Where do you stand on this?

[EMom]

I was involved in a discussion regarding this situation on Facebook and was being called ignorant because I said it is the mother's responsibility to take care of her child's needs. Honestly, there is no reasoning with people like that, so I stopped trying.

We are close to a family with an autistic child. He has meltdowns from time to time to, and since he's huge for his age, that could be a problem. The parents decided years ago that the world was not going to bend to coddle their child and the best thing they could do was try to work on ways for him to deal with life. They never got a GAC, because she said he needed to learn to wait in line. For a while, they avoided restaurants because it would end in disaster. They do ask for certain accommodations (very minor, IMHO) and size up potential hazards ahead of time. Sometimes they just opt out because the risk is too great. Over the years, he has made amazing strides.

not unpopular w/me at all, and i'll venture to say that the majority of the parents of asd kids I attend a parent group with would completely agree. the bulk of the parents I've encountered try their best to evaluate travel/outings on how it might impact their child as well as how it might negatively impact/impair others from their enjoyment/experience. something as simple as going to a movie can entail allot of thought and planning-I know one mom whose teen son wouldn't cause a disruption in a theatre BUT his thing is that he only feels safe if he stands next to an emergency exit for the entirety of the movie. mom knows this was manageable when kid was young (small-with mom sitting adjacent) but now that he's 6 foot tall it SCARES people what with movie house tragedies. so as much as the kid would like to attend every movie out there they largely just attend the once a month sensory friendly movie showings the theatre offers up. mom isn't willing to make other people fearful. heck-our asd teen group works hard to choose places for our kid's outings specifically b/c we know what our kids can/can not/ might not be able to handle and we don't want to put them/wherever we take them/other patrons to have a negative experience.

I know my friends would NEVER make demands like the airplane mom. They want their child to fit in with the world, because while their life may revolve around him, the world doesn't. Sometimes that means taking a pass on an activity until he can handle it better. But with lots of hard work and thought, he does manage much better now. Had they expected the world to stop for his needs, he wouldn't be doing as well as he is today. I admire all they have done for him to make his life better in the long run.

 

[NHdisneylover]

I would venture to say that she was taking care of her child's needs by (1) attempting to feed her at the airport and (2) asking for a hot meal in-flight.

What would you have her do differently?

I mostly agree, but in this case the usual things did not work. Maybe her daughter was too worn out from a week at WDW to cope as well as she normally does, or about to come down with a cold, or hormones of puberty or PMS threw her off, etc None of that is the mother's fault at all and given that the daughter is normally able to travel well, I fully understand the parents not expecting a meltdown on that particular day when they planned for a meal in the airport before the flight and had snacks (I am still confused as to why had snacks for her if she never eats food that is not piping hot, but that is neither here nor there). I really do not see that the parents were wrong to fly with the young lady and if this is not normally a problem even that they were wrong to not have a thermos of hot food or instant things that could be made with water or whatever available.

I just also do not think it was at all wrong of the airline to not produce a hot meal on demand or to react as they did when the melt down occurred in spite of the parents' planning and the mother made it clear her daughter might hurt someone. The mother could have and should have (again, based on what I am seeing so far) accepted that it was a reasonable decision based on the meltdown of her daughter and her own words to flight crew, cursed her bad luck on that trip, tried to have a better plan based on this new incident for future flights. Instead, mom wants to find fault somewhere, blames the airlines and is suing. and there in lies the problem, IMO.

 

[leebee]

I would venture to say that she was taking care of her child's needs by (1) attempting to feed her at the airport and (2) asking for a hot meal in-flight.

What would you have her do differently?

This mother is a seasoned airline traveler, so she knows the situation with airline meals. This mom didn't have a back-up plan. Kid didn't eat at the airport and so the option is to demand a hot in-flight meal from First Class- when they were traveling coach? What kind of a back-up plan is that? At the very least, the parent should have contacted the airline in advance to see if she could schedule/pre-purchase a meal, and to make sure that it was a hot meal. Honestly, if the anticipated melt-down is so severe, send the rest of the family on the flight and re-schedule a parent and the daughter for a later flight, and try to get the kid to eat. That's what we did when DD had the flu on the day we were supposed to fly. COULD she have traveled with the barf bag on her lap and hoped for the best? Sure, but why put her and everyone else through that, when we could send DH home on the original flight and reschedule DD and me for a flight the next day?

