Plane Diverted to Remove Autistic Girl and Family

[glinda]

abcnews.go.com/US/woman-claims-daughter-autism-kicked-off-united-airlines/story?id=3092683

I can't copy/paste because I am on my phone, but did you all hear about this?

I think the mom dug her own grave here by telling the attendant that her daughter would start scratching/screaming if she didn't get something. With that said it was poorly handled by the flight crew to say the least.

[hopecounts]

The Flight Crew handled this horribly, mom probably should've not gotten into describing the melt down and just stuck with she has Autism and has a hard time dealing with frustration.
BUT apples often don't fall that far from the tree, and Mom was probably getting stressed because she knew what was coming if they didn't figure out something.
I have to consciously make myself pause and breath when I know something will/is ramping DD up and we're having issues fixing it or can't do anything about it because I start getting tense/stressed from trying to divert what I know is coming
*for example I was really upset with my DH for not arranging to have Weds off before T'giving because I knew what getting to my Mom's so late at night (11 and she usually goes to bed at 7) would do I was completely right and sure enough as we sat down to eat she went into melt down mode because she was too tired to handle the stimulation anymore. The stress of it ruined T'giving for me because I knew it was coming but with a house full of people our options were limited.
My kiddo is similar in the low blood sugar making it harder for her to manage her behavior and response to frustration.
The only eating hot food issue is why we need mandated Autism therapy coverage ABA/Behavioral Therapy could address that easily but it's damn expensive.

[mbcdefg]

I read this earlier today.

I don't think we're getting the whole story as to how the mom acted. 

[pixy0stix]

I didn't realize that planes carried hot food anymore.

#fliescheap #notfancy

[Velvetshady]

I think the parents dug their own grave here by not having the kid eat during the layover prior to getting on the plane and by ASSuming the plane would have a hot food option available. Or how about contacting the airline when flights are booked and finding out what is/isn't available and arranging for special arrangements in advance. I'm team airline here.

[jln]

An Oregon woman claims United Airlines kicked her family off a Portland-bound flight because of her teenage daughter who has autism.

Juliette Beegle, 15, was diagnosed with autism just before she turned three, her mother, Donna Beegle, told ABC News. While her daughter has a high IQ, Beegle said, she has a hard time communicating.

On Tuesday, Beegle said she, her husband, Juliette, and Juliette's brother boarded a layover flight in Houston on their way home to Portland.

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The family ate dinner in Houston, Beegle said, but Juliette refused to eat. Beegle brought some snacks on board for her because "if her blood sugar lets go, she gets frustrated and antsy. We try to anticipate that and prevent that."

After boarding, Beegle said she asked the flight attendant if she had any hot meals.

"Juliette refuses room-temp food," Beegle said. "I had no real way to bring hot snacks in my bag."

The attendant told her they had a hot sandwich, but the sandwich arrived cold, Beegle said, and Juliette refused to eat it.

"I could see [Juliette] getting frustrated," Beegle said, adding that she asked the flight attendant to check on meals available for purchase in first class.

PHOTO: Donna Beegle and her daughter Juliette in Turks and Caicos.Donna Beegle
PHOTO: Donna Beegle and her daughter Juliette in Turks and Caicos.
"I asked if I can purchase something hot for my daughter and [the first class flight attendant] said no" she said. "I called him back over and I said to him, 'Please, help us out here,'" but he again refused.

"He came back again and I said, 'I have a child with special needs, I need to get her something.' And he said, 'I can't do that,'" she explained. "I said, 'How about we wait for her to have a meltdown, she'll be crying and trying to scratch in frustration. I don't want her to get to that point.'"

The attendant then brought Juliette rice and jambalaya, Beegle said, and "she ate and she was fine."

About 25 minutes later, according to Beegle, an announcement over the loudspeaker said the plane was making an emergency landing because of a passenger with "a behavior issue."

Paramedics came on board and asked what was wrong when they found Juliette happily watching a video, Beegle said.

"The paramedic said this was an over-reactive flight attendant and started shaking his head, and said 'We have real work to do' and left," she said. "We were still baffled."

Police then came to their row, Beegle said.

"They see this little teenager sitting there watching a video and they asked if there was an issue, and I said, 'No.'"

When the officers started to leave, the captain stepped out of the cockpit and said something to them, Beegle said. They then asked her family to leave, she said.

"He said, 'The captain has asked us to ask you to step off the plane.'" Beegle said. "I said, 'She didn't do anything' ... But the captain said he's not comfortable flying on to Portland with [Juliette] on the plane."

"It just killed me for her to be treated that way," she said, adding that the passengers around her agreed that Juliette wasn't disrupting anyone. The police apologized, Beegle said.

