I agree completely, I took my younger brother shopping and bought him an iPad as he is also autistic, among other disabilities. two people commented saying that kids nowadays just get whatever they want. disgusting how they judged without knowing that it's to help him achieve normalcy and interact with people

I agree with you as well. I can see where OP was coming from with his comment though. My younger sister is 10 and a total brat! My parents bought her a cell phone and since it kept breaking they bought her a new one with internet and touch-screen. And now they are buying her an iphone. There is nothing wrong with young kids having electronics unless (in my sister's case) they don't deserve them at all. She is one of the all around meanest people I know yet she still gets what she wants. It's pretty sad...

I see your point #49 but being bought stuff does not make a kid spoiled in itself. What makes a kid spoiled is having no sense of the worth of such things. Again, however, that's the parents' problem and none of the OP's business.

78 depending in how much you buy that kid you can buy a kid a 10-10$ items or 1 100$ dollar item and there is less wrong with buying the 100$ item, kids need to learn to appreciate things and not just keep getting new stuff regardless of cost, otherwise they'll no longer appreciate the gifts and become spoiled .

There's apps that you type words and sentences in and it soeaks for you

There's an app for that, I think.

Google it

24- you bought your little brother an iPad?? As in, YOU paid for it?! Will you be my big sister? :) pretty please??

225- Ssshh! Maybe she won't notice.

Don't tell anyone how to raise their own children.

Notebooks don't help autistic kids.

273-I've had a cell phone since I was 13. I think it should depend on the maturity of the child unless the kid needs it, like that woman's son.

What could it possibly matter to him what some one else buys for their kids?

17, it was wrong period. Doesn't matter why she was buying the iPad. It's HER child. No one should tell her what to do with her own child. Especially some stranger.

17- It wasn't a coworker, she was a complete stranger.

Or just don't speak at all.

"If you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all." -Thumper

Why though? It doesn't affect you, you don't even know them. If the family wants to spend money on that stuff for their kids, why do you even care? I'll never understand people like you.

I think it's because kids are being sacrificed to the electronics at such a young age. It doesn't bother me but it makes me think about how awesome my childhood was. being able to be outside and not rely on Facebook 24/7.

That is your pony of view.. My 2 year old know how to start a web app and start doing simple addition... I bet when you were two I were still drooling at the tv....

Well 33, if he/she spells anything like you then we know not to follow in your "pony view".

33 - I'm pretty sure you're statement is partially factually correct. When I was two, you WERE still drooling at the TV screen. My issue with youngsters having such ridiculously expensive "toys" is my issue with ******* entitlement. The same kid that gets an iPad at 6 gets a Camaro for their 15th birthday. The kid that gets a Camaro gets a free ride to college. The kid that gets a free ride to college has their parents pull strings for a nice first job. So on and so forth until you get my favorite people. The ones that firmly believe, "Poor people are commodities to be bought and sold." Like every homeowner I've ever done work for.

#33 - You could learn a lot from the TV before it turned into braindead entertainment and pretty animations...

A generation or two of kids have now spent most of their childhood in front of the TV. It amazes me how much TV my kids' peers watch. At least an iPad is a bit more interactive than the goggle-box. In any case, however, that is the parents' money and the parents' choice. Crucially, it's not OP's choice or OP's business unless they are OP's kids.

Spelling is irrelevant. The point is still valid. I'm sure that when TV first came out, people feared kids would waste their time/childhoods with it. Same for movies & video games. Apple products aren't worse. They're helpful learning tools. People just prefer things from their own childhoods.

One of my mom's colleagues came to her, frustrated because she didn't know what to do with her four year old. She said she bought the kid a laptop for her birthday but the child just kept trying to sit on her lap and be with her. My mom was upset and said, "Sit on the floor and PLAY with her. She' wants your attention, not your money." It annoys me too when people buy small children the latest gadgets but I would never say something to them unless it was my friend and it came up in conversation.

Toys have always been a parent's way of buying out of spending time with their kids. An iPad is no different from a little wooden train in that respect.

63 - except none of those things involve physical stimulation. Sitting there learning on your "new gadgets" all day can, yes, be useful for the intellectual part of development, but going outside and actually doing other things are important too.