I have a friend with 2 adult children on the lower end of the spectrum and they do not fly because of the many different issues of each child. It just isn't feasible. If this girl's meal requirements are such that they can't be met, it might be time to reconsider air travel with her.

 

[gwynne]

I would venture to say that she was taking care of her child's needs by (1) attempting to feed her at the airport and (2) asking for a hot meal in-flight.

What would you have her do differently?

Mom is very aware that her 15yo has a long standing issue of needing piping hot, steaming meals or she may have a serious meltdown, including scratching. That isn't a little thing. Mom should book a fare that includes what her daughter may need, that being First Class. Mom needs to be fully proactive, even if it's expensive. It's unreasonable to board, save a few bucks, and then demand a First class meal or there may be a meltdown.

In a situation such as this, thinking they would just eat in the terminal really isn't an excuse. The consequences of the teenager not eating a hot meal are too great to roll the dice and hope things go OK on travel day. And it might be good for them to remember it's not just their travel day.

 

[barkley]

I would venture to say that she was taking care of her child's needs by (1) attempting to feed her at the airport and (2) asking for a hot meal in-flight.

What would you have her do differently?

same thing other asd parents do in this situation-always bring along a couple of wide mouthed empty thermoses along with you to the airport-only order food after going through tsa checkpoints, and if your child won't eat-ask waitstaff at the food location to pour hot water into the thermous to warm it so it will stay piping hot (I've done the Huston to Portland flight-non stop it's 4 hours so the food stays plenty hot). other options-if she refuses to eat prior to boarding-change your flight (known plenty of asd parents to do this) or at the very least talk to airline staff BEFORE it becomes an issue to see if they might be able to make arrangements prior to boarding/departure. in the extreme (and I've not done it/ don't advocate it, but I've heard of it being done in this situation) just as you would give an anxious flyer anti-anxiety meds prior to departure, appetite suppressant medications are prescribed to some asd kids.

 

[robinb]

If her daughter is that volatile, not fly. Expecting a hot meal to be served to you in coach is laughable. Most First Class passengers don't even get a hot meal.

Who said she was expecting a hot meal? Perhaps she saw that FC was being served one and asked for a meal. We really don't know what happened since we were not there.

When the daughter refused to eat they should have taken their daughters need into account and rescheduled their flight or decided how to handle well before they were on a plane with the meltdown close on the horizon. She could have made so many better choices but did not and not only should not be compensated or apologized to, but they should be apologetic for all those who had to be delayed because of their poor planning. They had lots of options and I have no sympathy for her. Using her daughters diagnosis to make this into a poor me situation is disgusting.

ETA if you had an infant on a flight for 5 hours and didn't bring formula for them would it be the airlines fault that your child is wailing the entire time? If they had to land because of it is it the airlines fault you were unprepared? Did they make you leave because you had a baby on the flight and discriminating against you or because you didn't plan properly?

You're right. Looking at the situation in hindsight they probably should have tried to reschedule but then you run into trying to find 3 seats together on an airplane that is probably full (as most are these days). I also agree that she should have made better choices and she should not be suing or kicking up a fuss.

 

[robinb]

same thing other asd parents do in this situation-always bring along a couple of wide mouthed empty thermoses along with you to the airport-only order food after going through tsa checkpoints, and if your child won't eat-ask waitstaff at the food location to pour hot water into the thermous to warm it so it will stay piping hot (I've done the Huston to Portland flight-non stop it's 4 hours so the food stays plenty hot). other options-if she refuses to eat prior to boarding-change your flight (known plenty of asd parents to do this) or at the very least talk to airline staff BEFORE it becomes an issue to see if they might be able to make arrangements prior to boarding/departure. in the extreme (and I've not done it/ don't advocate it, but I've heard of it being done in this situation) just as you would give an anxious flyer anti-anxiety meds prior to departure, appetite suppressant medications are prescribed to some asd kids.

All of those are great ideas .

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I also read somewhere that this situation went on for over an hour before the decision was made to land. Will see if I can find a link.

