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Md. family, son with special needs asked to leave Outback Steakhouse due to son's 'noises'
ABC 7 WJLA ^ | August 7, 2019 | Caroline Patricks, WJLA Staff

Posted on 08/13/2019 12:53:26 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks

Glen Burnie, Md. (WJLA) - A family says they are left heartbroken and saddened after they were asked to leave an Outback Steakhouse restaurant in Glen Burnie, Maryland on Saturday night because of their son who has neurological challenges.

Amanda Braun's son, Killian, was born with a neurological disorder that affects his speech called Childhood Apraxia of Speech. The disorder affects Killian in many ways especially communication and behavior.

Sometimes when he speaks, his words are unclear.

However, Amanda says she's never had problems before the incident at Outback occurred and that Killian was not acting out of the ordinary.

"Our son stayed with us in our booth. There weren’t many people around us as we were seated in the very back of the restaurant to accommodate our party size" said Amanda. She admits there was some noise but that it wasn't constant.

She says moments after dinner arrived, they were approached by a manager and ultimately asked to leave.

(Excerpt) Read more at wjla.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: Maryland
KEYWORDS: childhoodapraxia; children; glenburnie; kickeout; maryland; outback; outbacksteakhouse; specialneeds; speech
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To: humblegunner
The lack of screaming, pooping and flailing retarded kids has rendered my life joyless and unfulfilled. If only my genes were sufficiently defective I might have a tard of my own.

Wow. Just. Wow.

You sound like a Lefty. Why don't you advocate for ridding society of what you call "tards"?

121 posted on 08/13/2019 2:52:14 PM PDT by ealgeone
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To: NorthMountain

Well, you keep thinking that.


122 posted on 08/13/2019 2:53:10 PM PDT by ealgeone
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To: A_Former_Democrat

A wedding? I agree.

But church is a place a child should be. On that, we disagree.


123 posted on 08/13/2019 2:55:00 PM PDT by MortMan (Americans are a people increasingly separated by our connectivity.)
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To: ealgeone
Why don't you advocate for ridding society of what you call "tards"?

Society can take care of itself.

124 posted on 08/13/2019 2:57:54 PM PDT by humblegunner
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks
It's a matter of degrees. My first thought is-what is it doing the disabled child to subject him to situations he cannot handle? This is where 'make everyone feel good' overcomes common sense.
Otherwise a child(and ADULT 'special' children are another thing) who is making occasional noises is far different from one who is screaming, throwing things, whose behavior cannot be controlled by the parents is NOT enjoying eating out and is preventing other patrons from enjoying themselves.
I knew of one woman whose ADULT, severely retarded son jumped on tables like a monkey, screamed and was a total disruption. They were banned from just about every public place-as they should have been IMO.
What do parents like this get out of insisting their kids can handle normal situations that they CANNOT? Not relaxation or pleasure. Is it to make a point? Does it help the child? Can socializing cure their disability?
Bottom line, if you can't control your kids behavior in public the public has a right to object. Stop forcing them into normal situations they -and you-cannot handle.
125 posted on 08/13/2019 3:01:37 PM PDT by ClearBlueSky (ISLAM is the problem. ISLAM is the enemy of civilization.)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

As a uncle of a special needs child, I think this is overblown. I’m not sure who’s at fault, however, disabled kids should be able to go to dinner with their family. Outback is not exactly a high end steak house, but Outback and the family should be able to discuss this PRIVATELY!!


126 posted on 08/13/2019 3:06:18 PM PDT by Deplorable American1776 (Proud to be a DeplorableAmerican with a Deplorable Family...even the dog is, too. :-))
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To: CatOwner
Being a parent, I am much more tolerant of children noises out in public than I was prior to having a child.

I am less so; because we trained our child and I know it can be done. We prepared for any restaurant excursion by making sure he was not so ravenous that a slow waiter would have pushed him over the edge; we took an entire tote bag of soft and quiet toys and soft books which we switched out one at a time the moment he got bored, and seated him with his back to the crowd whenever possible. We also explained clearly and simply what behavior we preferred and rewarded him with praise and smiles for good behavior. As he got older, quiet word games and drawing with soft pencils were favorite pastimes while waiting in public.

Importantly, if he made noise, we took him out of the room until he calmed down; we and did not inflict it on others, especially when traveling far from home.

