While wasting a few minutes on Facebook last night I came across an amazing story posted by a bunch of different people.

Kim and I have been very lucky so far (I hope that I don’t jinx myself) with how Lucas behaves during flights. The real test comes later in the week when he flies for the first time in his own seat.

We’ve all (most likely) witnessed kiddie meltdowns, screaming & crying for hours, had a child kick the back of our seat non-stop or do other things to get on our nerves during flights. Personally, when little kids on flights do these things, they don’t tend to bother me. I just hope that the parent makes a solid attempt to better the situation.

Now imagine flying with a special needs child, particularly one with autism. People with autism generally like to stick to routines. Many also have a hard time in social situations and with communication. Others can be highly sensitive to loud sounds. I don’t know this all just from reading, Kim and I both actually teach children with autism.

Here is the story:

When Shanell Mouland boarded the plane with her 3-year-old daughter Kate, who has autism, she was worried about who the passenger would be sitting next to them. Shanell decided to give Kate the middle seat, not the window since she has an obsession with opening and closing the window shade.

She hoped that a “Grandmotherly” woman would take the seat since “they’ve been the kindest” to little Kate. Then a man with a briefcase and important documents sat down. Shanell imagined Kate spilling her water on the man’s multi-million dollar contracts or house deeds.

You’ll never believe what happened next. The man interacted with Kate on and on and never once seemed annoyed. Mouland feels that this allowed her daughter Kate to have her most successful plane ride yet.

I don’t want to ruin the whole story for you.

Check out the full story on the Huffington Post where you can also see an interview with Shanell Mouland (which I’ve also embedded below).