She Left Her Friend With ASD At Disney World Alone Because Her Friend Had A Meltdown When She Wanted To Deviate From Their Plan
This woman has a 30-year-old female friend who has Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and recently, they decided to go to Disney World together.
Her friend is currently single and does not have any children. She, on the other hand, has a 1-year-old kid. So, they opted to drive separately to the theme park, and she brought her toddler.
However, from the moment they arrived, her friend was dead set on following a very specific plan. She was told exactly what they would be doing, which rides they’d be going on first, and what times they could order food or drinks.
“This was fine,” she recalled, “Until about eight hours into the day, when I suggested we go on a different ride than what she wanted.”
In response, her friend pointed out how that wasn’t a part of her plan. Her friend was also adamant that they stick to her itinerary.
Still, she couldn’t have cared less about the plan since she was lugging around a 1-year-old and trying to accommodate both her child’s and friend’s needs.
Even so, she wound up following her plan for a few more hours in order to keep things peaceful at the park.
“But then, my child needed food, so I insisted we deviate from the plan so I could get something to fuel myself and my kid,” she explained.
Well, this caused her friend to have a total meltdown. Her friend began crying and accusing her of not being understanding.
satur73 – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only
Rather than dealing with the situation sensitively, she decided to be upfront with her annoyance.
“I told my friend it felt like I was at Disney with a baby and a 4-year-old,” she revealed.
Afterward, her friend proceeded to sit down on the ground and simply refused to stand up. That was her last straw, and she actually just walked away. Then, she bought herself some food and a coffee and drove home with her child – leaving her friend alone at Disney.
Now, in hindsight, she recognizes that there were likely better ways to handle this situation. That’s why she admits that she might’ve been impatient.
“I might be an ableist, too. After all, I did desire to take the easy way out by not dealing with it,” she said.
She noted that if they’d traveled to the park in the same car, then she never would have left her friend alone. Instead, she would have contacted her friend’s mom and gotten her a separate ride home.
Regardless, in the wake of this tense situation, she can’t help but wonder if leaving her friend at Disney due to the meltdown was really a jerky move.
Have you ever been in a situation like this? How would you have navigated it?
You can read the original post on Reddit here.
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