Reply #232: I stated in a post that I agreed with Southwest's decision. [View All]

[PA Democrat]

Guess you missed that before you rushed to judge my intentions. As I stated here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3578558#35833

my objections were to the way people judged the mother when they clearly did not understand what autism is.

A number of other parents raising children with autism made the same points. We have all been subjected to the dirty looks, the condescending remarks by others when we are doing everything we possibly can to control our child. It makes a very difficult situation even more stressful.

It was apparent in reading some of the posts that many people don't realize that children with autism don't generalize skills across different settings, that children with autism often have severe receptive language deficits, that behavior problems in siblings of children with autism are common, that children with autism can become overstimulated and hyperactive in new settings.

As someone who has more experience than most in dealing with the media, I take ANYTHING I read in the paper with a grain of salt.

But ignorance of all of the facts of this story did not prevent people from rushing to judge the mother. She was called selfish, mentally ill, was determined to be a lazy and unfit parent. Some people even accused the woman of making up the child's diagnosis.

I am asking that people refrain from rushing to judgment when they perhaps do not have all of the facts, because I know from first hand experience that it does happen. If you "resent" my point of view and view my remarks as insults, perhaps you need to go back and read your OWN comments as well as some of the other posters on this thread.

This woman may be a HORRIBLE parent for all I know, but I can't help but feel a little bit of compassion for anyone trying to raise a child with autism. It is extremely difficult. Maybe we could show some compassion for people in difficult circumstances instead of rushing to denigrate them.