noregrets78
Full Member
See you in infinity...
Posts: 151
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Post by noregrets78 on Jun 25, 2008 9:58:56 GMT -5
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Post by Ninja on Jun 25, 2008 10:41:41 GMT -5
I'm speechless. Why on EARTH would she do that to her son?! The new environment, flying up in the air, the earpain that comes with it, the chaos... sounds like the ultimate nightmare for autistic children. That woman should be ashamed of herself!
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Post by preraph on Jun 25, 2008 11:30:37 GMT -5
I KNOW! What is wrong with these people. DRIVE them wherever you're going and stop making it everyone else's problem. I feel for parents of autistic children, though one does wonder if they're really autistic all the time since there seems to be a huge trend to call any kid who is a brat autistic, but THEY are who, sadly, have this burden, and they are who has to make the concessions.
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Post by writerchk on Jun 25, 2008 12:25:54 GMT -5
This makes me feel better about flying American in September.
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Post by happy2bchildfree on Jun 25, 2008 13:19:19 GMT -5
Bravo to American Airlines! They did the right thing for their passengers. Ditto!
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noregrets78
Full Member
See you in infinity...
Posts: 151
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Post by noregrets78 on Jun 25, 2008 14:13:13 GMT -5
No one should be forced to spend hours on a plane with unruly passengers, whether they are "special" or not. If they're so special, give them their own plane and leave me to fly in peace. I'm not spending my hard earned money to fly and be forced to be tortured.
I'm waiting for the day a passenger sues an airline for the torture they had to endure cause they were afraid to remove or isolate unruly children. I might just be the first.
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Post by happy2bchildfree on Jun 25, 2008 15:47:26 GMT -5
No one should be forced to spend hours on a plane with unruly passengers, whether they are "special" or not. If they're so special, give them their own plane and leave me to fly in peace. I'm not spending my hard earned money to fly and be forced to be tortured. Really. Flying is harrowing enough in the best of conditions.
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Post by kentuckykimmie on Jun 25, 2008 18:48:57 GMT -5
I read a few of the reader comments after one of the articles about this and as expected, some were quite predictable. "Don't you have any compassion?, "God forbid if YOU had a child with autism!", "People are so selfish, he was JUST a little boy", "Why don't we just outlaw people with disabilities from flying like the deaf, or people in wheelchairs, this child has special needs!!!!!!" so forth and so on. I think this should be posted on the tickets, and at the entrance to all forms of paid public transportation;
" If you or your child, or any other living being who is under your care, is likely to be disruptive, a nuisance, or otherwise encroach on what is considered to be a reasonable expectation of a "normal" voyage or transport to the other paying passengers, whatever the reason, you need to keep yours, your charge, and/or your child's ass off of the craft, vessel, or vehicle."
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Post by Karlita on Jun 25, 2008 18:58:34 GMT -5
My first reaction when I saw that clip was to the mom's statement, "By then he was rolling around on the floor." The woman admitted to letting her kid roll around on the floor of a commercial aircraft ... and she has the nerve to wonder why she and her son were removed. Argh!
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Post by preraph on Jun 25, 2008 19:19:04 GMT -5
I know, that was the part that got me. The problem was he wouldn't stay in the seat belt, and she wouldn't physically restrain him so he would and no one else is allowed to, of course. I mean, come on - Benadryl.
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Post by grayjedi on Jun 25, 2008 21:44:01 GMT -5
I was STUNNED at the number of people coming to mom's defense. Because "compassion and understanding" are more important that FAA regulations, right?
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Post by Tabetha on Jun 27, 2008 3:20:20 GMT -5
It took real guts for American Airlines to make the right decision knowing what flack they would get.
I have almost no experience with children (I was raised as an only child) so this might be a dumb question, but can't parents who have to take their children by airplane (ie. for an international move or to visit a dying family member/attend a funeral) get their pediatricians to sedate the child for the flight?
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Post by cfioan on Jun 27, 2008 4:58:14 GMT -5
I agree that the airlines did the right thing. Having a "special" child does no entitle you to ruin the trip for eeryone else . I too believe that the "autiism" label is a trendy way of excusing brattiness and makes life much more difficult for those who truly have the condition. Regardless, autistic children who cannot be controlled do not belong on a plane. There is way too much visual/audial stimulation--the child should not be exposed to that and the pasengers should not be subjected to the resulting chaos. My hat is off to American Airlines.
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Post by Ninja on Jun 27, 2008 6:30:23 GMT -5
I agree that the airlines did the right thing. Having a "special" child does no entitle you to ruin the trip for eeryone else . I too believe that the "autiism" label is a trendy way of excusing brattiness and makes life much more difficult for those who truly have the condition. Regardless, autistic children who cannot be controlled do not belong on a plane. There is way too much visual/audial stimulation--the child should not be exposed to that and the pasengers should not be subjected to the resulting chaos. My hat is off to American Airlines. Sad thing is, autism CAN be controlled, if you get off your butt and put some efford in the kid. Autism and AH(H)D run in the family with us, though we haven't realized this since twenty years or so. It just wasn't that well know before that time, but now more and more of my older uncles and aunts get diagnosed. My grandmother is even highly suspected to have AHDH, but she's 70 and feels she's too old for the hassle of therapy and medication. She is just glad that she now knows her difficult childhood was not her fault: that she was not 'dumb' or 'lazy' for not being able to focus or sit stil for longer than 30 seconds, even as an adult. Anyway, I got lucky and didn't get hit that hard. But a cousin of mine has the full-blown verion of autism. The kid doesn't even speak and will freak out over everything. But her parents have taught her to stay calm and prepare her for new situations by 'practising' them before hand and turning it into a game. They would never force her on a plane, but if they somehow had to, they could make my cousin behave. Autism is no excuse for crappy parenting.