And even after kid's parents pulled strings, the "kid" might still die from overdose, suicide or in car accident. You assume that material wealth, gadgets and toys guarantee happiness or well-being, which is why you're unhappy about "spoiled" children. In reality, life is unjust and nothing is guaranteed - anybody can get their life ruined or die horrybly for absolutely no reason at any moment. You might want to keep this in mind.

Point of view, the governments uses peoples lives as backing for debt all the time, we are their capital.

Don't blame shitty parenting on electronic gadgets lol. You can buy your Kid an Ipad and still be a good parent. Neglecting kids is nothing knew. When I was young we got sent outside even if we didnt want to go at the time. They didnt want us around.

I'll have to agree, 186. As soon as we'd come home from school, we'd have to do homework and then go outside until it was time for supper. There was no choice, the door was locked unless we had to use the bathroom or wanted some water.

Remember when Saturday morning cartoons ended with the main character giving a "moral of the story" and encouraging kids to be a good person and teaching manners?

Well.. At least he speaks better English than you..

There's a difference between freedom of speech and being a complete ********

So, you're scolding the OP for making an assumption, while making an assumption about the OP?

That assumption is on smaller scale than OPs. Plus it can be inferred if OP is basically scolding the mother on her parenting already, kids or no kids.

8- I know somebody like that. Claims to never want kids, has never really been around children, but knows EVERYTHING about raising them. She is one of those who thinks a parent should be a friend first, parent second, and scolds for punishing any way other than a time out. Completely ridiculous, I'm waiting on the day somebody puts her in her place.

Time to brace myself for the down-thumbing because I have a dissenting opinion. Woo!

10. are you serious? The kid is autistic and can learn from the IPad and you are calling them spoilt? Do you have any idea how tough being autistic can be?

I didn't call the kid "spoilt." I said it's really common for parents to spoil their children, and there was no way for the OP to know about the child's disability, which is why OP did not deserve it IMO.

You did say "parents over-spoiling their children" and sometimes autism is visible.

OP deserved it because no matter how much he may have objected to what they're buying their child, he had no right to say anything about it. There's some things in where you should just mind your own business about.

25, keyword: sometimes It has nothing to do with the kid being autistic. He's a kid just like any other 5 year old.

25: I don't recall the FML stating that the child was with the mother. And yes. Parents do over-spoil their children. I didn't say the parent in the FML particularly, I meant parents in general. Because it's true. I've heard of parents buying iPads for their (perfectly normal) 2-year-olds. I'm sorry but a *perfectly fine* child of that age does not need something like an iPad. I'm not denying that the child in the FML is a different story. I'm just saying the OP did nothing more than verbalize what a lot of people think when they hear someone talking about buying a ridiculously expensive electronic device for a small child.

So she shouldn't talk about things she buys her child for fear of offending someone who is ease dropping?

35: I didn't say that...? Jeez. Parents *usually* buy their kids iPads to get them out of their hair. Talking about it makes it obvious. End of story.

Nnnope - Everyone is entitled to an opinion. Yours here just happens to be incredibly stupid. There are lots of great educational apps for children. You don't have any right to criticise anyone's parenting technique. If I want to get something for MY child, that's MY right as a parent.

32. I will agree with you here, some parents spoil their kids rotten. But that does not make it ok for OP to but into conversations and rant about how they don't think an IPad should be bought for a child.

40: there's also a lot of educational THINGS parents can DO with their children. I'd rather take my kid to the park or a museum than waste $700 on something with a glass screen they could break and hurt themselves with. (Yes, you can hurt yourself on a shattered screen, my friend shattered her iPhone's screen and it cut her fingers).

Well my friend went to the park and broke her leg....... You can hurt yourself on a broken screen is no argument. Your friend deserved it for using a shattered screen. Implying all parents who get their children iPads and do nothing else with them is incredibly stupid.

26: OP is located in the United States, where we have this thing called "freedom of speech." You have no right to tell someone that they don't have the right to exercise their rights.

50: yeah I guess my friend deserved it for being a single mom with two jobs and still being unable to afford to fix that screen immediately. If you actually read my comments, you'd know I said it's COMMON. Not 100%. What happened to your friend is unfortunate, but I've seen a lot more shattered iPhone/iPad screens than I've ever seen broken legs.

I definitely feel for you. Particularly after you have this sucky situation (which I totally agree with) then fall foul of this site's habit of getting up itself in all disability related posts.

59: I don't know exactly what you mean...

