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Felinity
Pileated woodpecker
Joined: Mar 03, 2008
Posts: 176
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 Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 7:03 pm Post subject: Autistic boy and his mother kicked off of plane, Todays News |
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http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Story?id=5238571&page=1
In Today's news, here's an article about a mother and her autistic son being kicked off an airplane.. The stewardesses kept upsetting the child more also... The article ends of stressing the importance of people being more knowledgeable about special needs kids, so that this doesn't happen as much. |
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catspurr
Phoenix
Joined: Jan 16, 2008
Posts: 781
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| Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 7:11 pm Post subject: |
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People have little patience for all kids now. Go to a restaurant, there is some stupid hag there to scold you.
Go on an airplane, get kicked off.
Go to movie theater, told to go home.
I'd love to know what those people were like as kids. |
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catspurr
Phoenix
Joined: Jan 16, 2008
Posts: 781
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| Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 7:13 pm Post subject: |
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| some of the comments on the story are just plain nasty. |
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catspurr
Phoenix
Joined: Jan 16, 2008
Posts: 781
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| Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 7:16 pm Post subject: |
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and this comment from a teacher (great this is why alot of kids with autism are having problems in schools)
"I have dealt with autistic children in the classroom where exceptions are made to accommodate many. I understand it's a medical condition and not necessarily controllable, however, that doesn't mean the rest of the world must suffer for it." |
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Fnord
Metasyntactic Variable
Joined: May 07, 2008
Posts: 3658
Location: Pantopia
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| Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 7:31 pm Post subject: |
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| catspurr wrote: | | "I have dealt with autistic children in the classroom where exceptions are made to accommodate many. I understand it's a medical condition and not necessarily controllable, however, that doesn't mean the rest of the world must suffer for it." |
Exceptions are made to accomodate autistic children in education and socialization. But when anyone becomes violent there is no reason to use autism as an excuse to condone their behavior, especially when their behavior obstructs the activities of others.
People with Tourette's syndrome get kicked out of theatres because they can not keep quiet during a movie that others have also paid to watch.
People with Primary Trimethylaminuria ("Fish Odor Syndrome") have been kicked out of restaurants because their body odor nauseates the other patrons who have also paid to enjoy a meal.
So people who can not control their violent behavior should expect to be removed from any enclosed place where lots of people have also paid to be safe from harm.
Yeah, I feel for the kid and his mom; but I also feel even more for the rest of the passengers who felt threatened by an uncontrollably violent and screaming person, even if that person was only five years old.
Accomodation goes both ways. Don't inflict violence on others, and they won't inflict embarrassment on you.
I'm with the airline on this one.
_________________
The leaders of the American automobile industry have been amazingly consistent in their management philosophy, in that they have never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity. |
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ClosetAspy
Deinonychus
Joined: Jan 17, 2008
Age: 52
Posts: 365
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| Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 7:35 pm Post subject: |
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Well, I don't mean to sound unsympathetic, and yes, people need to be more educated about autism; but you have to look at it in the context of the environment. And I am afraid that I do sympathize with the flight crew on this one. They made the right call.
Supposing something had gone wrong and it was necessary to evacuate the plane quickly? Most planes, unless you are in a wide-body aircraft, are very narrow and cramped, and this is especially true of regional jets. In case of a fire you only have a few seconds to evacuate. I believe the airline industry standard is 90 seconds, whether you are talking a 50 passenger regional jet or a 500 passenger jumbo. That is not very much time, if anyone who has ever flown knows. (I understand that airline crews personally think this a very unrealistic standard, because the tests are conducted using trained crews and not the general public.) A child having a meltdown at that time could endanger the lives of EVERYONE aboard. That is also the reason why flight crews insist on having bags stowed where they are. They are not being unreasonable. They go through extensive safety training and know what needs to be done, and they have to think of everyone, not just "special needs" people. If putting safety first means that yes, you have to act in what appears to be an insensitive manner, then that is what they have to do. And no, I don't work for the airline industry. I'm just a passenger who selfishly wants to get off that plane in the same condition I got on it.
