A Charlotte, Georgia family says their 11-year-old daughter was not allowed into a museum recently because staff said her wheelchair would “get the carpets dirty.”The girl, Lexi Haas, suffers from Kernicterus, a condition that has left her nearly entirely physically non-functional.
Lexi and her parents planned to visit the Ships of the Sea Museum in Savannah, Georgia. They were worried about Lexi’s visit since the museum is located in a historical building that would be difficult to navigate a wheelchair around. But apparently the problem wasn’t getting around the museum. It was getting into it.
When the family arrived at the museum, an employee told them that Lexi would not be allowed to enter because her wheelchair would dirty the carpets. When her father, Stephen Haas, pointed out that his shoes were just as dirty as his daughter’s wheelchair, the employee wasn’t convinced by that reasoning. Museum staff told the family that if Lexi wanted to enter she would have to use one of the museum’s wheelchairs.
But Lexi can’t use a standard wheelchair. Due to her condition, she has to use a wheelchair with total body braces and supports from head to toe. In an almost insulting answer, the museum staff told the Haas family that they could enter the museum while Lexi was shown a video outside. As you would expect, the family didn’t take the museum up on their offer.
The museum has apologized to the girl and her family and say the staff didn’t handle the situation properly. The Haas family isn’t looking to file a lawsuit against the museum; they just want the story to raise awareness on the importance of accommodating people with disabilities.
"They really need to train their staff. They really do. It's a significant error and significant departure in the current thinking on disability access," Lexi's mother Susan Haas said. "You shouldn't restrict someone because of her disability.”
(Daily Mail, WBTV) Reported by Opposing Views 14 hours ago.