Down syndrome boy banned from AA flight

You do not have a god given right to fly on an airplane. It is a private enterprise and they can choose who flies and who doesn't. Sorry, but that's how it is.

No one is asking for or expecting a 'God given right to fly on an airplane'. How about just a modicum of respect and some compassion?

Is it too much to ask?

If someone was misbehaving on an airplane, someone who DIDN'T have a special condition, I bet you'd have no issue of them getting kicked off. Just something to think about.

You're basically saying that the mentally disabled should be able to control things they can't... I guess I don't even understand your argument? It's why laws and the ADA exists to protect the rights of those that can not control such behaviors.

I'm saying it isnt discrimination like everyone seems to think. It is policy to kick people off if they are behaving in a certain way - regardless of their mental state.

I guess I disagree. You don't know if it's discrimination or not. It very well could have been, or a child with Down's Syndrome was highly agitated and a flight risk (unlikely if you understand Down's, but albeit possible). But to state that it was or wasn't discrimination is a bit presumptuous.

Oh god. Of course its POSSIBLE that flight attendant and the rest of the flight crew just really hated disabled people - but, honestly, do you think that's the case?

If he was truly agitated, like unpredictable and out of control in his movements, I'd see their point. As far as I can see from the video, he seemed pretty calm (although the video doesn't cover the situation for the beginning, it would seem), and he never got on the plane. Whenever I fly, I see people sitting in the waiting area with their bored kids running around and making noise. THOSE kids don't get stopped from boarding the plane. I see soccer teams worth of teens/college aged kids acting up and getting a bit rowdy and loud in the waiting area, but they generally shut up when they're on the plane.

I do see the point, though, that regardless of whether or not it's due to disability, highly disruptive behaviour should result in a refusal for boarding, until the person can be calmed down. Other people pay for a certain amount of comfort and safety on a flight, and shouldn't have to put up with such extreme disruptions, just because they result from a disability. Accommodation of a disability does NOT extend to imposing extreme discomfort on other paying passengers. I once was on a flight where a family of three was in the row behind me. The teenage boy was clearly very autistic, and I spent the better part of 4 and 1/2 hours with him repeatedly swinging his legs and kicking the back of my seat, and jostling the back of my seat in other ways, as well. His parents did absolutely zilch to control his behaviour. I should've said something, even to a flight attendant. For something like this, I think it would've been reasonable for the parents to call the airline in advance and ask for seating in the first row, which is often used for the disabled (more leg room), explaining that the seat kicking would likely be an issue, and that they couldn't guarantee that their son would not engage in this behaviour. Any reasonable airline would understand that it would be of benefit to avoid giving another paying customer a miserable experience like what I had, and would also recognize that it's just good customer service and public relations to make this accommodation for a disability.

You do not have a god given right to fly on an airplane. It is a private enterprise and they can choose who flies and who doesn't. Sorry, but that's how it is.

No one is asking for or expecting a 'God given right to fly on an airplane'. How about just a modicum of respect and some compassion?

Is it too much to ask?

If someone was misbehaving on an airplane, someone who DIDN'T have a special condition, I bet you'd have no issue of them getting kicked off. Just something to think about.

You're basically saying that the mentally disabled should be able to control things they can't... I guess I don't even understand your argument? It's why laws and the ADA exists to protect the rights of those that can not control such behaviors.

I'm saying it isnt discrimination like everyone seems to think. It is policy to kick people off if they are behaving in a certain way - regardless of their mental state.

I guess I disagree. You don't know if it's discrimination or not. It very well could have been, or a child with Down's Syndrome was highly agitated and a flight risk (unlikely if you understand Down's, but albeit possible). But to state that it was or wasn't discrimination is a bit presumptuous.

Oh god. Of course its POSSIBLE that flight attendant and the rest of the flight crew just really hated disabled people - but, honestly, do you think that's the case?

