An autistic person’s fear of flying has been misinterpreted as a fear of crashing, when in fact they had begun to feel that plummeting to almost certain death might be a blessed relief, sources have revealed.
When Alix Gardner, 44, was seen crouched beside the emergency exit, flight attendants hurried to reassure them that all was well. “In fact, I was thinking of grabbing a parachute and taking my chances,” Gardner said.
“I’d been sitting with my knees together in front of me like a fucking debutante for the past four hours, and someone across the aisle kept blowing their nose. It was horrifying.”
Gardner was briefly soothed by the arrival of a meal in which all components were kept beautifully separate. However, they began hyperventilating into a paper bag when the seatbelt light was switched off, indicating that there were no safety concerns whatsoever and the plane would be continuing toward its destination for the next five hours.
Fellow passenger Deborah Whitehead, 61, commented, “Look at that nervous flier over there. Poor thing. I’ll lean over and distract them with a bit of light-hearted chat.”
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