Hi, my name is Kathleen Alluin. I have a son with special needs, his name is Dominick. I was supposed to get married in March of 2020 one week after the shutdown so of course we needed to cancel. Never in our wildest dreams did we think we would have to cancel our wedding once let alone twice due to traveling still not being safe for Dominick. With vaccinations and places beginning to accommodate children with special needs I was hoping to take my boys to California to go the the beach and Disney land in September for Dominicks 4th birthday. It would also be his first birthday he would get to celebrate with my family since I am from California. When I called to receive a one month extension on his travel credits it was really surprising to me that they said no. Usually I do try to be understanding but I guess I am tired of people telling my son no which we have heard a lot of during this pandemic. I guess it just surprises me that there are zero accommodations being made for people with disabilities. In March Southwest made a form available to people with disabilities like my son who has sensory sensitivities which I feel like is a step forward. But even now the flight credit would only be made available to my son for 4 months, even though at this time I am not so sure I would feel safe traveling with him even now. Which makes his time period to travel even shorter. He had a flight credit that was only made available to him in a time period he couldn't use it due to his disability and the representative had to say to me was "I don't know what to tell you." Just like when Disney refused to give any service to my son "it wasn't personal". I am not sure how it's so easy for people to so casually be insensitive to a child who is constantly having to overcome obstacles and how heart wrenching it is for his mother to watch. And all I asked for was an extension to his flight credits for one month.