*LOL* I'm not saying it's definitely discrimination... I'm saying it's definitely possible

All I know is that generally, flight crews are very well trained. Do you think they just skipped the section on dealing with disabled people during training? Probably not. BTW - two of my cousins are autistic and I've seen them get very violent. So I know that special needs kids can get dangerous - not their fault, but doesn't change the fact that they could hurt someone or themselves.

I'll respond to this the same way I respond to 99% of the news:

"That sucks, but seriously, whoopdie f*cking doo."

I would like to know what classifies as "agitated". But if he was truly out of control, there's no reason why they should've allowed him on the flight. He posed a flight risk. That's extremely dangerous to put someone like that (agitated -- not with Down's) up in the air. What if he had broken into the pilots cabin? What if he had injured someone around him?

Just because you have a disability, that's not a license for poor behavior in public.

What poor behavior? The video clearly showed hims quietly sitting in a chair, playing with his hat. He wasn't doing anything inappropriate, and certainly posed no flight risk. This is clearly a case of discrimination, and poor education (on the airline's part) on individuals with disabilities.

**headdesk headdesk**

We have NO idea what happened before the video started rolling. No clue. it's not clearly a case of discrimination. But AA better prepare to pony up the money for the lawsuit that's coming their way.

stories like this piss me off! I dont think this kid was doing anything dangerous to the flight and putting lives at risk. I have an autistic brother who is sometimes loud and when he gets frustrated he yells and carries on but is no risk to anyones safety. People need to chill out and have some damn compassion.

I would agree, but it's not always easy for the onlooker to have the same level of insight that you have regarding his level of threat or risk. An autistic person doesn't have any particular distinctive appearance that would clue the onlooker to the disability (like Down's Syndrome does).

What looks to you like your harmless autistic brother having a passing tantrum may look to me like a "normal" person screaming and freaking out. That's the kind of thing that makes the flying public very very nervous.

I agree that having a brother with autism and being around others with disabilities I have more insight and patience than others. I guess what bothers me is with so many people out there being diagnosed with Autism of DS or any other disability we as a society still can not open our minds and try and be more respectful towards them. Too many people dont understand these disabilities and dont care to learn anything, they just judge and discriminate. I actually had a woman (grown woman around 40) tell her son not to sit near my brother and one of his class mates at a picnic because...wait for it........he may catch what they have and be a retard.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/05/travel/airline-down-syndrome/index.html

There's the CNN link

Just going to state the obvious here since I got to read this one as well.

1) I still can't click the video. But the parents are sooo smiley and look to be LOVING the press attention from the first glimpse thing I get.
2) They state in the report that the boy was running around and screaming in the GATE AREA (not in the parking lot where I'm seeing people say the after footage was taken). That they ASKED the family if they could calm their son down and they could not.

That there is why they said he couldn't fly. Not because he was a down syndrome kid in first class (which if he was agitated him being in first class puts it in MORE trouble being closer to the cockpit where he could cause a scene, slip by attendents, and run in). They did it based off safety, not discrimination. Just based off the report.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/05/travel/airline-down-syndrome/index.html

There's the CNN link

Just going to state the obvious here since I got to read this one as well.

1) I still can't click the video. But the parents are sooo smiley and look to be LOVING the press attention from the first glimpse thing I get.
2) They state in the report that the boy was running around and screaming in the GATE AREA (not in the parking lot where I'm seeing people say the after footage was taken). That they ASKED the family if they could calm their son down and they could not.

That there is why they said he couldn't fly. Not because he was a down syndrome kid in first class (which if he was agitated him being in first class puts it in MORE trouble being closer to the cockpit where he could cause a scene, slip by attendents, and run in). They did it based off safety, not discrimination. Just based off the report.

I have to agree with you on this.

We're just seeing a snippet of video from the mother and while it does show the child sitting on the chair playing with his hat we don't know what happened before the video was taken. We don't even know how the parents were reacting, if they were reacting at all and trying to calm the child down. We're just getting their side of the story. No one interviewed any of the people who were waiting there for the plane with them to find out what went on as well. Right now it's a 'he said she said' finger pointing fest.