If you have ever traveled with an autistic child, you could have probably written this article yourself....Thank you to Barbie Hines for sharing this very real experience with the honesty of the autism that we all live with. Share the entire article with those in your life who don't "get" it...or who think you are exaggerating....

Here is an excerpt and the link to the entire post:

As soon as we entered the cabin, Jimmy panicked.

He jumped into my arms. He started grabbing seats, trying to push us out of the cabin. I struggled into our seats. It took every ounce of strength I had to keep Jimmy on my lap. Jimmy is 48 inches tall. I am 58 inches short. He wanted out of that cabin. He fought with all his might.

I pulled out all the tricks. I was singing his favorite songs in his ear. I tried stimming on his ‘stim’ toy. My husband ran over with the portable DVD player (my husband and daughter, Reagan, were on the other side of the plane). I tried the back rub the chiropractor taught me. I tried foot rubs, which always work during stressful times. I sprayed ‘rescue remedy’ in his mouth. I pulled out the emergency candy stash – food coloring, preservatives, the works! His anxiety only increased. After about thirty minutes, I could barely hold him. A woman sitting behind me offered to switch seats with my husband, who was standing up in his seat, watching us, with a panic-stricken look on his face. I thanked her, and my husband and daughter quickly moved behind us.

Sweat was dripping down my face. If I released my grip on Jimmy, he would get away. My arms were quivering (why did I quit working out?). My poor boy had a facial expression I had never seen on him before. He looked scared to death. His breathing was now sounding different. He wasn’t screaming anymore, just sort of gasping. My daughter stuck her chubby, little 3 year old face between the seats and scolded, “Jimbo, sshhhhh! Me playin’ Leapster!”

A flight attendant came over and said, “You will need to tell us if there is anything we can do to help. We cannot take off like this.” I replied, “I understand. Can you give us some more time?” Shortly thereafter, the pilot announced our flight would be delayed by approximately thirty minutes, and he apologized for the delay. Great, we are now “the delay”. Something new for us. My nephew may have graduated in the top 2 percent of his class this year, but could he ground a plane of 350 passengers?


http://www.ageofautism.com/2008/08/this-is-autism.html