Especially with music performances, we used a pacifier, pinned to his clothing so there would be no dropping or searching. (No, the pacifiers didn't misalign his teeth nor the habit persist into adolescence.) He was so well trained that he was able to sit quietly through an entire classical guitar performance in the music academy hall at age 3 -1/2, with the aid of a pacifier. He asked for and started classical music lessons at age 6.

Children tend to do what is expected of them if they are loved and encouraged, but also disciplined clearly and fairly. Parenting is a lot of disciplined work; but if you do the work and make it fun, good results become evident.

127 posted on 08/13/2019 3:06:23 PM PDT by Albion Wilde (It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it. --Douglas MacArthur)
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To: humblegunner

Loud kids don’t bother me. As my dad used to say “That’s not loud. A Banzai attack is loud. Incoming artillery is loud”


128 posted on 08/13/2019 3:07:48 PM PDT by AppyPappy (How many fingers am I holding up, Winston?)
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To: humblegunner; Yaelle

God bless you, Yaelle for the care and consideration you have shown-my 1st job after college was as a case worker for mentally retarded adults-my clients were all medium-to-high functioning and many had Down Syndrome-they were some of the nicest and most decent people I’ve known. Myself and my co-workers often brought clients from their apartments to spend holidays at our homes with our families because their own families could not be bothered with their less-than-perfect relatives and didn’t want to be seen with them. I worked there at MHMR for almost 8 years until going to work in the private sector as a case manager-and I still consider that 1st job at MHMR my favorite...

That experience is likely why it annoys me to hear someone call a person they disagree with “retard”, “retarded” etc-mental retardation is a disability-it is neither a chosen behavior, nor are retarded people circus freaks-it does not speak well of us here at FR to use retard, etc as a slur-you are disparaging people with that disability by using that as an insult-no better than the “N” word, in my opinion...


129 posted on 08/13/2019 3:08:30 PM PDT by Texan5 ("You've got to saddle up your boys-you've got to draw a hard line"...)
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To: JimRed

It’s about common sense. In BOTH cases
In ALL CASES. What about a child without feet placed ON the table so he can feed HIMSELF??
Common sense tells me to put the child in a chair and feed him yourself. C’mon


130 posted on 08/13/2019 3:14:21 PM PDT by smvoice (I WILL NOT WEAR THE RIBBON. I'm. AN ANTI DEMITE)
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To: humblegunner; Yaelle

Actually, I think “retard “ is worse then the “N” word-at least that slur is only racial-where “retard” is a slur on that person’s humanity and being...


131 posted on 08/13/2019 3:17:32 PM PDT by Texan5 ("You've got to saddle up your boys-you've got to draw a hard line"...)
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To: riverrunner
I have a very large family we wouldn’t think about excluding the children form either wedding or churches.

Do you let them shriek,yell or run about during the prayers, the sermon, the communion, or the wedding vows? If so, you are being disrespectful not only of those who are there to worship, but also of the Lord's house. At a wedding, the hosts have paid big bucks to host you and others want to be able to hear what one hopes is a once-in-a-lifetime ceremony that may also be videotaped. Trust me, few people in this world think other people's disruptive kids are adorable.

132 posted on 08/13/2019 3:23:28 PM PDT by Albion Wilde (It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it. --Douglas MacArthur)
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To: Red Badger
My wife and I, being senior citizens and no children at home, eat out fairly regularly.
But when we do, it seems the hostesses always seat us in teh ‘family sections’ with all the screaming children or if not here, they seat us next to the kitchen doors with constant going out and coming in.
We walked out of a Chili’s once because of the seating.

Something similar happened to us at Red Lobster. They sat us all the way in the back, near the lavatories, where there was a constant stream of people. There were other open booths in the central area. OK, we didn't like it but thought it was just bad luck of the draw. Maybe they were trying to even out the load on the waiters.

Next time, we were seated one booth up - still a lousy setting. I didn't want to make a scene at the restaurant, so I complained on YELP about seating senior citizens out of sight of the younger crowd. I got a call from the manager who claimed that wasn't the case and offered a free meal. We turned it down and said to just stop the "non-existent" practice.

We go there once a month because of their "Endless Shrimp" Mondays and they lose money on me - I have no shame.

The next time we went, I was on Full Alert, but the sweet young thing gave us a window booth in the center section.

Just to play safe, I now point out the booth we want when it looks like we're being herded to the back. Always get in the center section now. Would go back if it wasn't for those damned Scampi Shrimp.

