Disabled Teen Kicked Out Of Theater For Laughing Too Loudly

[j2mirish]

I grew up dealing with prejudices against those with mental disabilities. My best friends sister was mentally disabled (and I practically lived with them). Her sister is very loud and laughs alot.....and she CAN'T help it. You would not believe how many people say mean things to or about her and how many nasty looks we still get out in public with her.

I have seen how hard it has been for her parents and know that a night out at the movies is a blessing. Why should this child have to stay home and the mom not get a few precious minutes of entertainment because of other peoples intolerance? We are all God's creatures, and none of us are perfect. And but by the grace of God, this could be one of our children.

I just wish people would put themselves in others shoes before reacting. After living with this for years, I would gladly sacrifice my $10 to see a child who has been mocked, scorned and cast aside enjoy a few loud laughs!!!

I agree 100%, as long as we are talking about some loud laughing......
is that what took place?

 

[may_west]

I have mixed emotions about this.

On one hand, If I pay $50 to take my family to see a movie & eat popcorn, I expect to enjoy the movie without the continual interuption of cell phones, colicky babies and other overwhelming distractions. I used to have season tickets to Broadway. The woman that sat next to me also had season tickets. These tickets are not cheap, approximately $75-/seat, depending on the show. The woman that sat next to me had a bad habit of crying (sobbing uncontrollably) at each and every musical that came to the Broadway stage. The "Little Shop of Horrors" played last year on Broadway. I thought that there was no possible way that the woman with the season tickets next to me would cry through that! Boy, was I wrong. Each time the words "Feed me Seymour, Feed me" were spoken, the woman broke out in tears. I've since changed the location of my seats.

On the other hand, if I had a son that was disabled (for whatever reason), I'd want him to enjoy all that life has to offer in the same aspect as it is offered to those without a disability. I'd want to take him to the movies so that he can laugh and so that he can hear the laughter of others.

There doesn't appear to be an easy answer to this situation. Maybe the mother should plan her & her son's theatre visits for the Wednesday matinee session. Maybe she did?

At what point are theatre owners responsible for the enjoyment of all? And who is responsible for determining the level of enjoyment? That would be a tough call.

 

[Linda7NJ]

You know, I have been thinking ...( scary I know lol) If if I take my family to the movie it costs around $60.00 and that's just for three of us! I would like to be able to HEAR the movie. I don't care if he was disabled or not, if he was loud, disruptive or otherwise prevented me from getting my money's worth, he should go.

The same holds true for babies. Why people insist on bringing infants to theaters is BEYOND me. Of course the child can't help it, it was up to the parents to be CONSIDERATE of others.

I have a very dear friend whose son died from Angelmans Syndrome. He was only 6 years old when he died. I don't know if there is varying degrees of the syndrome or not, but my understanding & experience is cognitively the child would not be laughing appropriately just spontaneously.

 

[tybee204]

My very close friend has a severely disabled child. Her son was born 2 weeks before my oldest son was born. We use to often take the boys to the movies but would attend the Matinee where the ticket price was cheaper and the patrons attending generally knew children would be present and likely disruptive. But when her son would become overly loud or disruptive as he did on occasion we would leave so as not to interupt the movie for other patrons.
IMO their has to be mutual respect and not a sense of entitlement that the disabled childs right to be disruptive supercedes the rights of the other patrons to recieve what they payed for.

 

[Jules]

respect

is exactly what this boils down to. I can't tell you how many times we went out to dinner when our kids were little and they'd act up. One of us would end up taking the kid to the car while the other boxed up the food and paid.

IMO if you know your child is bothering others by their behavior, then it is your place as the parent to defuse the situation.

There is no way I could sit through a movie knowing others have complained about my son. I would have quietly left.