ETA http://koin.com/2015/05/09/she-wasnt-put-off-plane-because-of-autism/

Marilyn Hedlund said Juliette had been “howling” before the incident and the flight attendants had been working quietly with the family for nearly an hour before the pilot made the decision to make an emergency landing.

I think a pp had a good idea of bringing along some mac n cheese or oatmeal or something that required just hot water being added, but something tells me the young lady wouldn't have wanted that.

I think naturally, threats are the biggest concern, but besides that, who's to say that once you start giving out first class hot meals to one person, others won't start demanding some, too. Where does it end?

 

[Pea-n-Me]

This article (if accurate) lays out the turn of events. I'm surprised at the reaction of fire and police personnel at an airport; shouldn't they be more supportive of the pilot's decision? And who knows what it may have been that the pilot said to the emergency personnel that made them change their minds? Likely cited FAA rules or something, but anyone know specifically what it may have been?

http://abcnews.go.com/US/woman-claims-daughter-autism-kicked-off-united-airlines/story?id=30926832

Woman Claims She and Daughter With Autism Were Kicked Off United Plane

May 11, 2015, 11:55 AM

An Oregon woman claims United Airlines kicked her family off a Portland-bound flight because of her teenage daughter who has autism.

Juliette Beegle, 15, was diagnosed with autism just before she turned three, her mother, Donna Beegle, told ABC News. While her daughter has a high IQ, Beegle said, she has a hard time communicating.

On Tuesday, Beegle said she, her husband, Juliette, and Juliette's brother boarded a layover flight in Houston on their way home to Portland.

The family ate dinner in Houston, Beegle said, but Juliette refused to eat. Beegle brought some snacks on board for her because "if her blood sugar lets go, she gets frustrated and antsy. We try to anticipate that and prevent that."

After boarding, Beegle said she asked the flight attendant if she had any hot meals.

"Juliette refuses room-temp food," Beegle said. "I had no real way to bring hot snacks in my bag."

The attendant told her they had a hot sandwich, but the sandwich arrived cold, Beegle said, and Juliette refused to eat it.

"I could see [Juliette] getting frustrated," Beegle said, adding that she asked the flight attendant to check on meals available for purchase in first class.

"I asked if I can purchase something hot for my daughter and [the first class flight attendant] said no" she said. "I called him back over and I said to him, 'Please, help us out here,'" but he again refused.

"He came back again and I said, 'I have a child with special needs, I need to get her something.' And he said, 'I can't do that,'" she explained. "I said, 'How about we wait for her to have a meltdown, she'll be crying and trying to scratch in frustration. I don't want her to get to that point.'"

The attendant then brought Juliette rice and jambalaya, Beegle said, and "she ate and she was fine."

About 25 minutes later, according to Beegle, an announcement over the loudspeaker said the plane was making an emergency landing because of a passenger with "a behavior issue."

Paramedics came on board and asked what was wrong when they found Juliette happily watching a video, Beegle said.

"The paramedic said this was an over-reactive flight attendant and started shaking his head, and said 'We have real work to do' and left," she said. "We were still baffled."

Police then came to their row, Beegle said.

"They see this little teenager sitting there watching a video and they asked if there was an issue, and I said, 'No.'"

When the officers started to leave, the captain stepped out of the cockpit and said something to them, Beegle said. They then asked her family to leave, she said.

"He said, 'The captain has asked us to ask you to step off the plane.'" Beegle said. "I said, 'She didn't do anything' ... But the captain said he's not comfortable flying on to Portland with [Juliette] on the plane."

"It just killed me for her to be treated that way," she said, adding that the passengers around her agreed that Juliette wasn't disrupting anyone. The police apologized, Beegle said.

"It was awful," she said. "It was completely uncalled for."

Another traveler, Jodi Smith, who was sitting three rows behind Juliette, said she heard the entire conversation with the first-class flight attendant.

"He was being totally ridiculous," Smith said.

"Then the medics came on, then the police ... They went right straight to Dr. Beegle. You could hear them saying their daughter was perceived as a threat," Smith told ABC News. "I stood up and said, 'Absolutely positively not.'

"This was just ridiculous... she was calm, she had done nothing," she said. "I've been on flights where kids have screamed for 4 hours and they've never diverted a flight.

