If the mom felt that there was little chance of making it through the flight with the melt-down that she described then wouldn't the prudent step be to rebook on a later flight instead of expecting the airline to provide her a service she didn't pay for?
asked if I can purchase something hot for my daughter and [the first class flight attendant] said no" she said. "I called him back over and I said to him, 'Please, help us out here,'" but he again refused. "He came back again and I said, 'I have a child with special needs, I need to get her something.' And he said, 'I can't do that,'" she explained. "I said, 'How about we wait for her to have a meltdown, she'll be crying and trying to scratch in frustration. I don't want her to get to that point.'" .