Non-verbal autistic boy, 9, is ordered to leave Cracker Barrel in Maryland by staff during school trip

Daily Mail UK ^ | December 9, 2024 | Sonya Gugliara

[Morgana]

A group of special-needs students was denied service at Cracker Barrel in Maryland, with the mother of an autistic boy expressing outrage after the restaurant's manager told them not to come back.

Stacey Campbell said her non-verbal son Jojo, 9, was refused sit-down service at the restaurant in Waldorf on Tuesday along with 10 other special-needs children.

Jojo was on the trip with his school's community-based instruction (CBI) program, which gives special-needs children the opportunity to go on field trips and participate in educational activities.

According to an email from a teacher, the kids and the seven adults with them were denied service at the Cracker Barrel even though they called beforehand to confirm they did not need a reservation.

The email said that the decision had nothing to do with the children's behavior and that the manager told the group not to come back for any future field trips.

'So, if you’re telling them to take us off the list, then they're not welcomed there. Why?' Campbell told WJLA.

The restaurant only allowed the group to place a to-go order and made the students sit in the back of the eatery, where they waited for more than an hour, the teacher's email said.

'We did take the food back to the school and the students enjoyed their lunch and were so well behaved,' it stated.

'I am however disappointed about this experience and am still stunned that this happened in a public setting.'

The email also noted that Cracker Barrel staffers were very rude to the group.

The concerned mother shared the letter on social media to bring attention to the situation, sparking hundreds of reactions.

[rlmorel]

That’s how I see it.

[rlmorel]

Managing anyplace that has teenagers working it and people walking in off the street is a formula for drama and uncertainty!