"This was the epitome of discrimination," Smith said. "I have never in all my years of flying seen anything like this."

Beegle said Juliette has traveled often, saying her daughter has been to London, Paris and 22 states.

"We've never experienced anything like that," she said. "It was horrific."

Beegle said she filed complaints with the Federal Aviation Administration and United Airlines and received responses from both, agreeing to investigate. She said she is also planning to file a lawsuit against United.

Beegle said her goal is to encourage autism training for airline workers.

"If they had autism training when I explained to him when I needed something hot, we could have found a workable solution together," she said. "But his whole view was, 'I'm trained to give a first class meal.' He didn't understand at all. He was disrespectful, he was rude."

United Airlines told ABC News in a statement: "After working to accommodate Dr. Beegle and her daughter during the flight, the crew made the best decision for the safety and comfort of all of our customers and elected to divert to Salt Lake City after the situation became disruptive. We rebooked the customers on a different carrier and the flight continued to Portland."

The FAA directed ABC News' request for comment to the Department of Transportation. A DOT spokesman said "the Department has received a complaint regarding this incident and we're investigating the matter."

 

[cabanafrau]

I also read somewhere that this situation went on for over an hour before the decision was made to land. Will see if I can find a link.

ETA http://koin.com/2015/05/09/she-wasnt-put-off-plane-because-of-autism/



I think a pp had a good idea of bringing along some mac n cheese or oatmeal or something that required just hot water being added, but something tells me the young lady wouldn't have wanted that.

I think naturally, threats are the biggest concern, but besides that, who's to say that once you start giving out first class hot meals to one person, others won't start demanding some, too. Where does it end?

Exactly, we've seen it right here when the specialized allergy cleanings became requested by people travelling to WDW who didn't need them but thought it was a great way to make sure their room was ultra clean, or those travelling with their pets under the premise they are therapy dogs. These kind of entitlement attitudes are the reasons we can't have nice things.

 

[barkley]

she knows her kid won't eat room temp foods-but only brings room temp snacks.
she asks for hot food but it's not hot enough.

the behavior they were escorted off was NOT the dd's-it was MOM'S (it says it all in ua's statement 'after working to try to accommodate dr. beegle and her daughter...'). it may have been an 25 minutes after the fact that the flight landed but I'm sure it was happening behind the scenes from the moment mom raised the red flag that she had a child who could become agitated/violent-pilot can't ensure they could have met mom's every demand for the entirety of the flight.

 

[cabanafrau]

This article (if accurate) lays out the turn of events. I'm surprised at the reaction of fire and police personnel at an airport; shouldn't they be more supportive of the pilot's decision? And who knows what it may have been that the pilot said to the emergency personnel that made them change their minds? Likely cited FAA rules or something, but anyone know specifically what it may have been?

http://abcnews.go.com/US/woman-claims-daughter-autism-kicked-off-united-airlines/story?id=30926832

Woman Claims She and Daughter With Autism Were Kicked Off United Plane

May 11, 2015, 11:55 AM

An Oregon woman claims United Airlines kicked her family off a Portland-bound flight because of her teenage daughter who has autism.

Juliette Beegle, 15, was diagnosed with autism just before she turned three, her mother, Donna Beegle, told ABC News. While her daughter has a high IQ, Beegle said, she has a hard time communicating.

On Tuesday, Beegle said she, her husband, Juliette, and Juliette's brother boarded a layover flight in Houston on their way home to Portland.

The family ate dinner in Houston, Beegle said, but Juliette refused to eat. Beegle brought some snacks on board for her because "if her blood sugar lets go, she gets frustrated and antsy. We try to anticipate that and prevent that."

After boarding, Beegle said she asked the flight attendant if she had any hot meals.

"Juliette refuses room-temp food," Beegle said. "I had no real way to bring hot snacks in my bag."

The attendant told her they had a hot sandwich, but the sandwich arrived cold, Beegle said, and Juliette refused to eat it.

"I could see [Juliette] getting frustrated," Beegle said, adding that she asked the flight attendant to check on meals available for purchase in first class.