"It was awful," she said. "It was completely uncalled for."

PHOTO: Jodi Smith, a passenger sitting three rows behind Juliette, said this was the epitome of discrimination.Courtesy Jodi Smith
PHOTO: Jodi Smith, a passenger sitting three rows behind Juliette, said "this was the epitome of discrimination."
Another traveler, Jodi Smith, who was sitting three rows behind Juliette, said she heard the entire conversation with the first-class flight attendant.

"He was being totally ridiculous," Smith said.

"Then the medics came on, then the police ... They went right straight to Dr. Beegle. You could hear them saying their daughter was perceived as a threat," Smith told ABC News. "I stood up and said, 'Absolutely positively not.'

"This was just ridiculous... she was calm, she had done nothing," she said. "I've been on flights where kids have screamed for 4 hours and they've never diverted a flight.

"This was the epitome of discrimination," Smith said. "I have never in all my years of flying seen anything like this."

Beegle said Juliette has traveled often, saying her daughter has been to London, Paris and 22 states.

"We've never experienced anything like that," she said. "It was horrific."

PHOTO: A United Airlines airplane, taxis up the runway to prepare for takeoff at OHare International Airport in Chicago, on Oct. 25, 2012. Raymond Boyd/Getty Images
PHOTO: A United Airlines airplane, taxis up the runway to prepare for takeoff at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, on Oct. 25, 2012.
Beegle said she filed complaints with the Federal Aviation Administration and United Airlines and received responses from both, agreeing to investigate. She said she is also planning to file a lawsuit against United.

Beegle said her goal is to encourage autism training for airline workers.

"If they had autism training when I explained to him when I needed something hot, we could have found a workable solution together," she said. "But his whole view was, 'I'm trained to give a first class meal.' He didn't understand at all. He was disrespectful, he was rude."

United Airlines told ABC News in a statement: "After working to accommodate Dr. Beegle and her daughter during the flight, the crew made the best decision for the safety and comfort of all of our customers and elected to divert to Salt Lake City after the situation became disruptive. We rebooked the customers on a different carrier and the flight continued to Portland."

The FAA directed ABC News' request for comment to the Department of Transportation. A DOT spokesman said "the Department has received a complaint regarding this incident and we're investigating the matter."

[ttt]

May 11, 2015 12:06:24 GMT -5 mbcdefg said:

I read this earlier today.

I don't think we're getting the whole story as to how the mom acted. 

Yeah, this just seems...incomplete. They removed this girl from the plane for absolutely no reason at all?? I find that a little hard to believe. 

[glinda]

May 11, 2015 12:08:32 GMT -5 Velvetshady said:

I think the parents dug their own grave here by not having the kid eat during the layover prior to getting on the plane and by ASSuming the plane would have a hot food option available. Or how about contacting the airline when flights are booked and finding out what is/isn't available and arranging for special arrangements in advance. I'm team airline here.

I'm a little stuck on that too because I keep thinking that's what I would have done--contacted the airline and said I had a child with special needs, could I prepay for a hot meal to be on the safe side?

The mom has a huge diatribe with her version of events on FB if anyone cares to read that.

[ttt]

May 11, 2015 12:11:45 GMT -5 glinda said:

May 11, 2015 12:08:32 GMT -5 Velvetshady said:

I think the parents dug their own grave here by not having the kid eat during the layover prior to getting on the plane and by ASSuming the plane would have a hot food option available. Or how about contacting the airline when flights are booked and finding out what is/isn't available and arranging for special arrangements in advance. I'm team airline here.

I'm a little stuck on that too because I keep thinking that's what I would have done--contacted the airline and said I had a child with special needs, could I prepay for a hot meal to be on the safe side?

The mom has a huge diatribe with her version of events on FB if anyone cares to read that.

Link? 

I'm already  ^o)  at the demanding of a first-class hot meal. 

[hopecounts]

May 11, 2015 12:08:32 GMT -5 Velvetshady said:

I think the parents dug their own grave here by not having the kid eat during the layover prior to getting on the plane and by ASSuming the plane would have a hot food option available. Or how about contacting the airline when flights are booked and finding out what is/isn't available and arranging for special arrangements in advance. I'm team airline here.

Trying to force DD to eat when she doesn't want to is impossible, we're addressing this with ABA and behavior therapy (starting in the fall) but right now I could put French Fries (her fave food) in front of her and if she doesn't want to eat she isn't going to, it could be because the environment is distracting her/she doesn't feel hungry/she's mad that she isn't being allowed to do X/etc. 
Her poor executive function means she doesn't really get that you have to eat now because food won't be available later.
Eating is one of those things a kid can completely control which makes it extremely frustrating to address.

