Another Airline

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Mom Says Southwest Booted Her Family, Autistic Son, Off Flight
The flight attendants asked for the children to quiet down twice, but she never thought they'd get kicked off the plane.


Seattle, WA -- A Washington state mom says flying with her four children was unbelievable. She says Southwest left her stranded. Now she wants an apology.

Wendy Slaughter and her pregnant sister were travelling with Slaughter's autistic son, her daughter who suffers from cerebral palsy, and her two other children.

It was her children's first flight and she admits they were being loud and had trouble sitting still. But she says she was shocked when police detained her family during a connection flight in Phoenix.

"I am furious about it. I can't believe they could do something like that and then leave us completely stranded with no money no way to get anywhere," Slaughter says.

The flight attendants asked for the children to quiet down twice, but she never thought they'd get booted from the plane.

She wants an apology, and compensation for the tickets she had to purchase through another airline to get home.

Southwest Airlines told KIRO TV the children were being disruptive and unruly and they were not allowed back on the plane for the safety of other customers.

What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comment section of this story.


Source: CNN Pathfire/KIRO

Copyright: 2008 digtriad.com

Inclusion?

ROSEVILLE, Calif. -- The parents of twin autistic boys left out of a yearbook are accusing the school of discrimination.

Darla Granger said her sons Holden and Hunter were purposely left out of their Roseville, Calif., school yearbook -- along with the rest of the school's special needs children.

"When your own school district and the people that are supposed to be there to support you and your kids and your situation sort of shun you, it is hurtful," Granger said.

Holden and Hunter Granger, who are in second grade, are students of the Placer County Board of Education, which assigns special-need students to various schools within the district.

The boys are in a collage photo in the yearbook, but the school's special needs class, including teachers, is missing.

"I got the book and was excited to look up their class and see their pictures with their names and their teachers, and they weren't in it," Granger said.

Darla and her husband, Blandon, have filed a complaint with the Placer County Board of Education, but said they aren't taking legal action and would just like to ensure that the class pictures of their children and other special-needs students are included in future yearbooks.

The Placer County superintendent who oversees the special needs program at Quail Glen Elementary said she thinks the incident was an oversight, not a malicious act.

"I do have a hard time understanding how they could have not noticed that every autistic child from their campus was missing," Darla Granger said.

The boys' father said he doesn't know if the act was intentional but doesn't think care was given to include the children with special needs in the yearbook.

"I just felt like I needed to speak out," Blandon Granger said. "I feel like we are owed an apology."

Savage Comments

I live in an area in Illinois that does not carry Michael Savage's syndicated talk show. I consider myself rather fortunate in that regard. I've been hearing the outcries against this shock jock, and wondered what all the fuss was about.

Finally I was able to find a clip of the broadcast, and listened to him spew his offensive opinions about autism. My first instinct was to ignore it. He reminded me of an internet troll, that only tries to stir up trouble to draw attention on themselves. And as a shock jock, that's pretty much his occupation anyway.

But something about his rant was very disturbing to me. It was difficult to dismiss. The more I tried to ignore it, the more it would raise its ugly head in my consciousness. You know that feeling you get when you are driving away from your house, and you start to wonder if you left the stove on? That little fear that builds up in your gut? The Savage rant on autism had that same pending doom feeling for me, that I couldn't quite pinpoint at first.

Then I read an article on About.com, where Lisa Jo Rudy asks, "Can anyone explain why a shock jock can have this much impact on this many people over so much time?' Wonderful question!

After giving this some thought, I realize why I can't let this drop. Common sense tells me, Don't Feed The Troll! That's what they tell you when you encounter an internet troll out to exercise their ability to cyber bully. They say mean and outrageous things to get you riled up, because they feed off of the power they have to get you upset. Don't react, ignore them, and they go away. Don't feed them by reacting, or they won't ever disappear. Don't Feed The Troll. So why am I drawn to react to someone who is so obviously a radio troll?

The answer that first came to mind is that he is voicing what I have been struggling against all along. He is echoing the ignorance and the foolishness I face when I sat there and listened to a teacher inform me that "all he needs is discipline." Or when a principal insisted that "You need to take that boy home and beat the living hell out of him." (Yes, she really said that to me.)

You see, living with Nathan is a gift. He is so different from other kids. He is sweet, and joyful, and giving. He has a wonderful sense of humor, and a unique way of looking at things. He slows us down, and forces us to embrace all elements of our world. He is the light of my life. Autism is not our enemy. I embrace his autism, because Nathan without autism wouldn't be Nathan. I love him exactly as he is. It's living life to its fullest. My life didn't begin until I got married and created a child. (Now, I don't claim my life is easy. Sometimes it isn't. Sometimes it can be quite challenging. But Nathan is worth it.) And life with Nathan isn't a burden.

