Corrina_Sullivan's Blog

Sounds like a law suit to me. I totally agree with AC that with a child such as this, it's hands off. I also think if the stewardess had left the mother to handle the problem, all would have been ok and the flight continue. Without knowing for sure, I'd bet lots on the fact that the mother had already preped the child on what was going to happen and not to be afraid.

well lets hope mom prepped the child.
needless to say i think i would have told the steward to back off, i can handle my own child, as this child has special needs, and if they kept hounding and touching my child...then a possible lawsuit

I don't recall reading anything about anyone touching the kid. I am happy that the airline turned around. Would you want to be on a flight with a screaming kid? I love Autistic kids but it is used as an excuse way too much.

The mother should have been more of a mother and done something to either stop the child from throwing the fit or keep the child in his seat with the seatbelt tight. Evedently the mother wasnt doing anything so the flight attendant had to do her job. Autistic or not the parents should keep their kids under control or dont go to places that would disrupt others.

agree with the airline to turn the plane around when the autistic boy started throwing a fit. The airlines has a responsibility to make the flight comfortable for hundreds of paying customers besides this boy and his mother. It is very selfish of the mother to think that all of the other hundreds of paying customers on that plane should suffer through listening to a 2 year old having a fit. She needs to 1) not take him on planes (if he is unable to behave in a social environment ) or 2) drive him in a car where she can let him have fits or 3) teach him to behave socially around other people. The other people who bought airline tickets never agreed to have to listen to a child having a fit when they bought their ticket. They expect parents to not bring a child on a plane who can not behave. It is not the responsibility of the plane staff to control her child. (Obviously she was not in control of the child if he was having a fit in the walkway). This mother needs to accept the responsibility of being a parent, if she is unable to control her child then she needs to get off the plane with her child. - I am a mother of 3 children.

I would think there has to be a little more to the story. With the price of fuel and deadlines, it doesn't make sense that the plane would turn around just for a simple crying child. Flight attendants have to deal with that all of the time. It sounds like it was more than likely due to the child being out of control and was a safety risk or hazard to himself and could not be controlled. I would think the pilots made the right choice while they had the chance. Better to be safe then sorry.

Being a mother of a 5 yr old autistic boy and having to fly all over the country for therapy I myself have been in this mothers position. If you have any knowledge of autistic child you would know that there are only so much you can prepare them for in the enviroment. We need to edjucate the public service industry in dealing or in this case not dealing with autistic children. We can not shelter these children in caves just because others do not understand them. The numbers for autisim is rising everyday and just a little patients and understanding goes a long way.

As the mother of an autistic child I can tell you for a fact that people out in the community *don't help* when they try to interact with an autistic child in a meltdown, no matter the situation. Autistic children often have sensory issues and to this little boy likely the pressure of the seatbelt felt 10 times tighter than it would to someone without this issue. Also, many autistic children can't handle loud noises, like someone yelling at them, it is physically painful.
My son is 13 and luckily verbal enough now to explain this to people, and to me. Luckily. Most are not so lucky.
And even 13 years in I'm not an expert. Autistic children don't come with a hand book. Parents of autistic children aren't experts, but we do know our children better than anyone else. Those of you putting this mother down be glad you don't have to walk even an hour in her shoes.
Autism is on the rise, it's more common now than Downs and CP combined. It's time people became more educated. The information is out there.

Alright I am going to let everyone in on a little secret. People with Autism, Attention Deficit Hyper Activity Dissorder, Dyslexia, Down Syndrom, etc.They are revolting to "NORMAL" people. If you say anything about any of these dissibilities people grimice. People do NOT want to hear that a "NORMAL" looking person could be ADD, ADHD, Dyslexic. OH GET HIM AWAY! Or I do not want to be your friend because your Dyslexic or ADHD or Autistic etc. I DO NOT WANT TO CATCH WHAT YOU HAVE! Before you idiots open your mouths why not pick up a GOD D*MN book and read ABOUT it!!!

No, the mother likely wasn't working with the flight attendant, and rightly so. There was no way to just instantly get the child in line, and the mom likely told the flight attendant to leave him alone and let her handle it. If given time and room to work with the child she likely could have calmed him down relatively quickly and the flight could have proceeded. But just as you can't take a car from 60 mph to 0 instantly without causing injury, there is no way to "instantly" calm down any two year old in that state, let alone an autistic one.

A two year old autistic is likely only *just* diagnosed, and probably not on meds that work yet. It took about five years to find meds that worked for my son. They don't all react the same way to the same meds, and often react completely different from what is expected.

EVERY autistic child is different. My son would have reacted much the same as this two year old did if the flight attendant had gotten in his face when we flew when he was two. Luckily, they were wise enough to let me handle him on my own.

Don't assume that because the ones you worked with were a "delight" when you worked with them means they always are, or that every autistic child is. My son *can* be, and is more often then not now. At two, he was a lot more combative and loud than he is now. It has taken *years* of work to get him to this point. Years of trial and error, self education, and educating his Doctors. I remember the stress of his younger years very very well. It is not negligence when your autistic child has a meltdown. It isn't negligence when *any* TWO YEAR OLD has a temper tantrum. It's actually developmentally appropriate. The problem with autistic ones is they are louder, more violent, and generally last longer.
Lets keep the child's age and disability in mind, as well as the length of diagnosis when judging others. Many of the meds for autistic children they're unwilling to even try on a child so young.

Oh,and candy, unless I missed something Corrina's original post said nothing about a lawsuit. It was OldVamp who said the mother should sue.

and now that I think about it...your indications that oldvamp mentions suit..and THAT THE MOTHER should sue...doesn't seem to offend you or make you as angry as me saying the mother should be cited for negligence and maybe it was her that may the child more upset...WELL since none of us were there...we cannot really say. Again, I think it was the parent's fault; we don't know what type of treatment and/or LIKE YOU SAID..was probably just diagnosed SO if that was the case shouldn't the "MOTHER taken better precautions and used better judgments....we don't know..until this story unfolds...and it sounds to me.....like "lets used our disable children and sue sue sue.......after all IT IS AN AIRLINE and they do have the money....but since there were no injuries or anything...probably no compensation will come of it......of course, just my opinion

BY THE WAY THE AIRLINE MADE THE RIGHT CHOICE AND BEST CHOICE FOR ALL THE OTHER PEOPLE CONCERNED. TTHE MOTHER HAS NO RIGHT TO BE MAD BECAUSE SHE WASNT DOING HER JOB BEING A MOTHER.

Eric, I have no problem with the airline or the pilot. The *pilot* was perfectly within rights not flying. The stewardess however was *not*.

And no, I wasn't there... but the mother *was* doing her job. She was doing everything within her power to keep her child safe *from the stewardess* who didn't understand his condition and wasn't acting appropriately toward a child not her own.

As for other modes of transportation, you also don't have all the details. You don't know *why* they were flying or if she did talk to the doctor ahead of time, or even if the child was on meds. He could have been on meds, the doctor may have prescribed a tranquilizer. It could also have had the OPPOSITE affect from what was intended. It happens with autistic children.

But from the scenario given, and given my own personal experience with "helpful" staff and passersby who only exacerbated the situation and refused to listen when I begged them to please leave my son alone so I could calm him down.... I can well imagine the frustration and anger the mother is feeling.

And no, I'm not angry with my son. His disability isn't his fault. I'm angry with people who seem to think they know better how to deal with him than his parents do... just because they knew an autistic kid who was a 'delight' and assume that all behave that way every time. And I've never sued anyone over my son or anything else, even when I've had reason. But again, nothing I've seen that the *mother* said mentioned a lawsuit.