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Mom shares touching text from autistic son’s seatmate on first solo flight

A mom who was nervous about sending her 7-year-old autistic son on his first solo flight has shared a  touching text she received from the boy’s seatmate in a now-viral Facebook post.

Las Vegas mom Alexa Bjornson wrote on the social media site last week that she recently put son Landon on a plane to visit his dad in Oregon with a letter to pass on to the person sitting next to him, explaining that “he has high functioning autism so he might be nervous and ask you ‘are we there yet’ a lot” along with $10 to compensate for the hassle.

After the plane landed, she received a text from a man named Ben showing a picture of him with Landon, and saying the youngster had been “a great travel buddy” and that he’d donated the money to the National Autism Society, according to Today Parents.

“I was Landon’s seat neighbor for his flight to Portland. He did ask if we were there yet several times but he was a great travel buddy,” Ben wrote.

“We had a good time and played a few rounds of rock-paper-scissors. He’s a great kid and you’re a lucky mom. I appreciate the $10 but it wasn’t necessary. I donated to Autism-Society.org in honor of Landon.”

Bjornson told Today Parents that she was moved by the message.

“I want to thank Ben all over again. He is amazing,” Bjornson, 28, told the site. “It is a very humbling experience and I just hope that it raises awareness that if you see children having a hard time — or not — that just a kind gesture can change the outlook in their lives.”

Bjornson’s Facebook post about Ben’s note has since been shared 138,000 times, and racked up 15,000 comments from people praising the gesture.