Janice Farell, Autistic Son Jarrett, Booted from American Airlines Flight from Raleigh- Durham International Airport

I do not personally know any autistic children, but I cannot believe that such a child is a threat to national security or the security of passengers on a plane. Remember the toddler and his mother who were kicked off an airplane in Houston (after an 11 hour delay) because the boy was repeating “bye, bye, plane” during the safety speech? This was after the flight attendant suggested drugging the child to keep him quiet. This latest ejection is just as egregious. A mother and her autistic son were thrown off an American Airlines flight departing from the Raleigh- Durham International Airport because, as the pilot reportedly announced to the cabin, “the child is uncontrollable.” This is a shame and shows a great deal of insensitivity on the part of the airlines in handling this child’s meltdown.

I don’t think there’s any question the two-and a half-year-old was “pitching a raging fit” as American officials have said, according to this story by television reporter Ed Crump of WTVD-Ch. 11, the ABC affiliate in Raleigh-Durham. But the mother, Janice Farrell, told Crump that the flight attendant made matters worse. “She kept coming over and tugging his seatbelt to make it tighter, ‘This has to stay tight.’ And then he was wiggling around and trying to get out of his seatbelt. And she kept coming over and reprimanding him and yelling at him,” Farrell said.
One of the pilots came back to the cabin with a stern warning and Farrell says the frustration level escalated.

She says Jarrett picked up on that and things only got worse.
“He just melted down. He saw me getting upset. He was upset. He was on the floor rolling around,” she said.

The pilot returned to the cockpit, turned the plane around and headed back to the terminal.
“The pilot made an announcement that there was a woman and her child on the plane and the child is uncontrollable. And at that point I just broke down,” Farrell said. So, are these the same people we entrust our lives to when we fly? I know that “flight attendants have seen it all” and they’re often dealing with difficult situations. Meltdowns can occur with any child, not just one with autism. So, this begs the question of why they acted in this manner to towards this child. These are the same people we expect to act with dignity and courage under pressure. I hate to ask, but what would their reaction be if they were staring down the barrel of a gun?

The bottom line is that the prevalence of autism is increasing, and society must learn how to handle the special needs of people who are on the spectrum. I write about this because it not only affects white families, but blacks and other races as well. The sad reality is that this case, which comes on the heels of two other high profile examples–a severely autistic Minnesota boy who was banned from church and the autistic kindergartener in Florida who was voted out of class–shows we have a long, long way to go. I guess the skies aren’t so friendly as they proclaim.

Filed under: American Airlines, Autism, Janice Farrell