[glinda]

May 11, 2015 12:13:12 GMT -5 ttt said:

May 11, 2015 12:11:45 GMT -5 glinda said:

I'm a little stuck on that too because I keep thinking that's what I would have done--contacted the airline and said I had a child with special needs, could I prepay for a hot meal to be on the safe side?

The mom has a huge diatribe with her version of events on FB if anyone cares to read that.

Link? 

I'm already    at the demanding of a first-class hot meal. 

m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=816056981803855&id=345226372220254&ref=m_notif¬if_t=feed_comment_reply

[pixy0stix]

Could they have removed her to prevent a big scene? The mother hinted that the girl could go epic, and the airline was just all, "Nope, not going to deal with it. Get her off before she melts down."

[dulcemariamar]

I agree that the flight crew handled it horribly. The mother was probably frustrated at that point and she probably thought to go into more detail about what a meltdown would look like since they were refusing to serve a hot meal.

I cant believe that they diverted the plane especially since the situation was dealt with and the girl was just watching a video.

[ttt]

Also, planes don't carry around extra hot meals for purchase (or for free). They usually have exactly enough for the first class passengers (and sometimes the crew, on long flights). So she was essentially demanding that the flight attendant take a meal from a first class passenger and give it to her daughter, because her daughter "needed" to eat hot food.

[ttt]

Her rant:

I could be more upset with United Airlines, but I can't imagine it. My family were on our way home from Disney World. I asked the flight attendant if she had any hot food (Juliette will not eat cold food and had refused her dinner prior to the flight). We had a back pack of snacks but she did not want what we had. The attendant sold me chicken sandwich but it was not hot and Juliette would not eat. The flight attendant said that is all we have. I asked if there was some hot food in First Class. It was a very long flight and I wanted her to get something in her system. The flight attendant went to ask and a male flight attendant in First Class. He came back to tell me that they could not serve the hot food from First Class because we were in economy. I offered to buy the rice they had. He said no. For 40 minutes, I kept trying to think of something that they had that she would eat. He told me no every time. I finally, told him that I am platinum on United thinking he might help. He said No. I again asked if he could make an exception for our daughter who faces autism. He said, no he could not give her the rice from first class. I asked if I could get some chips or something salty for her. He said they had no chips. Juliette was beginning to cry. Frustrated I said, after she has a melt down and tries to scratch in frustration, will you help her then? He said he would see what he could do. He came back scowled at me and gave her a hot meal. I thanked him and offered to pay for it. He did not answer and went back to First Class.
Juliette ate and was watching Pocahontas when we heard the flight attendant say, "We will be making an unexpected landing in Salt Lake due to a passenger in the back having issues." We were in the front of the plane and wondering what was going on. The plane landed and the flight attendant asked if there was a medical doctor on board. A man came forward two rows in front of us. The man there said, "I am fine. I do not need a doctor."
The door opened and two paramedics came to the man two rows ahead of us. He said again said he was fine. The paramedics left him and came to my row and said, "Everything okay here?" Confused, I said, "yes." The paramedic asked if Juliette was okay. I said, "she's fine." Did she scratch someone? Puzzled I said, "no." The paramedic rolled his eyes, said they had real work they should be doing and they were going to leave. He warned me that we may be asked to leave the plane. I was completely baffled. "Why?" He said this happens more often than you might imagine. He told me if they asked us to get off the plane we should just quietly get off. The paramedics left the plane.
Then two police officers approached our row. They said they needed us to exit the plane. I said, "Why?" The officer asked if Juliette was scratching someone. I again said, "no." I told them asked for hot food to prevent a melt down and said we wanted to prevent her getting to the point of being upset or scratching which she sometimes does in frustration. I told the officer the flight attendant gave her hot food and she has been fine the whole trip. The officer said they we were going to still have us exit the plane. I told him this makes no sense. Nothing had happened. Passengers around us were telling the officers that Juliette was fine and there was no problem. The officer told us "The captain is not comfortable flying to Portland with your daughter on the plane. You have to leave the plane." The captain had never seen Juliette nor had he come out of the front cabin.
All the time they were talking to me, Juliette was happily watching her video. The officer asked us again to quietly exit the plane. I was furious. I stood and shouted so the passengers could hear. "Is there anyone on this plane who feels threatened by our Juliette who faces autism? Has Juliette alarmed or harmed anyone on this plane? Passengers stood up for Juliette and shouted, "She is fine," "Leave her alone." "She is not causing a problem lets go to Portland." "This is ridiculous," and mouthed to me "I am so sorry."
The police repeated that we needed to leave the plane. The captain came out and we saw him for the first time. He said, "Let's not make this situation worse. I said, "You made it worse. You never even saw Juliette and I have no idea what your flight attendant told you but nothing happened." I was so shaken and tears begin to fall. As mom I could not stand the way Juliette was being treated. I said I am not leaving the plane until I have statements and names showing there was NO issue. The officer said he would take statements. He came off the plane with 10 pages of passenger statements and showed them to me. He said, "You know we have some really violent cases where the plane should land. This is not one of those. You have a lot of people supporting your claim that nothing happened and your daughter should stay on the plane." He gave me the police report number and told me I can get copies of the report and the statements.
It took some time for the crew to find our luggage. They rebooked us for a Delta flight leaving at the time when my kids should have been home in bed and getting ready for school the next day. We flew the rest of the way home as we have flown around the country with no problem. Juliette has flown since she was six months. She has been to five countries, 24 states and we have never experienced anything like this. Most often the flight attendants go out of their way to make Juliette comfortable and happy.
This was a sheer case of ignorance. Prejudice, ignorance and mistreatment are all too common toward people facing poverty. The parallels between special needs and poverty are striking in that both are causes for judgement, misunderstanding and mistreatment
.
I am stunned they landed a plane and held everyone up. Juliette was in a window seat and her dad was next to hear and I was next to him. She was not a threat. I have contacted an attorney and will be filing a discrimination lawsuit to ensure the Captain and flight attendants get training. This is not about money. If there were money I would give it to the flight crew to use for training.