"I asked if I can purchase something hot for my daughter and [the first class flight attendant] said no" she said. "I called him back over and I said to him, 'Please, help us out here,'" but he again refused.

"He came back again and I said, 'I have a child with special needs, I need to get her something.' And he said, 'I can't do that,'" she explained. "I said, 'How about we wait for her to have a meltdown, she'll be crying and trying to scratch in frustration. I don't want her to get to that point.'"

The attendant then brought Juliette rice and jambalaya, Beegle said, and "she ate and she was fine."

About 25 minutes later, according to Beegle, an announcement over the loudspeaker said the plane was making an emergency landing because of a passenger with "a behavior issue."

Paramedics came on board and asked what was wrong when they found Juliette happily watching a video, Beegle said.

"The paramedic said this was an over-reactive flight attendant and started shaking his head, and said 'We have real work to do' and left," she said. "We were still baffled."

Police then came to their row, Beegle said.

"They see this little teenager sitting there watching a video and they asked if there was an issue, and I said, 'No.'"

When the officers started to leave, the captain stepped out of the cockpit and said something to them, Beegle said. They then asked her family to leave, she said.

"He said, 'The captain has asked us to ask you to step off the plane.'" Beegle said. "I said, 'She didn't do anything' ... But the captain said he's not comfortable flying on to Portland with [Juliette] on the plane."

"It just killed me for her to be treated that way," she said, adding that the passengers around her agreed that Juliette wasn't disrupting anyone. The police apologized, Beegle said.

"It was awful," she said. "It was completely uncalled for."

Another traveler, Jodi Smith, who was sitting three rows behind Juliette, said she heard the entire conversation with the first-class flight attendant.

"He was being totally ridiculous," Smith said.

"Then the medics came on, then the police ... They went right straight to Dr. Beegle. You could hear them saying their daughter was perceived as a threat," Smith told ABC News. "I stood up and said, 'Absolutely positively not.'

"This was just ridiculous... she was calm, she had done nothing," she said. "I've been on flights where kids have screamed for 4 hours and they've never diverted a flight.

"This was the epitome of discrimination," Smith said. "I have never in all my years of flying seen anything like this."

Beegle said Juliette has traveled often, saying her daughter has been to London, Paris and 22 states.

"We've never experienced anything like that," she said. "It was horrific."

Beegle said she filed complaints with the Federal Aviation Administration and United Airlines and received responses from both, agreeing to investigate. She said she is also planning to file a lawsuit against United.

Beegle said her goal is to encourage autism training for airline workers.

"If they had autism training when I explained to him when I needed something hot, we could have found a workable solution together," she said. "But his whole view was, 'I'm trained to give a first class meal.' He didn't understand at all. He was disrespectful, he was rude."

United Airlines told ABC News in a statement: "After working to accommodate Dr. Beegle and her daughter during the flight, the crew made the best decision for the safety and comfort of all of our customers and elected to divert to Salt Lake City after the situation became disruptive. We rebooked the customers on a different carrier and the flight continued to Portland."

The FAA directed ABC News' request for comment to the Department of Transportation. A DOT spokesman said "the Department has received a complaint regarding this incident and we're investigating the matter."

So now we've got a plane full of passengers inconvenienced, an airline had to incur extra costs, the FAA and the DOT are conducting investigations, which means time and money will be spent. This family has been able to afford worldwide travel, wouldn't accept any of the choices that would have cost them a dime extra -- besides paying a fee for the meal on the plane, and now how much money will be spent by countless others on this "incident"?

 

[sunshinehighway]

This article (if accurate) lays out the turn of events. I'm surprised at the reaction of fire and police personnel at an airport; shouldn't they be more supportive of the pilot's decision? And who knows what it may have been that the pilot said to the emergency personnel that made them change their minds? Likely cited FAA rules or something, but anyone know specifically what it may have been?

http://abcnews.go.com/US/woman-claims-daughter-autism-kicked-off-united-airlines/story?id=30926832

Woman Claims She and Daughter With Autism Were Kicked Off United Plane

May 11, 2015, 11:55 AM

An Oregon woman claims United Airlines kicked her family off a Portland-bound flight because of her teenage daughter who has autism.