Nnnope, your argument can then be said about persons of ANY age. No one NEEDS an iPad. People get them for a variety of different reasons, none of which are needs. So, by your standards, every person who owns an iPad is spoiled. You talk about freedom of speech to defend your opinion and words, yet you're deciding who should or should not own iPads? What happened to freedom to spend my money the way I choose? If a two year old uses an iPad to learn or communicate, who's to say my use of an iPad for playing games is a more justified one?

Oh look, another person taking my opinion as a personal attack. Notice how you said you can spend your money on what you want. You're not a 5-year-old, and you have the money to buy yourself an iPad. Good for you! Now go find me a 5-year-old with $700+.

Poking holes in your argument is not and should not be seen as me viewing it as a personal attack. Please learn how to argue properly, and instead of constantly reverting back to "notice how I said," use your words and try to make someone actually think your view might be comprehendible. The fact is, your opinion is entitled, arrogant, and uneducated. And you're now mad that person after person has jumped in and poked new holes in it, and essentially proved you wrong over and over.

Lol, not really. My opinion is my opinion, and yours is yours. I haven't once told another commenter that their opinion was wrong, like they're all so quick to tell me mine is. I suppose I'm the only one who thinks there's something wrong with that.

When an opinion is this ignorant, it's only public service to tell the owner it's wrong. Don't get mad, nnnope, we're just trying to educate.

It is your opinion that my opinion is "ignorant," and that's fine with me. You just keep on being self-righteous with strangers on the Internet. I hope it gives you self-confidence. In case it's not obvious, you're never going to convince me that my OPINION is "wrong."

And that is just fine by me. I'll just be here waiting until you, yourself, have an autistic child and see just how ignorant you're being.

96: yet it is my freedom and my right as a woman to make the decision to abort a child that would be guaranteed to never function as a normal human being for its entire life, and that fact probably makes you sooooo mad.

99 - Now this, I can whole-heartledly agree with. I am completely pro-choice and would absolutely hate for someone to try to control something in MY body. No way in hell are they getting near my womb with their beliefs.

You haven't seemed to grasp that I don't plan on HAVING an autistic child. Good luck "seeing" how I live my future, however! I'm done commenting in this thread. To everyone who comments after me - have fun!

103, you're so set in your angry mindset that you completely overlooked my agreeing with you. Good day, and good luck with your future life and children.

103 - Autism often doesn't show up until a child is around 2 years old. This is the basis of the whole "MMR vs autism" scandal in the UK. If you have a child then you may have an autistic child. Retro-active abortion is not an option! No-one (or at least very few) ever plans on having an autistic child. Not everything can be controlled, even by you.

Employees are required to make small talk to try and sell people additional products. He did deserve it, as he was not part of the conversation and "ranted" about it to people who did not ask for his opinion. I tell the employees when something is a gift and the gender/age so they can recommend the right products to go with it if they are available.

110 - I hadn't thought about that but that's correct. Even chromosomal abnormalities like Down Syndrome aren't detectable via ultrasound. You would need an amniocentesis, and by the time you would do that, it would legally probably be too late to abort, depending on where you live.

I think they are getting ever better at detecting genetic problems like Down's and a scan can give you an idea with some because they are often associated with developmental differences which can be detected (nuchal fold tests, looking for the nasal bone etc). I would always defend a woman's right* to have further tests and terminate a pregnancy if she (they) felt they could not give a child an acceptable standard of life. However, at present that is not an option for Autism. Whatever your view on an autistic child's standard of life, as far as I know, the diagnosis is on the basis of clinical observation rather than biological testing. You just can't do that until a child is old enough to interact with others and some autistic children "regress" in their social interaction and become evidently autistic when they were apparently normal not long before. You can't terminate on that basis without a time machine. * (although perhaps that should be the parents' right since some element of paternal choice might be advisable)

Just when I thought commenting (and commenters) couldn't get more arrogant, ignorant, self-righteous, and self-important, someone like nnnope comes along with this thread. Congratulations.

Look at all the hate for nnnope's completely understandable opinion... Even a regular made himself look foolish in the argument. nnnope wins this one. Well done.

I personally dislike how hypocritical fml is; I've seen hundreds of thumbed up comments saying how kids with Ipads and the like are spoiled, but in an fml about a situation where someone said that in public now everyone hates the person for having the same opinion that was previously thumbed up.