[glinda]

I also noticed that in the mom's version of events she asked the flight attendant for chips or something salty--If she will eat that and prevent the meltdown why would those not be in the "backpack full of snacks"?

[dulcemariamar]

I don't think we can blame the parents here for the kid not eating. They cant force feed her. I just don't understand why they couldn't heat up the sandwich.

[ttt]

May 11, 2015 12:18:23 GMT -5 glinda said:

I also noticed that in the mom's version of events she asked the flight attendant for chips or something salty--If she will eat that and prevent the meltdown why would those not be in the "backpack full of snacks"?

Apparently she wouldn't eat what was in the backpack full of snacks. Or the chicken sandwich they bought on the plane. Or the dinner in the airport. 


I don't really understand why she couldn't have asked them to just heat up the chicken sandwich. 

[glinda]

May 11, 2015 12:15:49 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Could they have removed her to prevent a big scene? The mother hinted that the girl could go epic, and the airline was just all, "Nope, not going to deal with it. Get her off before she melts down."

Yeah I think that is exactly what happened, from the sounds of the mom's post.

[laurenpetro]

i can't properly articulate my feelings on this at all.

[btdt]

I was on the fence before reading the mom's diatribe on FB, but I am firmly team airlines now. Mom, you blundered at several different turns. I can't blame the airlines in the least to not giving in to your emotion-based threats.

[Velvetshady]

May 11, 2015 12:13:31 GMT -5 hopecounts said:

May 11, 2015 12:08:32 GMT -5 Velvetshady said:

I think the parents dug their own grave here by not having the kid eat during the layover prior to getting on the plane and by ASSuming the plane would have a hot food option available. Or how about contacting the airline when flights are booked and finding out what is/isn't available and arranging for special arrangements in advance. I'm team airline here.

Trying to force DD to eat when she doesn't want to is impossible, we're addressing this with ABA and behavior therapy (starting in the fall) but right now I could put French Fries (her fave food) in front of her and if she doesn't want to eat she isn't going to, it could be because the environment is distracting her/she doesn't feel hungry/she's mad that she isn't being allowed to do X/etc. 
Her poor executive function means she doesn't really get that you have to eat now because food won't be available later.
Eating is one of those things a kid can completely control which makes it extremely frustrating to address.

I get that--but how is not preparing for that AS THE PARENT make this the airlines problem?  You know your kid only will eat HOT meals, you're going to be on a plane for four hours, the PARENT needs to pre-arrange having a HOT option for their kid, not just ASSume the airline will have one handy with no notice. And in this day and age, you don't threaten to cause a major disruption on a plane, including the possibility of causing others physical harm, and not expect the airline to treat it as a real possibility.

Maybe diverting  the plane was an overeaction, but would it have been if the kid had gone on to have a meltdown and start scratching other passengers? The parent threatened a disruption, my guess it that immediately started the diversion process--no matter what happened the next 20 minutes--it's not a super easy/quick thing to divert a plane.

