Family Kicked Off Flight After Daughter With Autism Deemed 'Disruptive'

[missingthebigdog]

86. I think you misread the article.

The flight attendant did, in fact, eventually provide the hot food. That is why the child was calmly watching the movie when the plane diverted.

Had the attendant compassionately listened to the original request, and provided the food in the first place when the need was explained, no mention of the severity of the child's meltdowns would ever have occurred, and there would have been no threat- actual or perceived.

I think there is a basic misunderstanding about people with autism in this thread. It is often very difficult to anticipate what they might react to, and what intervention might head off that reaction. In this case it appears that the parents anticipated that the child might be hungry on the plane, and packed snacks to accommodate that need. Apparently, those snacks didn't address this particular issue.

I am guessing here, but based upon my experience raising my three children with autism, I suspect that this child smelled the food that was being served elsewhere on the plane. Once she knew it was available, that was what she wanted. She has a developmental disability. Depending upon the degree of her impairment, it might not be possible to make her understand why that food was not available to her.

I am not arguing that the pilot was wrong to divert- that is his call, and I don't have all of the information that went into that decision. My argument is that this is a child with a disability, and a humane response would have been to give her the food that she wanted. That is what I would have done, and, prior to today, that is what I would have thought anyone would do. . . .