I came across this blog post on Facebook, written by the mother of a young woman with a chromosomal disorder, resulting in invisible disability.
On Sunday night, Charlie was thrown out of a pub in Brighton – for being disabled. There was only one other customer in the pub as everyone else was sitting outside on the benches. As we were being served, I suddenly noticed that Charlie was crouching quietly on the floor with her hands over her ears. She said it was because a sudden burst of loud music had startled her. The barman said she would have to leave.
I was shocked and explained that she was disabled, that the music had temporarily scared her but that she was okay now. He insisted that she was not welcome no matter how calmly I tried to explain why this was wrong. We had no option but to do as they asked.
If I had been there, and been startled (a side effect of my cerebral palsy), I’d have given the barman what for.
He has since been dismissed from his job.