[laurenpetro]

May 11, 2015 12:35:26 GMT -5 Velvetshady said:

May 11, 2015 12:13:31 GMT -5 hopecounts said:

Trying to force DD to eat when she doesn't want to is impossible, we're addressing this with ABA and behavior therapy (starting in the fall) but right now I could put French Fries (her fave food) in front of her and if she doesn't want to eat she isn't going to, it could be because the environment is distracting her/she doesn't feel hungry/she's mad that she isn't being allowed to do X/etc. 
Her poor executive function means she doesn't really get that you have to eat now because food won't be available later.
Eating is one of those things a kid can completely control which makes it extremely frustrating to address.

I get that--but how is not preparing for that AS THE PARENT make this the airlines problem?  You know your kid only will eat HOT meals, you're going to be on a plane for four hours, the PARENT needs to pre-arrange having a HOT option for their kid, not just ASSume the airline will have one handy with no notice. And in this day and age, you don't threaten to cause a major disruption on a plane, including the possibility of causing others physical harm, and not expect the airline to treat it as a real possibility.

Maybe diverting  the plane was an overeaction, but would it have been if the kid had gone on to have a meltdown and start scratching other passengers? The parent threatened a disruption, my guess it that immediately started the diversion process--no matter what happened the next 20 minutes--it's not a super easy/quick thing to divert a plane.

without getting into the weeds of this discussion, it's entirely possible that the kid would only eat a hot meal at that moment but would normally eat the other 436 snacks in the bag.   this is a thing.

ETA: i'm not saying it's the airline's responsibility to take care of it but it's not unheard of for a kid in the middle of a mealtdown to request something they don't normally want.

[hopecounts]

May 11, 2015 12:35:26 GMT -5 Velvetshady said:

May 11, 2015 12:13:31 GMT -5 hopecounts said:

Trying to force DD to eat when she doesn't want to is impossible, we're addressing this with ABA and behavior therapy (starting in the fall) but right now I could put French Fries (her fave food) in front of her and if she doesn't want to eat she isn't going to, it could be because the environment is distracting her/she doesn't feel hungry/she's mad that she isn't being allowed to do X/etc. 
Her poor executive function means she doesn't really get that you have to eat now because food won't be available later.
Eating is one of those things a kid can completely control which makes it extremely frustrating to address.

I get that--but how is not preparing for that AS THE PARENT make this the airlines problem?  You know your kid only will eat HOT meals, you're going to be on a plane for four hours, the PARENT needs to pre-arrange having a HOT option for their kid, not just ASSume the airline will have one handy with no notice. And in this day and age, you don't threaten to cause a major disruption on a plane, including the possibility of causing others physical harm, and not expect the airline to treat it as a real possibility.

Maybe diverting  the plane was an overeaction, but would it have been if the kid had gone on to have a meltdown and start scratching other passengers? The parent threatened a disruption, my guess it that immediately started the diversion process--no matter what happened the next 20 minutes--it's not a super easy/quick thing to divert a plane.

Sure they should have but I am guessing that they thought they had planned the lay over to coincide with when she would eat and didn't think it would be an issue (at least that is what I would've done). 
They just had bad luck and she decided to refuse to eat at the normalish time and then the parents were screwed, they should've had something that she would tolerate in the backpack but even that isn't foolproof. 
The mom should've absolutely not described the melt down and just referenced her autism and her need to eat. 
Most SN parents I know plan out the wazoo for things like trips because it is necessary.
I doubt they didn't plan for her eating needs, just more likely the daughter had a hard time and it interfered with her eating and screwed them up.

[vanillacourage]

In this era of liability, as soon as the mom implied the daughter could/would scratch someone the flight attendant might have been forced to switch to a specific policy to get them off the plane.

[thejackpot]

I can get the Mom's frustration but I think once she mentioned the meltdown and scratching it turned into a potential liability for the airlines. I wish she would have just mentioned having a SN child and asked for a little assistance with the meal.

[aussiecrush]

This family wasn't removed because of their autistic daughter's behavior. They were removed because of whatever the flight attendant told the pilot. Given United's notoriously poor customer service, I have a hard time believing this was an accommodating flight attendant who was worried about a threat.

[Bad Dingo]

OMG to this comment on her FB page:

Andy Kimber - your daughter is the way she is due to the way you brought her up,or because you allowed her to be vaccinated.and what has poverty got to do with the plane experience? you arent in poverty!

[sparkythelawyer]

I don't think the airline was great about how it handled things, but Mom didn't do much to help her case here, either.

[pitta12]

When I heard this headline this morning on the news (but missed the story) I didn't realize that there was no actual meltdown or disturbance. I really can't fault the mom here. It is impossible to be prepared for any and every possible outcome in that type of situation and she was doing the best she could to avoid any issues. I think diverting the plane was very extreme.