You are really stretching the requirement to the breaking point and beyond.

And they did provide a hot meal, they took one from F or a crew member. Above the required.

And they only denied them service when it became a threat which happened when the mother said the child would become violent. Are you saying they have to accommodate at the expense of everyones safety when a person of needs becomes violent? They did not divert and have them deplane because the child was autistic, they did it because the mother proclaimed the child would get violent and could hurt someone.

ADA doesn't apply to airlines. They're covered by ACAA.

Scratching doesnt mean violent
 

She most probably meant the kid was going to start scratching herslef. That's what nervous or kids with special compulsions do. They don't go looking for someone else to scratch in other rows. If everyone in charge stopped looking for drama, then they would understand that. as I have said, the mother does seem to be a little bit of an self entitled lady judging by her facebook postings. Still, I keep reading throughout this thread about "threats". Give me a break.

And it seems obvious the FAs were ready to kick them out as they were serving the hot meal. Again, my question to the mother was what if the airline didn't have a hot meal. So I am not letting her off the hook fully. But the way things unfolded, no matter what I think of the mother's behavior, the airline overreacted and wasted a lot of people's time.

EDIT: Looks like they meant scratching others too judging by her scratching of her father. Still, I don't think she would have scratched someone in a different row. If I am sitting in the next row, my preference would be to reach Portland ASAP, not worry about some kid trying to get out of her row to come scratch me.

Anyone else remember the thread a while back when a deaf passenger claimed that the airlines would be in violation of ADA because they wouldn't let him sit in an exit row?

I don't think ordering a special meal in advance would have been an option. First of all, hot isn't a category that one can pick. Secondly, you can't request a special meal for a flight that doesn't have meal service in your confirmed cabin. Finally, AFAIK USA carriers now only offer special meals on especially long, primarily international (and maybe Hawaii? maybe the nonstop transcon p.s. flights?) routes, not on normal domestic flights.

She was quoted as saying in one of the articles the child may scratch someone. That is a direct threat that the child could start hurting someone else. And in the article some people were on the families side and others were on UA's side. I am not going to take sides as I wasn't there and most likely you weren't either.

That may be true, but that's not what she said, according to her own FB post:

You also have to consider the context, based upon the reports of other passengers that she was being disruptive by moaning, etc.

I think one paragraph in Mom's FB post is really telling:

This incident seems to have much less to do with UA and much more to do with Mom and her interest in making particular quasi-political statements.

Greg

Somewhere I saw a statement that the kid had scratched her father, who was sitting next to her, on the flight. I don't know whether this supposedly happened before or after the kid got the hot FC meal.

correction on scratching
 

OK, I need to expand the scratching to include the family around her. I still doubt she would have been seeking people outside her immediate vicinity to make physical contact with. She probably considers her and her parents to be of the same "space".

EDIT: I just saw the video. Looks like she did scratch her dad.

And the FA should reasonably assume what you're suggesting to be the case? How in the heck, after scratching her father, and the mother making threats about it, would the FA not at least inform the captain of the situation?

That's what happened. The captain then made a decision to divert. In the world of air travel, when there's any potential of danger to passengers, you err on the side of caution.

The fact that you feel the child probably wouldn't have scratched others is totally irrelevant. If the FA or captain did, they need to act.

Link
Link 2
So in different articles the Mom says she indicated the daughter would self-injure via scratching or would scratch others (unprovoked physical contact that causes pain/wounds, however superficial, is considered assault + battery & could leave UA liable to claims from other passengers) if her tantrum continued.

Even if the kid just injures herself, it could become a medical emergency if sufficiently severe.

This is exactly the point many people seem to be missing. Most of us weren't on this flight. But many people are commenting on how they're sure the FA overreacted or they're sure the kid wouldn't have hurt anyone.

The mother herself, in the links you provided, isn't clear. In an unclear situation, you can either a) ignore it and wait for clarity, or b) take the most cautious approach to avoid an escalation.

As a customer, I always want United to take the cautious approach in safety situations. Sometimes that means you upset a few people.

The ADA statutory language exempts air transportation.

Yes, any flight up to 24h later, subject to availability.

Would UA even cater a meal on request on a non-meal flight (for the passengers ticketed cabin)?

There's no special meal for "hot meal" listed on their website, so I'm not sure UA could even provide one.

Yes, this.

The Mom keeps finessing her story. Can you imagine if they did not divert and for whatever reason the teen had another scratching incident, this time of the passenger in the seat in front of her, what the liability for UA would be? It would be huge since they had already been warned by the Mom that the teen could go ballistic and start scratching.

The Mom did everything wrong and continues to do so. UA was correct. The more I read about the woman the more I feel sorry for her family.