Nnnope, that logic is unsound. What you are basically saying is that OP has the right to judge people on the items they buy because what you percieve as the majority of people buy it for reasons you dislike. Also, let's focus on freedom of speech. I love when people use freedom of speech as an argument, because they use it a lot the way you used it. Yes, OP has the constitutional right to say something, no matter how stupid it is. However, people have the right to call OP stupid. They have a right to call your opinion stupid. They have the right to believe that OP doesn't have the right (in this case, a societal and not a constitutional right) to judge as OP judged.

I'm going to have to agree with nnope. If the FML had gone, "Today, I overheard that a woman was buying an iPad for her 5 year old. I wouldn't be able to afford one if I saved for a year. FML," every comment would be talking about how terrible it is that kids get whatever they want these days. There probably would have been comments saying that OP should have spoken up about it. I'm pretty sure that very few people would have given the mom the benefit of doubt if the wording was different and suggested it might help a disability.

Nnnope: I'm pro-choice, but that is, by far, one of the most completely ******* disgustingly ignorant things I've ever, EVER heard. You don't "plan" on having an autistic child? How ******* ignorant are you? Nobody PLANS on having an autistic child. If you did have an autistic child, however, it is your job, as a parent, to love that child unconditionally in spite of it's disabilities. You sound like one of the most arrogant, self-entitled twits I've ever heard. I seriously hope you DON'T have children. Your iPad rant has so many holes it's laughable. You can't justify your reasoning with logic, do you go on the defensive and bitch out anyone that disagrees. You're a sorry excuse for a person.

I think the same way, OP has the right to speak, and a child does NOT need and IPad, because there are other educational devices for children that would be better. It wasn't the OP's fault, he/she didn't know the child had autism, but the OP has a right to speak their mind, though, he/she shouldn't have ranted, just merely say their opinion.

What the **** did I just read? I've seen some bullshit but this thread takes the cake.

I just want to point out to the people who are complaining about how everyone would have agreed with OP had the child not been autistic that we -or at least I- most certainly wouldn't. The main YDI of the FML is that the OP ranted at this lady for a choice that OP has no business involving herself in. Privately thinking that the child must be spoiled is one thing, but butting in and yelling at the mother is an *entirely* different matter. Freedom of speech is not free license to be a dick.

If you scroll up, you can see how much support there is for the idea that OP should have minded her own business regrdless of her child's situation; it's none of her business.

Nickithebest - You may have the right to free speech in the US, but that does NOT give you the right to stick your nose where it DOES NOT BELONG. If a stranger made some comment to me about how he disagreed with how I am raising my child, I would calmly tell that person to go **** himself.

10- they were talking to an employee, OP just overheard. And what right did OP have to tell this complete stranger how to live her life and raise her kids? Sure little kids running around with iPhones and shit bugs me. It's unnecessary. But it's not my place to shit on the parents for it.

Regardless of whether it was for an autistic child or not, OP should have kept their opinion to themselves.

He did deserve it for butting in. I understand that some people spoil there kids. Believe me i know... But op shouldnt have said anythig to the woman its her business not his.

Congratulations, you have all been trolled. Now all of you go sit in the corner and think about what happened here. When you can assure me that you won't let this happen again, you can come out of the corner and I'll even give you a cookie.

I just want to say that if that woman was buying her son an iPad this time of year, it was probably a Christmas present and he probably was not with her. So no...his disability was probably not visible at all.

25 and 30

What happened to educational books?

Wow. This thread right here is just crazy. To think that people basically suggested in parts of this thread that one should consider terminating a pregnancy over Down syndrome or Autism is absolutely appalling. The last time people did mass terminations of children with disabilities was in Nazi Germany. Good to see that the Nazi ideals managed to live on in some format. Absolutely ridiculous. Also, who is anyone to tell anyone how to parent? My child owns an old iPod of my wife's and a small guitar and is only 3. It's not a spoiling factor, she has already shown musical ability and we are encouraging it. Sometimes parents know best what tools can be used to teach their kids, NOT outsiders.

Oh my god, this thread. Hahahahaha!

*eaves

126: because you're always soooo modest, doc.

For some reason I pictured the cat saying this o_o

Haha, whenever anybody has their profile picture of a face up close, or any character I hear their voice in my head when I read a comment