Airline denies exit row seat to kid with down syndrome

I usually like The Mighty, but christ:

https://themighty.com/2018/09/airline-denies-exit-row-seat-down-syndrome/?utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=in-story-related-link

Short version is the family insists a teen with Down syndrome is completely capable of handling exit row duties in the case of an emergency. Staff responds that the pilot "isn't comfortable" with it. Kid, according to his sister, offers to change seats with his uncle a few rows back. She assumes he's ashamed of being singled out, but apparently never actually asked him why he moved. Cue outrage.

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idiot author
If a passenger with a disability is truly unable to assist in the event of an emergency, then a decision must be reasonably made by those who know that passenger best and are aware of his or her level of functioning, not arbitrarily by a flight attendant or captain.

Really? You think your mentally defective teenage brother, you, and your mother are the best judges of what it takes to get passengers safely off of a plane in a life-and-death emergency? You think you're the best judges of how to handle the crisis of a plane going down, or burning, or some other insane situation where people are panicking and rushing for exits? You think you're a better judge of that than, say, the plane's crew who are trained for these situations?

Forgive me for apparently being an intolerant bitch, but I'd rather not leave my survival in the hands of a mentally challenged kid who may never have faced a crisis worse than being singled out in a crowd. And no, outraged moo and indignant sister, I'd rather not take your word for it. I'd rather rely on the crew's experience and training than your Downy kid, no matter how "high-functioning" you think he is. Get your bias out of the equation and give everyone on board a better chance to survive, 'kay? Thanks.

All people are 100% equal in their abilities and it's bigotry to point out otherwise. "Now, everyone, buckle your seatbelts while Captain Downy flies us to Pittsburgh--err, sorry, he's just informed me it's a flight to Neverneverland."

I'm a fully functioning adult but they wouldn't let me sit in the exit row because I'm fat and needed a seatbelt extender. Was I offended that I couldn't sit there? No. I was offended by the way they handled it, but I didn't kick up a stink, I waited until the flight was over and wrote a complaint email to their head office. I also blanked the flight attendant who mishandled the incident on my way off the plane.

You don't see me running to the media with my complaints, that accomplishes nothing but make me look like a whining idiot.