A mum has shared a heartfelt open letter to the man who sat beside her young autistic daughter on a flight.

 

Dreading the plane journey, mum-of-two Shanelle was worried who her daughter Kate would sit beside. And when she saw a man in a suit with a briefcase, her fears were realised.

 

“[You] sat down with your briefcase and your important documents and I had a vision of Kate pouring her water all over your multi-million dollar contracts, or house deeds, or whatever it was you held,” she wrote in the letter on her blog Go Team Kate.

 

But she needn’t have worried, because as soon as the man sat down, he was patient and kind.

 

“Dear ‘Daddy’,” she wrote in the moving letter. “I don't know your name but Kate called you ‘daddy’ for the entire flight last week and you kindly never corrected her. 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 judgement regarding your level of ‘safety’ for her. If she calls you 'daddy' then you better believe she thinks you are alright.”

 

 

Kate was quickly enamoured with the man, rubbing his arm and telling him she liked the feel of it and asking him if she’d like to play with her Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toy (she’s a huge fan). And instead of turning away, or showing annoyance, the man talked to Kate, asking her about herself and gently answering her questions.

 

“You could have shifted uncomfortably in your seat,” wrote the grateful mum. “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. She could never really answer your questions but she was so enamoured by you that she keep eye contact and joint attention on the items you were asking her about.  I watched and smiled.  I made a few polite offers to distract her, but you would have none of it.”

 

And even when Kate reached her limit and became overwhelmed and upset, the stranger remained calm and kind.

 

 

“She screamed to have her seatbelt off,” wrote Shanelle. “She screamed for me to open the plane door and she cried repeating, “Plane is cwosed (closed)” over and over. You tried to redirect her attention to her toys. She was already too far gone at this point, but the fact that you tried to help your new little friend made me emotional.  
 

“So, thank you. Thank you for not making me repeat those awful apologetic sentences that I so often say in public. Thank you for entertaining Kate so much that she had her most successful plane ride, yet. And, thank you for putting your papers away and playing turtles with our girl.”

 

You can read the full, wonderful letter, ‘Dear Daddy in Seat 16C Flight 1850’ from Philly HERE.

 

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