A mother’s open letter to the man sitting next to her autistic daughter on a flight from Florida to Bangor, Maine, with a stop in Philadelphia, has gone viral.
Shanell Mouland wrote about her experience with the kind New Jersey businessman who sat next to her 3-year-old daughter Kate on her blog “Go Team Kate.”
In a letter titled "Daddy In Seat 16c,” she wrote “I don't know your name but Kate called you ‘daddy' for the entire flight last week and you kindly never corrected her,” adding, “In fact, you didn't even flinch as you could probably tell that she was not confusing you with her own 'daddy' but instead making a judgment regarding your level of 'safety' for her.”
Later Mouland added, “You could have shifted uncomfortably in your seat. You could have ignored her. You could have given me that 'smile' that I despise because it means; 'manage your child please.' You did none of that. You engaged Kate in conversation and you asked her questions about her turtles,” My Fox Philly reports.
Mouland has admitted it’s an unpredictable experience to fly with a child who has autism, but she was so touched by this stranger’s actions because of his attempt at making Kate feel at ease.
“It made for such a nice flight,” she told Daily News. “It was so rare.”
The man has now been identified as Eric from New Jersey, who Mouland says the family is now friends with.