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Post by writerchk on Jun 27, 2008 9:20:27 GMT -5
I agree that the airlines did the right thing. Having a "special" child does no entitle you to ruin the trip for eeryone else . I too believe that the "autiism" label is a trendy way of excusing brattiness and makes life much more difficult for those who truly have the condition. Regardless, autistic children who cannot be controlled do not belong on a plane. There is way too much visual/audial stimulation--the child should not be exposed to that and the pasengers should not be subjected to the resulting chaos. My hat is off to American Airlines. Sad thing is, autism CAN be controlled, if you get off your butt and put some efford in the kid. Autism and AH(H)D run in the family with us, though we haven't realized this since twenty years or so. It just wasn't that well know before that time, but now more and more of my older uncles and aunts get diagnosed. My grandmother is even highly suspected to have AHDH, but she's 70 and feels she's too old for the hassle of therapy and medication. She is just glad that she now knows her difficult childhood was not her fault: that she was not 'dumb' or 'lazy' for not being able to focus or sit stil for longer than 30 seconds, even as an adult. Anyway, I got lucky and didn't get hit that hard. But a cousin of mine has the full-blown verion of autism. The kid doesn't even speak and will freak out over everything. But her parents have taught her to stay calm and prepare her for new situations by 'practising' them before hand and turning it into a game. They would never force her on a plane, but if they somehow had to, they could make my cousin behave. Autism is no excuse for crappy parenting. Well said! I never went in a plane ride when I was a kid b/c my parents didn't know how I would react. We drove everywhere and it never hurt me. Sometimes, when you have a child who has special needs, sacrifices need to be made.
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Post by ana on Jun 27, 2008 9:52:58 GMT -5
But, parentst DON'T want to make any sacrifices. They want to live their lives as before with just an extra "carry-on". Being a good parent requires dedication and self-sacrifice. My hats off to the ones that do it well because for every one of them there are 3 breeders. Sad for us, and scary to think of the future with these little brats in charge.
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Post by Ninja on Jun 27, 2008 10:04:00 GMT -5
But, parentst DON'T want to make any sacrifices. They want to live their lives as before with just an extra "carry-on". But they accessorize so well with a cute pink Dior dress and designer chihuahua handbag!
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Post by kentuckykimmie on Jun 27, 2008 11:50:41 GMT -5
It took real guts for American Airlines to make the right decision knowing what flack they would get. I have almost no experience with children (I was raised as an only child) so this might be a dumb question, but can't parents who have to take their children by airplane (ie. for an international move or to visit a dying family member/attend a funeral) get their pediatricians to sedate the child for the flight? A few of the reader comments after the article mentioned sedating the child, and they were SLAMMED HARD by breeders. "How DARE anyone suggest drugging a child!", " Do you people not realize how unhealthy and dangerous it is to sedate a child!!!!" on and on. Apparently, it's ok for mothers to fake an ADHD diagnosis to get a welfare check and wrongly give their kids mind altering drugs like Ritalin for YEARS on end, but a spoonful of dramamine or a single Benedryl tablet is suddenly child abuse. As usual and as predicted, all of this boils down to what is convenient for the mother to do or say, at any given moment. If the truth be known, the kid probably was sedated, but has such a severe case that her doc told her not to let him fly, and now she is covering her tracks by blaming the airline. That would be MY guess. The bottom line is that the woman was selfish, stupid, or just plain arrogant, or possibly a combination of all three.
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Post by Ninja on Jun 27, 2008 11:57:28 GMT -5
Being sedated would have been better for the kid as well. I don't blame him at all for having a meltdown. people, and especially children, with autism, don't handle new environments and situations well, so it must have been an incredibly traumatic experience for him. The stress probably caused him more harm than a swig of dramamine would have.
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Post by kentuckykimmie on Jun 27, 2008 12:13:08 GMT -5
I just talked to my sister who has two kids and asked her about when she flew with her two several years back. They had to fly from Birmingham,Al to Cincinnati, Ohio with a 2-3 hour layover in Atlanta and they were ages 5 and 1 year old. The flight to Atlanta was only about a half hour or so and they were in shock and pretty quiet getting there. Then, she fed them in Atlanta, and dosed their asses up with prescription dramamine, which she got from their doctor well in advance. They were asleep when they boarded and were carried onto the plane, and didn't wake up until they were hailing in a taxi in Cincinnati. They are now ages 9 and 5 and show no ill effects from the sedation. Apparently, sedating children with a prescription their doctor gives them for an isolated event, has no long term negative side effects.
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