Well, that's just messed up.

As a person who also has Muscular Dystrophy and travels alone from time to time, I'd be furious if I had to crawl out of a plane. It is degrading. It's bad enough people already literally look down on in our wheelchairs, but to be seen crawling? Indescribable.

I'm thankful of having the fortune of encountering nothing but reasonable to outstanding service when I travel. And I have nothing but empathy for this woman.

Until we know the whole story, I don't know who to blame. As a disabled traveler, you have to learn to plan and arrange everything ahead of time. That means calling your airline 24 hours before your departure to notify them that you are a disabled passenger and to inform them of your needs, including a transfer chair and to have your chair ready for you at the gate.

You also need to arrive early so you have enough time to inform the check-in attendant one last time of what you'll need. This is critical. Because at that point, they can change your seats to sit closer up front, notify the freakin' control tower of your arrival, so they can tell the crew to look out for your chair, they can notify your destination or transfer city of your intent to be there so they are prepared. And they can get you boarded first, which what you're supposed to.

Do not wait for the last minute to tell your flight attendant as your plane is taxing into the gate that you'll need an aisle chair or whatever. While most F/A have the foresight to ask you before the plane even takes off of what you'll need at your arrival, it's really not their job to arrange for things outside the plane. That's the check-in counter attendant's job.

I've traveled countless times with both my manual and electric wheelchair, with companions and alone, and I've never had any problems. Hell, I flew American Airlines, one of the crappiest airlines in terms of customer satisfaction and I got excellent service. I get to skip the long lines in check-in because I was allowed to use the First-Class counter, got my seat bumped up to First-Class because Coach was full but hardly any in First-Class and they want me up front anyway. They notified everyone of my intent to fly including my transfer city and destination. So no-one was caught off guard and I had the option to use my own chair at the transfer instead of using the airport's. And one my return home, my flight was going to be delayed, which meant I'll miss my last bus home. But nope, the nice lady put me on a different flight, non-stop, on Northwest Airlines and I made it home on-time.

Disabled people have to make it easy for others to help them. Ironically, they need to be considerate of other people who can help them. Don't barge in the last minute making demands and waving the ADA flag if they can't get assistance right away. So, it may be that the woman in the article simply didn't allow the airline enough time to prepare. Either way, it still sucks for her.

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