She can stop traveling. Her needs don’t outweigh those of the other passengers. They “need” to travel, too. No sympathy for her, whatsoever. All sympathy for people who should have raised the roof with the airline over accepting behavior like that in a closed cigar tube they couldn’t escape.
Yes. True. Maybe the mom has never had to take her autistic child anywhere before, so didn't realize the problems he would cause, We just don't know all the facts. Its clear to me the airline was warned in advance something is wrong with the child, because the behavior of their staff indicates they are trying to work with the mom. Its probably also why they have said nothing publicly either (privacy laws).
Anyway, I'm just trying to provide some context beyond the "bad parent, bad kid" narrative.