Juliette Beegle, 15, was diagnosed with autism just before she turned three, her mother, Donna Beegle, told ABC News. While her daughter has a high IQ, Beegle said, she has a hard time communicating.

On Tuesday, Beegle said she, her husband, Juliette, and Juliette's brother boarded a layover flight in Houston on their way home to Portland.

The family ate dinner in Houston, Beegle said, but Juliette refused to eat. Beegle brought some snacks on board for her because "if her blood sugar lets go, she gets frustrated and antsy. We try to anticipate that and prevent that."

After boarding, Beegle said she asked the flight attendant if she had any hot meals.

"Juliette refuses room-temp food," Beegle said. "I had no real way to bring hot snacks in my bag."

The attendant told her they had a hot sandwich, but the sandwich arrived cold, Beegle said, and Juliette refused to eat it.

"I could see [Juliette] getting frustrated," Beegle said, adding that she asked the flight attendant to check on meals available for purchase in first class.

"I asked if I can purchase something hot for my daughter and [the first class flight attendant] said no" she said. "I called him back over and I said to him, 'Please, help us out here,'" but he again refused.

"He came back again and I said, 'I have a child with special needs, I need to get her something.' And he said, 'I can't do that,'" she explained. "I said, 'How about we wait for her to have a meltdown, she'll be crying and trying to scratch in frustration. I don't want her to get to that point.'"

The attendant then brought Juliette rice and jambalaya, Beegle said, and "she ate and she was fine."

About 25 minutes later, according to Beegle, an announcement over the loudspeaker said the plane was making an emergency landing because of a passenger with "a behavior issue."

Paramedics came on board and asked what was wrong when they found Juliette happily watching a video, Beegle said.

"The paramedic said this was an over-reactive flight attendant and started shaking his head, and said 'We have real work to do' and left," she said. "We were still baffled."

Police then came to their row, Beegle said.

"They see this little teenager sitting there watching a video and they asked if there was an issue, and I said, 'No.'"

When the officers started to leave, the captain stepped out of the cockpit and said something to them, Beegle said. They then asked her family to leave, she said.

"He said, 'The captain has asked us to ask you to step off the plane.'" Beegle said. "I said, 'She didn't do anything' ... But the captain said he's not comfortable flying on to Portland with [Juliette] on the plane."

"It just killed me for her to be treated that way," she said, adding that the passengers around her agreed that Juliette wasn't disrupting anyone. The police apologized, Beegle said.

"It was awful," she said. "It was completely uncalled for."

Another traveler, Jodi Smith, who was sitting three rows behind Juliette, said she heard the entire conversation with the first-class flight attendant.

"He was being totally ridiculous," Smith said.

"Then the medics came on, then the police ... They went right straight to Dr. Beegle. You could hear them saying their daughter was perceived as a threat," Smith told ABC News. "I stood up and said, 'Absolutely positively not.'

"This was just ridiculous... she was calm, she had done nothing," she said. "I've been on flights where kids have screamed for 4 hours and they've never diverted a flight.

"This was the epitome of discrimination," Smith said. "I have never in all my years of flying seen anything like this."

Beegle said Juliette has traveled often, saying her daughter has been to London, Paris and 22 states.

"We've never experienced anything like that," she said. "It was horrific."

Beegle said she filed complaints with the Federal Aviation Administration and United Airlines and received responses from both, agreeing to investigate. She said she is also planning to file a lawsuit against United.

Beegle said her goal is to encourage autism training for airline workers.

"If they had autism training when I explained to him when I needed something hot, we could have found a workable solution together," she said. "But his whole view was, 'I'm trained to give a first class meal.' He didn't understand at all. He was disrespectful, he was rude."

United Airlines told ABC News in a statement: "After working to accommodate Dr. Beegle and her daughter during the flight, the crew made the best decision for the safety and comfort of all of our customers and elected to divert to Salt Lake City after the situation became disruptive. We rebooked the customers on a different carrier and the flight continued to Portland."

The FAA directed ABC News' request for comment to the Department of Transportation. A DOT spokesman said "the Department has received a complaint regarding this incident and we're investigating the matter."

I wonder if the other passenger in that article knows the family. It just seems weird that she called her Dr. Beegle.

