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Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Richard Moore: Selfish attitude all too common

By Richard Moore
Bay of Plenty Times·
2 Jun, 2015 05:00 AM5 mins to read

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Living with a child with a condition like autism can be really hard to deal with.

Living with a child with a condition like autism can be really hard to deal with.

Oh dear Lord there are some ignorant people out in the big wide world.

They are narrow-minded, selfish and completely unable to put themselves in the shoes of other people.

I guess it's a manners thing, or not being brought up properly, or just a sense that the world revolves around them and their needs.

What has pushed my buttons is a recent incident in which a United Airlines pilot kicked an autistic teen, Juliette Beegle, and her parents and brother, off a flight because she was being "disruptive".

According to one witness she was howling.

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"It never stopped," said the passenger who, I'm guessing, is from somewhere like Charmlessville, in the state of Meane, where anything out of the ordinary sends them into convulsions.

Ms Meane, an unknown aviation expert it appears, said: "She wasn't put off the plane because she had autism, she was put off the plane because she was maybe proposing some kind of a threat, to (about) 170 other people at 36,000 feet, which doesn't make anyone feel safe."

She went on: "What if she got crazy and got up and opened an exit door at 36,000 feet?"

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Now what the compassionate woman may be did not know was the fact the 15-year-old girl at the centre of this outrage was seated between her mum and dad. She could not move anywhere. Let alone push past her dad, get to a door and work out how to use in the seconds it would take for someone to stop her.

What is more the "howling" she was allegedly emitting was described by nearby passenger Chris Hall as: "The child would make noise every now and then, no louder than, say, a baby crying.

"I don't think they should have landed the plane for her being fussy."

Apparently the teen had not wanted to eat a lunch brought by the family on to the plane.

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But back to witness Hall who took footage of the girl being taken off the plane with her parents. She was behaving well and quickly complied with the request.

Hall is heard on the footage saying "this is ridiculous". A second passenger said this would lead to a lawsuit.

And so it should.

Without knowing exactly what part of the autism spectrum the young girl comes under, it is hard to judge how severe her disorder is.

But while there are some terribly dysfunctional autistic children who need a lot of help in coping with life, there are others who are so mild you only pick up on their condition if you have close experience with it.

I feel for the parents and brother. Living with a child with a condition like autism can be really hard to deal with and no doubt the parents have done everything in their power to try to teach the girl how to behave in public.

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But hell, we all have public meltdowns on occasion - just video me dealing with rude or ignorant people and you'll see what I mean.

People need to be more understanding of those with special conditions and their families as they cope with it the best they can.

Instead of bleating about it maybe folk should inquire if there is anything they can do to help those looking after the child.

A bit of support - or at least understanding - would no doubt be gratefully received.

Some people out there may ask just what does Moore know of such a condition. Well, I have had a lot to do with children with Asperger's syndrome, which is a part of the autism spectrum, and can recognise them quite easily.

Again there are many levels of Asperger's but, in the main, those with the condition need to be taught how to read people as they can't naturally understand body language or social norms.

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They are very bright and straight-speaking as often the hardest thing for them is trying to connect with the way people feel. That is foreign to them.

That's not to say they don't have feelings - they do - and for parents it is gut-wrenching to witness the pain that their journey to adulthood can cause them.

So my heart goes out to the parents of the boy with Asperger's who was kicked out of Green Bay High School after he was involved in a scuffle with a teacher over a skateboard.

The school expelled him, but the courts said he should be returned to class.

Now Green Bay High is going to the highest court in the land to stop this boy from going back.

Fair go, what a mean-spirited way to deal with a young person who, through no fault of their own, needs education and a place to learn to fit into society.

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Grow a heart.

-Richard@richardmoore.com

Richard Moore is an award-winning Western Bay journalist and photographer.

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