Transportation Security Administration Criticized for Treatment of Passenger with Severe Mental Illness

via the Association for Airline Passenger Rights (6.15.11):

Association for Airline Passenger Rights Expresses Outrage Over TSA's Treatment of Passenger with Severe Mental Illness; Cruel Treatment Exhibited by TSA Agents Warrants Immediate Review

The Association for Airline Passenger Rights ("AAPR") today expressed outrage over the Transportation Security Administration's ("TSA") cruel treatment toward a 22-year old passenger with several mental illness despite concerns expressed by his family that he had the mental capacity of a 2-year old. The incident, which occurred at Metro Detroit's McNamera Terminal (DTW) while the family was flying to Disney World, demonstrates that an immediate need exists for TSA's to review its policies to prevent future abuse and humiliation of passengers with physical, sensory, cognitive and mental disabilities. AAPR contends that the incident violates the spirit of the Air Carrier Access Act of 1986 (ACAA).

"We don't accept airlines violating the rights of passengers with disabilities, and we need to hold our government to the same basic standards," argued Brandon M. Macsata, Executive Director of the Association for Airline Passenger Rights. "This sort of inexcusable treatment of a passenger with severe mental disabilities, who was under parental supervision at the time nonetheless, cannot and must not be tolerated. If it wasn't a violation of the ACAA law - which is designed to protect very basic rights afforded to passengers with disabilities - then it surely goes against the spirit of the law"...

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Comments

[Darby]

It's clear that this young man was subjected to terrible treatment - but please, the article said that he has a developmental disability, not a "severe mental illness" (which is not a term that those of us in the mmovement for humen rights for people with psychiatric labels would ever use to describe anyone, either). while I'm sure the original mistake was made in the piece you cited, I would hope that AAPD would know better than to use such offensieve language.