An incident at a Loudoun County library has caused an ADA violations charge to be filed by the mother of an adult with Downs Syndrome and autism. It seems that the daughter had an emotional outburst over being told she could not check out any more books. The Washington Post reports:
…when her 25-year-old daughter, Shannon, who has Down syndrome and autism, had an emotional outburst at a Leesburg public library, she was not surprised. But she was surprised, she said, at the library staff’s reaction.
While Aase was trying to calm down her daughter, she said, an employee of Rust Library demanded that Aase remove her daughter from the building. Then, Aase said, the employee threatened to do so herself. After that, she threatened to call police.
What could have been a passing tantrum has now become a fight over the rights of the disabled, a fight that Aase, well versed in such matters, has vowed to continue. She has filed two complaints under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) — one with Loudoun County and one with the U.S. Department of Justice.
Loudoun officials, citing the confidentiality of personnel matters, said they could not discuss the March 15 incident described in Aase’s complaint.
Loudoun County cannot discuss this case because of confidentiality so that means we only are privy to one side of this dispute–the side of the mother who is filing the charges. The Washington Post did report that Loudoun County reviewed the complaint and “concluded that there had been no ADA violation and that “personnel acted within the parameters of Loudoun County Public Library policies.”