What IS a burden is how people react to Nathan. People who don't understand, and stand in judgment. People who shout hateful comments, and see only evil in his differences. People who advocate punishing the autism right out of him.

Those people make my life difficult. They create stress, where no stress existed previously. They fight knowledge about autism, because it doesn't fit their nice and easy response to how to "fix" my child. They suggest drugs, as if there were some magic pill to cure autism, because they expect a drugged child to be easier to deal with. Then they don't have to learn new ways to help my son learn. So even though he is extremely bright, and eager to learn, teachers find him not worth the effort. Daycares would rather send him home, then to give him space when he's feeling overwhelmed. School personnel would rather hold him down in a chair for a half hour, then to give him five minutes or so to collect himself. They would rather tell me that it isn't the autism that is causing my son to melt down, it's just that "laziness" in him that makes him resist. (Funny, he isn't lazy at home.) Oh, and my favorite, that "it's hard to tell when it's the autism we're dealing with, or the boy." As if you can separate the boy from the autism. As if autism doesn't affect the way he IS, the way he acts, the way he functions, the way he thinks... But amazingly, a teacher thinks the autism turns itself on and off, like a switch, and she can tell that it isn't the autism affecting my child, he's just misbehaving.

So what makes the Savage rant so hard to dismiss, is that he embodies all the hate and resistance and stress that we face in our life on the Spectrum. Savage is that teacher, that principal, that daycare provider, that disapproving relative. He is the ignorance. He is the staring and judgmental passer by. He is our frustration. He is what makes life harder. And he's ENCOURAGING his opinion on others.

And for that, I do believe he owes the Autism Community an apology.

I hope very much that the father in Michael Savage's life is still around. And that his father comes forward right now and give him a V8-forehead-thump, and tells him, "Don't be a fool. Don't behave like a fool. Don't sound like an idiot." Because he does. And if his father is no longer around, then I hope an authority figure in his life will come forward and provide that same guidance. Too bad his employer didn't take that step. Somebody certainly should.

To all parents who live with autism, the man is a complete fool. He ought to be ashamed of what he said. I've heard the man has an education, though his radio broadcast certainly belies that fact. Obviously, he has no education in Autism Spectrum Disorders, and he certainly has no right to broadcast to the nation such offensive and hurtful messages about something he has no experience or expertise in. He has embarrassed himself by speaking so horribly about something he knows nothing about. People defend him by saying he has a right to his opinion. Sure he does. But he doesn't have a right to "boldly draw attention" to a problem he is completely ignorant about, in the guise of "helping" the parents of disabled children, in a broadcast to the American public. What's next? Insisting that the paralyzed population is just "lazy?" (Would his employer tolerate his words if he said that? What's the difference?)

One speech was quite laughable, though. The part where he said that autism "is a racket to collect disability payments from the government, from basically poorer families who've found a new -- a new way to -- to be parasites on the government, which is if -- if you want to collect a little money and get free medical care, you want to get the kid to take tests with help where the answers are given to him before he takes it, just say he's got an illness -- ADD, DDD, ASA. To me, there is one disease that they all have; it's called S-T-U-P-I-D. That's the main illness most of these kids have."

Wow, Mr. Savage! You mean all this time there was MONEY to be had, because my child has a disability?? Fascinating. Show me the money! Because I currently receive absolutely no money because my son is autistic. Free insurance? Where?? I have friends in Wisconsin that can't even get dental insurance, let alone prescription insurance, for their child because he is autistic. Please tell us where this free insurance is. I've read that it costs, on average, $70,000 a year more, to raise a child with autism. Considering that many insurance companies won't cover anything related to autism, I know a whole bunch of parents who would gladly accept free insurance if there truly is any to be had. Do tell where we can all find that free insurance! And that free money from the government! Or is it YOU that actually has S-T-U-P-I-D disease?

It's so fascinating to hear that Michael Savage is able to distinguish between autism and fakery. He is able to determine without so much as an exam, what a team of trained professionals has apparently "misdiagnosed." My son must have done some real fakery to pass himself off as autistic to so many people trained in diagnosing autism. Not to mention the half dozen or so autism specialists I've taken him to. Hm, not only must Mr. Savage be exceptionally qualified, to discover what all these specialists have missed, but he must be psychic as well, because he hasn't even examined an autistic child professionally, to make this claim. And boy oh by, my son must be genius, to have fooled so many doctors!

Sigh. Listening to Savage and his savage remarks, just depresses me. It makes me once again afraid of the upcoming school year, because there are a lot of savage-like people in the school district. And now they have a voice on the radio encouraging them on. And encouraging others to feel the same way.

