Dear Lady with the Autistic Child

So I saw you on the bus a while ago and you seemed like an alright type. I mean, I don't go out of my way to notice people on buses these days. I noticed that you had a small child with you, maybe around the age of 4-5?

He was noisy. So incredibly noisy. And he was running around on the bus while it was moving and you weren't making any efforts to slow him down. A well-meaning gentleman decided to talk to you about it, stating that perhaps you ought to do something about your child (like maybe ASK him to sit down?) before he (or someone else) got hurt. And what did you say to the well-meaning man?

Oh, he doesn't need to behave. He's autistic.

...

Oooookay then. Because that suddenly makes it better? Your son looks to you for social cues. He looks to you to know what's right and what's wrong. Perhaps he does have autism (I can't tell by looking a kid - for all I know he could be just bad at behaving on buses), but that is no excuse not to have him behave on public transit.

No excuse at all.

Sincerely,
Someone who knows better.