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.”
At the heart of the matter, Mrs. Aase, who works for the federal government as an advocate for people with disabilities and who is on the board of directors for a local disability advocacy group, is outraged that her child should be expected to go by the rules. The Washington Post further stated:
To Aase, what happened at the library represents a potentially dangerous lack of knowledge of federal guidelines and appropriate practices when interacting with people with disabilities. She is convinced that the incident was a violation of Title II of the Americans With Disabilities Act, a statute requiring that state and local government entities make “reasonable modifications in policies, practices, and procedures” to accommodate people with disabilities.
The fact that the Loudoun County employ felt it necessary to warn that she would call the police speaks volumes about the other side of the story that we aren’t hearing. The key seems to be ‘reasonable modifications in policies, practices and procedures.’ At what point did Shannon Aase disturb staff and those trying to use the library? The outburst lasted 10 minutes. That seems to be a rather long time in a place who is known for SHHHHHHH! Quiet Please.
We here at Moonhowlings have often been the object of derision over our policy to not allow county employee bashing. This is an excellent example of why. We don’t know who the employee is but this is a one sided story. This employee simply cannot defend him or her self.
Being subjected to someone’s temper tantrum is unacceptable, for whatever reason. While it doesn’t bother Mrs. Aase, temper tantrums do annoy most of the rest of us and have no place in public buildings. (or on airplanes or in restaurants, etc.) No, I am not going to be understanding. I expect parents to take temper tantrums and crying babies out of such public places. It’s just common courtesy. “[R]easonable modifications in policies, practices, and procedures” does not mean that the general public is held hostage to unacceptable behavior because someone has a disability or condition.
Common courtesy to the rest of the patrons and staff of the library ought to trump, to use Mrs. Aase’s words, accommodations made for disabilities and thus the behavior of her daughter. While this behavior might be normal for this family, it does cause a disturbance in public and the rest of us should not have to be subjected to it for longer than a minute or two. Mrs. Aase should have taken her daughter out when it started.
To claim that anyone has a right to throw a fit in a library without so much as being removed is an absurd misuse of the Disabilities act.
I read the Post story just to make sure I’m not missing something. This woman is a big-time jerk. A normal person would have lead their daughter out of the library and regretted the outburst. This woman wants to sue someone, with the pretense that society can or should make the world a wonderful positive shiny place for every dysfunctional person at every moment and that a library is a good place to throw an emotional fit.
The irony lost on this woman is that she presumes a library should naturally exist where her daughter can go to borrow books and music for free. In point of fact it’s paid for by taxpayers, out of largesse. Her response is not gratitude for its existence, but a desire to sue us. I’m sure that we the people are paying out the ears to help her daughter in a myriad of ways, and this is the thanks we get.
Furthermore, the fact that The Post printed this story is a typical example of what a rag it is. There are probably real news stories out there, but this was the genned-up bleeding heart story of the day.
@Rick, I agree with your first 2 posted comments. I think the woman is trying to make a point and that she is pretty much an ungrateful jerk also. Please give me points for not calling her Mrs. Ass (Aase) as I was tempted to do.
However, how would we even know about the case if the Washington Post didn’t print the story? I didn’t think they were particularly sympathetic, just reading between the lines. I think they went out of their way to subtly say it was only one side of the story.
I am grateful that they or someone reported on this woman’s attempt to abuse power and to steal from the public. I don’t want to go to the library and have to listen to an adult (disabilities or not) throw a temper tantrum that goes on for 10 minutes.
I’m more skeptical about the Post than you. Their unrelenting bias against immigration enforcement and their unending parade of associated sob stories has offended me. It seems to me that they pick and choose which stories to cover, and i found this one an odd choice.
I agree with Rick’s first two comments as well. I think the mother should have taken her daughter outside to let her calm down. I think most people would have tolerated a couple minutes of noise inside but beyond that the mother should have shown some courtesy for other patrons and employees and removed her daughter. I don’t think her daughter’s disability trumps other patrons’ rights to the quiet use of their library. I don’t think a ten minute outburst should be tolerated in restaurants, assemblies, or most other public places either.
Lets roll video! Does the article state how long the outburst lasted? It’s the new way to make a living. No education needed, just sue people using free legal services or any support group lawyers who’ll plead your supposed case.
Supposedly 10 minutes which probably means longer.
Wow, ten minutes is a loooooong time to listen to anything. Even an Obama speech ; )
I’ll have to look up the article today.