AGXStarseed
Well-Known Member
(Not written by me. Edited to remove the word "Sufferer")
The Bright Helm in West Street
A SUPPORT worker for Individuals with Asperger's is calling for better public education after pub bouncers refused to allow two members of his group inside a Wetherspoons.
Matt Day said he took a group of adult Aspies to the Bright Helm in West Street, Brighton, when one was barred from entering after waiting outside to smoke a cigarette and the second was barred from coming back in after going outside to help his friend.
Mr Day says one of the bouncers told him it was because the men were drunk, although the service manager at the Brighton-based group Impetus is certain neither had been drinking.
Wetherspoons has backed its door staff, saying one of the men did not have ID, while the other swore and did look drunk in their opinion.
Mr Day said the incident on Thursday, May 19 was upsetting for the two men involved, and it reflects a wider lack of awareness about Asperger's and how it might affect individual's social interaction.
He said: "It's a learning disability so people struggle to understand others and often they miss subtleties in speech like intonation and sarcasm.
"I explained that I was the manager of a charity and they had not been drinking but he refused to reconsider his position.
"The difficulty is the people we work with don't have a lot of money, so it's a shame for a night out to end up like this.
"To not be able to tell the difference between someone with autism and someone who has been drinking is very worrying.
"It's common for people with autism to have a difficulty in that situation.
"When people don't take the time to try and understand why that is, it can lead to problems and due to the nature of the disability people can react badly."
Wetherspoon's spokesman Eddie Gershon said one of the men was refused entry because he did not have ID, while the other customer then "swore at the door staff".
He claimed a third man had said, 'how do you know we haven't got Asperger's', which Mr Day denies.
He added: “The door staff told the customers they were not welcome due to having no ID, their language and behaviour. This is a position that Wetherspoon fully backs."
SOURCE: http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/1454..._drunk__39__barred_entry_to_pub__expert_says/
The Bright Helm in West Street
A SUPPORT worker for Individuals with Asperger's is calling for better public education after pub bouncers refused to allow two members of his group inside a Wetherspoons.
Matt Day said he took a group of adult Aspies to the Bright Helm in West Street, Brighton, when one was barred from entering after waiting outside to smoke a cigarette and the second was barred from coming back in after going outside to help his friend.
Mr Day says one of the bouncers told him it was because the men were drunk, although the service manager at the Brighton-based group Impetus is certain neither had been drinking.
Wetherspoons has backed its door staff, saying one of the men did not have ID, while the other swore and did look drunk in their opinion.
Mr Day said the incident on Thursday, May 19 was upsetting for the two men involved, and it reflects a wider lack of awareness about Asperger's and how it might affect individual's social interaction.
He said: "It's a learning disability so people struggle to understand others and often they miss subtleties in speech like intonation and sarcasm.
"I explained that I was the manager of a charity and they had not been drinking but he refused to reconsider his position.
"The difficulty is the people we work with don't have a lot of money, so it's a shame for a night out to end up like this.
"To not be able to tell the difference between someone with autism and someone who has been drinking is very worrying.
"It's common for people with autism to have a difficulty in that situation.
"When people don't take the time to try and understand why that is, it can lead to problems and due to the nature of the disability people can react badly."
Wetherspoon's spokesman Eddie Gershon said one of the men was refused entry because he did not have ID, while the other customer then "swore at the door staff".
He claimed a third man had said, 'how do you know we haven't got Asperger's', which Mr Day denies.
He added: “The door staff told the customers they were not welcome due to having no ID, their language and behaviour. This is a position that Wetherspoon fully backs."
SOURCE: http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/1454..._drunk__39__barred_entry_to_pub__expert_says/