133 posted on 08/13/2019 3:24:39 PM PDT by Oatka
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To: Texan5

Thank you for your lovely and true post. My sons are wonderful human beings and I am so glad they are kind and decent - not like some of the “perfect” people around here.


134 posted on 08/13/2019 3:30:57 PM PDT by Yaelle
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To: MIA_eccl1212

The word “suffer” in the King James translation did not mean to inflict emotional or physical distress. It meant “allow”, or even “put up with” (having to tote them around to hear the Master); but it did not mean, “allow them to make everyone around them suffer from their bad behavior.”


135 posted on 08/13/2019 3:31:39 PM PDT by Albion Wilde (It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it. --Douglas MacArthur)
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To: ClearCase_guy
Some restaurants use bad judgment. Some parents use bad judgment. I have no way of knowing which is which here.

Well, I do.

The idea that every business has to accommodate every abnormal person at the expense of normal people is absurd. I think of this every time I see a snowflake with a service animal at the airport of in a restaurant. I think of it when peanuts and peanut butter are treated as near lethal weapons. I think of it when some fat slob must be accommodated in a coach seat and to hell with the people next to him/her who paid for a full seat.

Restaurants, especially ones with liquor licenses, are places where most people expect to relax; not to put up with ill-behaved children (or adults). (And yes, I've taken my kids and grandkids to restaurants, but I was always prepared to take them out if I had ANY sense that they might be disturbing others.)

ML/NJ

136 posted on 08/13/2019 3:41:07 PM PDT by ml/nj
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To: miserare

All kidding or (not) aside, it is a very sensitive issue, one I
have 20 years of experience with - raising an non verbal
severely autistic child.

I see and understand both sides very clearly - people with handicapped kids want to bring their special needs kids everywhere for socialization -to help them cope adapt and enjoy as much family time as possible, others don’t want to deal with the yelling yelping quacking roaring that are attempts to communicate, as well as other repetitive behaviors that are strange and hard to understand and can scare the bejesus or even endanger other little ones as during a meltdown, (which can occur anywhere)

My son from heredity/medication has grown from toddler to lineman size, and food is extremely important to him. His public bellowing if triggered could intimidate most servers and diners and we have managed it like this: In most cases home cooking (our grilling/cooking is terrific) and takeout/delivery/drive thru works just fine, but he can also, due to his past experience being taken to restaurants with his special Ed class and the family, generally, regulate himself enough to enjoy sitting for an extended meal- we are planning a day trip to a nearby seafood shack this week weather permitting where we a group of 5-6 will sit outdoors at our own table, he will stuff himself, eating neatly and enjoy every minute. If someone susses that he’s disabled no big deal, there’ll be no or limited polite interaction with others and if he acts up we can exit rapidly, everyone deserves to eat their meals peacefully.

You gotta look it this way - disabled kids have a lifetime of mental and/or physical struggles in store, it is very sad that so many will never be able live a life filled with the typical milestones most of us are fortunate to realize- for them a simple pleasure like dining out, should be indulged but I agree never infringing on others. There’s plenty of lousy parents of normal
kids who allow them to run amok, kick, scream, throw stuff, etc. in any public place (stores seem to have ditched the old no kids under 13 rules) and they should respect others space as well


137 posted on 08/13/2019 3:41:59 PM PDT by Phil DiBasquette
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To: Yaelle

You are welcome-and thank you for accepting your sons the way God made them, loving them and bringing them up to be kind and decent people-parents like you made my job a happy one...


138 posted on 08/13/2019 3:47:49 PM PDT by Texan5 ("You've got to saddle up your boys-you've got to draw a hard line"...)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

My biggest pet peeve is customers using their cell phones and including everyone around them in the conversation... For particular cultures, talking at the normal “shouting” level while on the cell phone makes it even worse...


139 posted on 08/13/2019 3:48:05 PM PDT by SuperLuminal (Where is Sam Adams now that we desperately need him)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

I have been in restaurants and stores when kids even those without disabilities act up. My 3 year old granddaughter recently had a meltdown where all we could do was get her into her car seat and take her home. She screamed and whined until she finally fell asleep from exhaustion. I wish parents would use some judgement. If their kid is prone to acting up please don’t take them to a restaurant. If the kid acts up...take them out. If they are in meltdown nothing is going to calm them. Please be courteous to the other patrons.


140 posted on 08/13/2019 3:58:11 PM PDT by The Great RJ ("Socialists are happy until they run out of other people's money." Margaret Thatcher)
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