Miami Beach, FL – A South Florida family filed a complaint with the Department of Transportation after they said their special needs child was discriminated.
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Miami Beach residents Avi and Dina Klein were flying with their five children in business class on American Airlines.
The family was coming from a vacation in Paris when they said the captain on board asked them to move their 9-year-old Autistic son Yosef to the back of the plane. “Just like people would discriminate against people for race or religion, I believe my child was discriminated against because he has special needs,” said Avi.
Dina said she understands if Yosef was being disruptive but says he wasn’t. “It would have been different if he was making a lot of noises and passengers were complaining I would understand that, but none of the passengers were complaining,” said Dina.
A spokes person for American Airlines told 7 News: “A youngster repeatedly kicked the back of a seat set aside for cockpit crew members so they could rest during the flight. The lead flight attendant asked the parent of the young boy if he could swap seats with another family member. At no time did anyone ask the young boy or any other member of the family to go to coach.”
I guess I don’t understand the Klein’s complaint. The seats in front are reserved for the flight crew to sleep or rest on long flights. This is a safety matter. This kid was apparently making it impossible for the crew to sleep by repeatedly kicking the back of the seat. If the Kleins want to take their child on commercial flight, they are obligated to restrain him or keep him under control so he doesn’t disrupt the crew. The apparently were not willing to restrain him when asked to do so. Many parents of autistic children have increasingly tried to make believe their kids’ behavior are “normal” and refuse to restrain them when they act out like in this case. Thats their right, but its also the airline’s right to refuse to board him next time. They can charter their own plane and allow their son to behave in any way they want.
Don’t you know that business class is reserved for the haves & they don’t want the have-nots sullying their space? If the Kleins could take their son on such a long trip, how “bad” (for want of another expression) can he be? Why can’t a family with special needs children have a nice vacation like the rest of us? My friend has 4 special needs kids and she sometimes takes them on flights by herself! #1 is an insensitive clod. Time for some sensitivity training.
#1 ) I’m reading ur comment in total disbelief! Who are we to mess with the creations of our Borei? The biggest of gedolim would stand up when a “special needs” person walked into their room! I’m certain that you didn’t really mean what you wrote. You must have been influenced by someone or something for no rational yid could write something so painfully insensitive and offensive. Please take a moment a publicly clarify yourself. Its the right thing to do. You’ve never “been there” and it is everyones blessing to you to never ever “be there”, amen!
Without all the facts I tend to side with the Kleins because they are the customer and the airline should be treating them with respect and the airline should know the rules and how to treat their customers. If the kid was bothering someone they have a right to ask it to stop and especially if it is a safety issue, but they do not have the right to be disrespectful or insensitive to the family. It is a fine line but one that the airline should be equipped to handle or they need more training.
Im with u on this one No. 11.And also, was there only one seat for the flight crew to rest on? do they all rest at the same time? crew members sit during take off and landing,i think they call it the jump seat. Maybe the family spoke better french than english and didnt understand that someone should change seats with the kicking child.
I will comment as a frequent traveler and parent of an autistic child.
I believe the crew was wrong in this case. I am sensitive to the norms of travel and I am careful to not have my child disturb others. A wise person once told me, forget the ADA, your rights end at my face.
In this case the behavior noted was not different from many typical kids and it seems at the time the seat in front of them was unoccupied. I hope AA is forced to apologize and pay huge fines to the Government.
I will also note that when flying Jetblue I received only courtesy in this situation. They helped me arrange to wait till the last second for boarding but at the end asked me to remain for last because they were ordering a wheelchair which was not necessary for this disability. They did allow me to get off by simple walking as soon as we wanted to.
I’m with you #13 , very well said. As the mother of a 5 year old autistic boy I find it is difficult just going to the grocery store, let alone a family vacation! Yesher koyach to these brave parents for including their child in family activities, even though it would have been much easier to leave him with family
home! And I dare anyone to sit in front of a child on a flight of ANY length and not have the back of your seat kicked a couple of times…
As a mom of a child with special needs I really appreciate the support I see here. We all do the best we can but even regular kids can have meltdowns on a flight. How would airlines treat any other kid ?
Just one other thing:
People are people first. Then the disability. We are talking about a “child with special needs” not a “special needs child”. Thanks
People that often ignore loud and rambunctious children, teens, and adults – have no problem bullying the guardians of special-needs-children. They do so because they know that special-needs people can’t talk back to them.
As a parent of an autistic child I am grateful that this story is getting the attention that it deserves. However, let’s not forget the reason for this story. The reason is to create public awareness for autism. The public, especially the service industry, needs to be aware that autism is a neurological disorder affecting the autistic person in their language and communication, social skills, and SENSORY system. According to the Center of Disease control, one in every 70 boys is diagnosed with this disorder. That means every 21 minutes there is a new person diagnosed with autism. No two autistic people are alike.
The major reason why it is difficult to treat, understand or calm down an autistic person is that we don’t exactly know how they perceive their environment. Sensory sensitivities are different between autistic people and are different within the same autistic person at different times. If their auditory senses are awry a call bell may sound like nails on a blackboard in the morning or might sound like Mozart at night. If their sense of sight is off they may sometimes see things with tunnel vision and may be sensitive to the flicker of a florescent light. If their sense of touch is affected they may NEED TO BOUNCE or ROCK periodically to send their brain the signal of where they are. (I know you find it hard to believe that they may not feel their behind on the seat or may not know where they are. It helps if you picture yourself out off your body and when your body rocks and bounces it pulls you back in) or they might lick the window or armrest to see if their taste can give them any useful information.
Reply to #1 . Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. While my daughter my not be able to speak, she excels in accepting others. Others can speak easily, but may be “disabled” when it comes to seeing the neshama within. Maybe we are all doing the best we can.
From #2 . The overwhelming majority of the comments here reinforce what I have discovered in my life, with my child. While there are a few clods out there, the lion’s share of people, in our community and “out there”, are wonderful. Some “get it”, many don’t, but almost everyone wants to be helpful.