Many parents know the particular stress of boarding an airplane with a baby, a toddler or, worse yet, both. Packed at the ready are pacifiers, snacks, favorite toys, iPads with downloads for the toddler. When my children were still of nursing age, I wore loose shirts so I could face plant a whimpering infant to my bosom in T-minus three seconds.
Having nowhere to go with a noisy child, parents on an airplane become like low-expectations party hosts. They aren’t trying to make everyone’s flight great, they just don’t want people to have a bad time. The parent holding a fussy, noisy baby is keenly aware of each sideway glance, shaken head, grumbling and, occasionally, outright nasty comment.
If you’ve ever been that parent on an airplane, you pretty much know how it feels to take a child with an intellectual disability to a live performance. We want to share the experience of concerts and theatrical productions with our children, but do not want their behavior to compromise the event for other audience members.