That's the damage that Michael Savage can do. He fires up people by spouting his opinions. But some of the people he fires up, are the people that agree with his ignorant comments. And we're the ones that end up dealing with it. His words were not simply offensive. They were meant to affect the opinions of others. And that will hurt our children. And it will hurt us.

There is a bill stuck right now in the House of Representatives that was written to protect our children. SB 1900, a bill that would require insurance coverage for children with autism. What happens when you have national radio broadcasts that label autism as "fakery" and "a racket"? That autistic children are "misdiagnosed," that the autism epidemic is "bullcrap." What kind of effect will Savage have on that bill? I guess we can only hope that the 8,000,000 listeners that tune into his radio broadcast, aren't as ignorant about autism as Savage is. We can hope that Savage's voice will not influence the public that listens to him. We can hope the Representatives who decide on that bill don't share the Savage viewpoint.

Being a shock jock doesn't mean you can say anything at all, and it's acceptable. It isn't acceptable to broadcast such ignorance about autism because it is irresponsible, and it can hurt families. It can affect public opinion because his listeners could believe it's true, and that public opinion can hurt our children. It can affect the way our children are treated, it can affect how parents are treated, and it can have devastating effects.

If I could say something to Michael Savage, it would be this. "Your dad was right. You need to man up. Be a man and do the right thing. Apologize for what you said. Take responsibility for your actions. You hurt a lot of people. If you had done some personal research, you would realize what a fool you've been. It's wrong to hurt people to gain ratings. It's wrong to judge what you don't know anything about. Now make things right, in the best way you can. Say you were wrong. Say you're sorry. Idiot."

Mark 10: 13-16

Priest Bans Autistic Boy From Church
Mom Told She'd Be Sent to Jail if She Brought Autistic Son to Church
BERTHA, Minn.
May 19, 2008 —


A Catholic priest has filed a restraining order against the parents of a severely autistic 13-year-old boy in an effort to keep him from attending the church in Bertha on Sundays.

The Rev. Daniel Walz alleges that Adam Race's unruly behavior endangers others who attend the Church of St. Joseph.

Race's parents have ignored the restraining order, calling it discriminatory, and Carol Race, Adam's mother, was cited by police and is due to appear in court on Monday for violating the order.

"He said that we did not discipline our son. He said that our son was physically out of control and a danger to everyone at church," Carol Race said. "I can't discipline him out of his autism, and I think that's what our priest is expecting."

Carol Race said it all started last June, when Walz and a church trustee visited the Races at their home address the behavior of Adam, who stands taller than six feet and weighs more than 225 pounds.

In an affidavit, Walz said the church "explored and offered many options for accommodations that would assist the family while protecting the safety of parishioners. The family refused those offers of accommodation."

Carol Race said the family of seven, which has attended St. Joseph since 1996, typically sat in the cry room or in the back pew to keep avoid disrupting the services and did not hear a complaint from the parishioners until Walz showed up at their home in June.

Even after the restraining order was served, the family continued going to the church and would leave during the closing hymn to avoid contact with others, Carol Race said.

The Diocese of St. Cloud issued a statement saying the petition was filed "as a last resort out of a growing concern for the safety of parishioners and other community members due to disruptive and violent behavior on the part of that child."

Walz said the boy's behavior worsened over time, telling authorities that Adam has been "extremely disruptive and dangerous" since last summer.

According to Walz, Adam struck a child during mass, nearly knocks elderly parishioners over when he hastily exits the church, spits and sometimes urinates in church and fights when he is being restrained.

He also one time assaulted a girl by pulling her onto his lap and, during Easter mass, ran to the parking lot and got into two vehicles, starting them and revving the engine, Walz alleged.

"There were people directly in front of the car who could have been injured or killed if he had put the car in gear," Walz wrote.

Adam's parents have to sit on him and sometimes tie his hands and feet to get control of him, Walz wrote.

Carol Race has an answer to each complaint.

She said her son makes spitting faces but doesn't spit and acknowledged he has occasional problems with incontinence. She says that she and her husband sit on Adam because their weight calms him down, which is why he pulled the girl onto him.

She also said they do use soft straps to bind Adam's hands and feet on occasion because it calms him, as does the revving sound of engines, which is why he started the cars.

Some disability advocates are getting behind the Races.

"It's unfathomable and concerns me that we've taken a situation with special needs and we're making it into the criminal matter," said Brad Trahan, the founder of the RT Autism Awareness Foundation in Rochester, who has asked the bishop of St. Cloud to rescind the restraining order.

Carol Race just hopes the ugly back-and-forth doesn't tarnish the image of the church.

"The church isn't bad," she said. "But it's what some individuals do within the church."

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)


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