 

[DopeyDame]

I mostly agree, but in this case the usual things did not work. Maybe her daughter was too worn out from a week at WDW to cope as well as she normally does, or about to come down with a cold, or hormones of puberty or PMS threw her off, etc None of that is the mother's fault at all and given that the daughter is normally able to travel well, I fully understand the parents not expecting a meltdown on that particular day when they planned for a meal in the airport before the flight and had snacks (I am still confused as to why had snacks for her if she never eats food that is not piping hot, but that is neither here nor there). I really do not see that the parents were wrong to fly with the young lady and if this is not normally a problem even that they were wrong to not have a thermos of hot food or instant things that could be made with water or whatever available.

I just also do not think it was at all wrong of the airline to not produce a hot meal on demand or to react as they did when the melt down occurred in spite of the parents' planning and the mother made it clear her daughter might hurt someone. The mother could have and should have (again, based on what I am seeing so far) accepted that it was a reasonable decision based on the meltdown of her daughter and her own words to flight crew, cursed her bad luck on that trip, tried to have a better plan based on this new incident for future flights. Instead, mom wants to find fault somewhere, blames the airlines and is suing. and there in lies the problem, IMO.

I think this is the bottom line. Sure, the mom should have prepared better, maybe the FAs should have reacted better. We've all had times when we royally screw up as parents. If the mom just owned it, accepted that sometimes things don't work out, and moved on with life, this would have been a total non issue. Instead, she's making a federal case out of it (literally). That's where she lost my sympathy.

 

[mom2rtk]

Wait..... they still serve meals on airlines??????????


And on another note...... I wonder what they thought of the new DAS system.

 

[gwynne]

I wonder if the other passenger in that article knows the family. It just seems weird that she called her Dr. Beegle.

I would think it more likely the other passenger heard the reporter refer to the mom as Dr. Beegle. Maybe the other passenger was just following the reporters lead.

 

[Jennasis]

I honestly WISHED the flight I was on where my autistic companion was melting down violently would have made an e-landing. Took a long time for those wounds to heal.

 

[JanaDee]

I wonder if the other passenger in that article knows the family. It just seems weird that she called her Dr. Beegle.

That was exactly what I thought. Her defense of a stranger is a bit too strident, IMO.

 

[mnrose]

I would venture to say that she was taking care of her child's needs by (1) attempting to feed her at the airport and (2) asking for a hot meal in-flight.

What would you have her do differently?

Seriously? If hot food is THAT important to her daughter, she needs to carry with her a thermos of food that is kept "steaming" hot. There are such things available.

She didn't "ask" nicely. She threatened that unless things were done her way, bad things were going to happen.

On MANY domestic flights, there is simply not hot food available for ANYONE, even those in first class. What would have happened then? Or, as someone said up thread, what if all the meals had been (gasp) eaten by the first class passengers, and there was nothing left? Would she be suing because the airline didn't stock hot food for her snowflake?

I'm sorry, but this smacks of entitlement.

 

[piccolopat]

This mother is a seasoned airline traveler, so she knows the situation with airline meals. This mom didn't have a back-up plan. Kid didn't eat at the airport and so the option is to demand a hot in-flight meal from First Class- when they were traveling coach? What kind of a back-up plan is that? At the very least, the parent should have contacted the airline in advance to see if she could schedule/pre-purchase a meal, and to make sure that it was a hot meal. Honestly, if the anticipated melt-down is so severe, send the rest of the family on the flight and re-schedule a parent and the daughter for a later flight, and try to get the kid to eat. That's what we did when DD had the flu on the day we were supposed to fly. COULD she have traveled with the barf bag on her lap and hoped for the best? Sure, but why put her and everyone else through that, when we could send DH home on the original flight and reschedule DD and me for a flight the next day?

I have a friend with 2 adult children on the lower end of the spectrum and they do not fly because of the many different issues of each child. It just isn't feasible. If this girl's meal requirements are such that they can't be met, it might be time to reconsider air travel with her.

They could also have asked at the check in desk before actually boarding the plane. If they were told no there, they could have bought a hot meal to bring on board or scheduled another flight. To demand that the airline meet their demands or else, was a threat and an unreasonable expectation. The parents are solely responsible for meeting their daughter's needs and they failed in this case.