I would say that the blame in this situation should be on the parents, for knowingly putting their autistic child in an environment guaranteed to generate a meltdown. I am all for disability rights, but there comes a point where you do have to take responsibility for your actions. If a person cannot control his or herself, regardless of age, then they should not be in certain situations, and being on an airplane is one of them. Or any other situation where it could quickly turn into a life or death matter. |
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dtoxic
Deinonychus
Joined: Jun 23, 2008
Age: 38
Posts: 313
Location: Boston MA
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| Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 7:43 pm Post subject: |
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I freely admit that I can't stand to be around young children at all. (Dogs too.) I can't stand the noises and unpredictable spastic movements; part of my AS is an extreme sensitivity to this. I experience tension being around sleeping infants, because I know they could wake up and squall at any moment.
This is basically my problem, not anybody else's. I have to let minor incidents of disruption by children slide. But this sounds like a major disruption, so I side with Fnord and the airline.
We would all like to see more sensitivity shown to people on the spectrum, but it doesn't mean letting one autie make a planeload of people miserable. A balance is needed. |
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KingdomOfRats
Phoenix
Joined: Nov 01, 2005
Age: 24
Posts: 2675
Location: Manchester
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| Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 7:49 pm Post subject: |
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have read of this happening a few times before [to autists].
the staff should have autism training,especially if a lot of autists use planes.
but,if the boy is very likely to melt down,and has easy set offs,perhaps this should have been looked into better.
for similar reasons,am banned from using planes due to council risk assessment showing am would meltdown and CB on one.
maybe for the boy and others like him who do need/like to travel,they could use ferry/ship instead as they would be able to walk around on that one.
catspurr,
probably better to never scroll down to comments by randoms on story pages,as it will make self worse,they are always full of ignorants who know next to nothing about the subject but still decide to post about it anyway,they're not worth arguing with.
_________________
[LFAutie]
["Even through the darkest days, this fire burns...always"-Killswitch Engage]
.:The residential autist:.
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2ukenkerl
Phoenix
Joined: Jul 20, 2007
Posts: 4860
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| Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 8:44 pm Post subject: |
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| catspurr wrote: | and this comment from a teacher (great this is why alot of kids with autism are having problems in schools)
"I have dealt with autistic children in the classroom where exceptions are made to accommodate many. I understand it's a medical condition and not necessarily controllable, however, that doesn't mean the rest of the world must suffer for it." |
So why should WE suffer with the likes of HER!?!?!? |
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equinn
Phoenix
Joined: Apr 20, 2007
Posts: 652
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| Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 10:27 pm Post subject: |
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Autistic or not, this child was not in a safe place. No one is to blame. He's too young to fly. We want too much and don't make sound decisions.
Parenthood is sacrifice. Wait until he's older. I avoided restaurants until my son was old enough to handle it.
Who was suppose to restrain child? Should the pilot continue flying with the child not in a belt? No way.
What does autism have to do with it? Many two-year olds have abominable behavior in restaurants and on planes. If they are notoriously impossible in some situations, why take a risk?
equinn |
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Triangular_Trees
What is right is sometimes found on the left.
