the plane.

I vote the flight staff made the wrong decision to divert the plane and force the family off.

+2. How hard was it to give a kid with special needs something to eat and STFU about it? Yes, the mom should have planned better. Brought some food or something. But, she didn't. This was in no way an emergency landing situation. They were making a point and that is why this is a further demonstration of airlines being assholes. Across the board.

-1, because mom did not book in 1st class but she wanted 1st class treatment and kept making demands and threats. The mom was the problem, not the airline.

She paid for the food. First class treatment would be getting it for free. I see this as a reasonable accommodation for someone with a disability, like early boarding etc.

Agreed, she offered to pay for the food. I don't understand what is so difficult to comprehend about that. What we don't know is how many people were in first class and whether they only had a 1:1 ratio of first class passengers and first class meals. That would have made the situation different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The mother knew her kid wanted hot food and she should have fed her ay a restaurant in the airport.

You know, I fly a lot with my DD who is six now and between the security lines, changing terminals and making it to the gate, MOST OF THE TIME I'm lucky if we have time to go to the bathroom.

Airline stuff and TSA agents OFTEN act like complete aholes.

I try not to fly by American carriers when I can. Europeans have a more pleasant attitude and are customer oriented. American flight attendants are just Nazis whose single purpose during the flight is to make sure you are restrained in your seat.

Then, you leave your house early enough to be able to feed your child. I have a five year old and we make sure we have enough time to feed him before we get on the plane and plenty of snacks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just can't get over the idea that a "high functioning" 15 year old will only eat hot food. That seems incredibly limiting and like something her parents should be trying to help her with. I just can't imagine living with someone who will only eat hot food.

Food/drink issues are really, really common with autism. I'm surprised you don't know that.

+1. Our neighbor's teen dd has high functioning autism. Since they ditched baby bottles, she has refused any beverage but room temperature plain water. !5 years and not a drop of anything else. And too hot/too cold water? Forget it-she is completely revolted.

That's not high functioning then. My kid is high functioning and is a very picky eater and will only eat/drink specific things but we have gotten him to the point where most places we can find something to eat and have had to force the issue for basics and finally were successful. He knows eat what we have in a situation like that or wait till the plane lands and we'll get you food. Not hitting, no scratching at best a frustrated child.

Who are you to say some child you've never met is high functioning or low functioning? You are universalizing your experience with one child with autism to the whole universe of people with autism. Really, as a SN parent you should know better.

There is no logical difference between what you posted and me saying: "Your kid must not be high functioning, or he wouldn't be a picky eater at all." Same thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Utterly insane. How hard is it to heat up a sandwich for a girl who might have issues without it? The other passengers on the plane said at no time did the girl get upset, mom was trying to avoid the meltdown, and the first class flight attendant was an ass. In one video you could hear other passengers saying to leave them alone.

Similar happened to me. My daughter started coughing on the tarmac, which means she was headed for an asthma attack. I went into overhead to get her albuterol, and the flight attendant (male) came back and started yelling at me. I told him the issue, asked for the little container in the front pocket of my bag. He gave me the wrong one - it was almost empty. I explained the situation again and he started yelling at me, telling me he was going to call the authorities. By now we were in-flight (short flight from Boston to DC). He told me he already got me a vial and I didn't need another. So I stood up and got it myself (seat belt signs were off by this point). He got the pilot who then came back and yelled at me, as I was nebulizing the baby (you'd think this would tip him off, but no). We arrived in DC and were met by the medics - the staff told them they wanted to prove my daughter was fine. Two older ladies sitting behind me had stayed on the plane to tell the medics that the staff refused to hand me the meds and that I asked politely, and never raised my voice. They said the baby never cried and that I handled things quickly and efficiently.

The medics did a pulse ox and told the staff point blank that my daughter HAD had a mild asthma attack and due to my quick thinking and persistence, they were lucky that they were only pissed off, that there could have been a real crisis had I not gotten the meds myself. They then commended me for having them in overhead, and not in the cargo area where they would not have been accessible. Sheepish staff tried to explain themselves and he told them the ONLY reason he was not taking the baby to the hospital to clear her, was because he felt confident I had full control and that she would be fine. By that point her pulse ox was back to normal.

The flight attendant is going to have her ass handed to her.

A medical emergency is far different than a tantrum by mom and child (no wonder child tantrums given mom does). In your case, yes, you get your kid the medicine, no question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just can't get over the idea that a "high functioning" 15 year old will only eat hot food. That seems incredibly limiting and like something her parents should be trying to help her with. I just can't imagine living with someone who will only eat hot food.

Food/drink issues are really, really common with autism. I'm surprised you don't know that.

+1. Our neighbor's teen dd has high functioning autism. Since they ditched baby bottles, she has refused any beverage but room temperature plain water. !5 years and not a drop of anything else. And too hot/too cold water? Forget it-she is completely revolted.

That's not high functioning then. My kid is high functioning and is a very picky eater and will only eat/drink specific things but we have gotten him to the point where most places we can find something to eat and have had to force the issue for basics and finally were successful. He knows eat what we have in a situation like that or wait till the plane lands and we'll get you food. Not hitting, no scratching at best a frustrated child.

Who are you to say some child you've never met is high functioning or low functioning? You are universalizing your experience with one child with autism to the whole universe of people with autism. Really, as a SN parent you should know better.

There is no logical difference between what you posted and me saying: "Your kid must not be high functioning, or he wouldn't be a picky eater at all." Same thing.

A child who is going to have that kind of meltdown at that age is not true high functioning. That child if you read mom's blogs and information is not high functioning. That is a major problem with calling it a spectrum and only having a few categories but if she was true high functioning, she would be able to navigate the world a bit better. Mom cannot control this child, and if she cannot stop her from physical aggression, they have no business traveling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If her daughter needs hot food, why doesn't she travel with hot food?

I haven't read through all the pages but wanted to respond to this. I have a 4 year old autistic son that also needs food heated. He cannot stand cold or room temperature food. He's nonverbal so i may never know why. My guess is that there wasn't any practical way to bring food and keep it at the temperature her daughter needed it to be. Especially if they're returning from Disney trip.

It's news articles like this that make me anxious about bringing my son on a plane. I'd rather drive across country than be subject to the public shame this lady must have faced.

[Anonymous]

I disagree. Many people require extra accommodation when travelling-should everyone who is blind or in a wheelchair be homebound as well?