Woman took photographs of 'autistic' stranger At Nashville Airport. Then a Southwest worker came looking for her

Lexie Hayden (@lexiehayden) was sitting by herself at the Nashville airport, waiting to board her flight, when a girl with autism approached her. She asked Hayden to click her pictures in front of different Nashville signs. Without hesitation, she pulled out her phone and clicked pictures, oblivious to the fact that the universe would reward her for the kind gesture almost immediately. Hayden shared the incident on Instagram on December 24.

A Southwest Airlines employee had accompanied the girl to drop her off at the gate. She told Hayden that she doesn't get to travel much and wanted to take some pictures to send to her parents. "I have no storage on my phone; can you take these photos for me?" she asked. Hayden agreed and walked over with her to click her pictures. She clicked the girl's photos, wished her a merry Christmas, sent her the pictures, and went back to waiting for her flight. Ten minutes later, the Southwest Airlines employee returned to Hayden with a $50 voucher for her next Southwest flight for her kind gesture. "It made my day, and I just want to remind you guys to be kind this holiday season," Hayden said. What she did might not be a big deal to her, but it meant the world to the autistic girl. She never really got to travel, and hence wanted to steal some memories from her trip, and Hayden helped her with that.

Unfortunately, our society is very unkind to people who are "different" than the so-called spectrum of normal. In fact, they leave no opportunity to mock people on the spectrum. Research from 2011 by Andrea C. Samson et al. found that nearly half (45%) of autistic people tested are gelotophobes, people who have a fear of being laughed at or ridiculed. This reflects the harsh reality of society; we've become so insensitive towards autistic people that most of them are scared to socialize. Likewise, researchers from the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore and Johns Hopkins University surveyed 1,200 parents with a child with autism and found 63% of the kids had been bullied. They also found these kids were three times more likely to be bullied than their siblings without the disorder. 

Meanwhile, reacting to Hayden's wholesome encounter, @carinfradin commented, "Love this! You made her day, and then she made yours! The world would be much better and happier if everyone paid it forward like this!" Similarly, @26_griffin shared, "As someone on the spectrum, this touched me so much, and this is why ily! A simple act of kindness changes everything and everyone, especially the young kids and adults on the spectrum. Gosh, I love this!" @katens_creations said, "That’s something I would do. It’s so much easier to be nice to people than to me, and if more people were like you, then the world would be a better place. Plus, you made some girls' day! Keep doing you, girl; keep doing good things in the world." @abuelitacaicedo wrote, "Kindness always is the right choice. For future reference. Have her go to messages on her phone and use the camera to take a photo and send it to herself or any contact she chooses. It doesn’t take up storage, and you don’t have to use your phone. I’m glad your kindness was rewarded."

You can follow Lexie Hayden (@lexiehayden) on Instagram for more lifestyle content.

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