Joined: Jul 18, 2007
Posts: 2053
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| Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 10:51 pm Post subject: |
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| catspurr wrote: | and this comment from a teacher (great this is why alot of kids with autism are having problems in schools)
"I have dealt with autistic children in the classroom where exceptions are made to accommodate many. I understand it's a medical condition and not necessarily controllable, however, that doesn't mean the rest of the world must suffer for it." |
]]
I wonder if you are quoting that in context. There are many cases where the teacher can't teach as much as normal because of autistic kids being included in the classroom. this lowers the education for every kid in that room, and if a kid is in the same classroom as the autistic child all through elementary school, which is sometimes done to help the autistic child have familiar surroundings, then that child will be significantly behind in high school. Being behind in high school has a huge impact on what colleges you can get into, which in turn has an impact on your jobs. Not to mention the self esteem loss |
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ssenkrad
Blue Jay
Joined: Dec 08, 2007
Posts: 90
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| Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2008 12:05 am Post subject: |
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| ClosetAspy wrote: | | Well, I don't mean to sound unsympathetic, and yes, people need to be more educated about autism; but you have to look at it in the context of the environment. And I am afraid that I do sympathize with the flight crew on this one. They made the right call. |
Thanks for saying that. I agree - the airline chose to inconvenience two people rather than inconvenience, what, anywhere from 30-200 people depending on the size of the plane (which wasn't mentioned in the OP). Doesn't matter that the kid was autistic - he was causing a disruption. Say he wriggled out of his seatbelt and started running down the aisle, screaming. The airline would surely field calls or emails from more than a couple disgruntled customers. |
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Triangular_Trees
What is right is sometimes found on the left.
Joined: Jul 18, 2007
Posts: 2053
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| Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2008 12:10 am Post subject: |
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| ssenkrad wrote: | | ClosetAspy wrote: | | Well, I don't mean to sound unsympathetic, and yes, people need to be more educated about autism; but you have to look at it in the context of the environment. And I am afraid that I do sympathize with the flight crew on this one. They made the right call. |
Thanks for saying that. I agree - the airline chose to inconvenience two people rather than inconvenience, what, anywhere from 30-200 people depending on the size of the plane (which wasn't mentioned in the OP). Doesn't matter that the kid was autistic - he was causing a disruption. Say he wriggled out of his seatbelt and started running down the aisle, screaming. The airline would surely field calls or emails from more than a couple disgruntled customers. |
Reading the article/video it appears the complaint is not that they were kicked off, but that flight attendent and pilot significantly aggravated the situation, in ways that should never be done with any child, leading to the boys meltdown. If they had reacted differently he likely never would have melted down |
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greenblue
¸.·´´¯`··.¸.·´
Joined: Mar 26, 2007
Posts: 7869
Location: Home
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| Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2008 12:19 am Post subject: |
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| Fnord wrote: | | catspurr wrote: | | "I have dealt with autistic children in the classroom where exceptions are made to accommodate many. I understand it's a medical condition and not necessarily controllable, however, that doesn't mean the rest of the world must suffer for it." |
Exceptions are made to accomodate autistic children in education and socialization. But when anyone becomes violent there is no reason to use autism as an excuse to condone their behavior, especially when their behavior obstructs the activities of others.
People with Tourette's syndrome get kicked out of theatres because they can not keep quiet during a movie that others have also paid to watch.
People with Primary Trimethylaminuria ("Fish Odor Syndrome") have been kicked out of restaurants because their body odor nauseates the other patrons who have also paid to enjoy a meal.
So people who can not control their violent behavior should expect to be removed from any enclosed place where lots of people have also paid to be safe from harm.
Yeah, I feel for the kid and his mom; but I also feel even more for the rest of the passengers who felt threatened by an uncontrollably violent and screaming person, even if that person was only five years old.
Accomodation goes both ways. Don't inflict violence on others, and they won't inflict embarrassment on you.
I'm with the airline on this one. |
I agree.
_________________
Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods. ~Einstein. |
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RiD-CrashList
Blue Jay
Joined: Jun 20, 2008
Age: 17
Posts: 87
Location: No ;)
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| Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2008 12:20 am Post subject: |
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I do agree that the flight crew wasn't totally in the wrong here, except for the flight attendant. If she left the mother to put the seatbelt on correctly, maybe the kid wouldn't have had a melt down to disrupt everyone with. The mother could have insisted that she put the boy in control as well. But the flight attendant didn't have to tug the 2 year old to put him in the seat. That, I am almost certain, along with the uncomfortable seat belt and a stressed mother, probably caused the meltdown.
The whole ordeal probably could have been avoided. |
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