A MUM of two autistic children claims she was asked to leave a Newport store following an incident after her children were touching a water feature.
The incident is said to have happened on Saturday afternoon when Justine Bindon, 36, and her two autistic children – Leo aged nine and Logan, six – were looking at water features in The Range, in Newport East Retail Park.
Mrs Bindon claims that while on the shopping trip she was asked to leave because her two autistic children were 'making a scene'.
The Range says it is now fully investigating the incident and has asked Mrs Bindon to contact them directly.
Mrs Bindon said: “Both my children were going up and down touching the water features.
“They like to have a feel of the water - but they were being gentle.
“Because my youngest son doesn’t speak, that's how he tells me what he wants.”
Mrs Bindon claims another customer who was hoping to buy one of the water features on display then turned up.
“She was kind of guarding the one she wanted,” Mrs Bindon said. “The first time my son approached the feature, she pushed his hand.
“Then, the second time she actually pushed his body away.
“I left it the first time and didn’t say anything, but I was already getting angry.
“We’re used to people staring at us in shops, but when they actually touch your child your blood really does start to boil.”
Mrs Bindon said she told the other customer not to touch her son because she had no right to do so. Mrs Bindon claims the other customer then told her that she had 'horrible children' and that she should control them.
The mum of two claims that, as she was leaving the store, she was stopped by one of the managers.
She said: “I explained to him what happened and told them both my children are disabled. They should have had more understanding.
“By this point, both of my children were getting very upset and my youngest point was screaming and kicking.
“He was uncontrollable.
“I was asked to leave because I was 'making a scene at their store’.
“It’s really upsetting that this has happened.”
Mrs Bindon said that both she and her children were very upset after the incident.
“My eldest son was asking me why we didn’t get a water feature and why people were so mean and why they were shouting,” she said. “He asked me if he had done something wrong.”
A spokeswoman at The Range said: “We are fully investigating this matter and have asked the customer to contact us directly so we can liaise with them straight away.”
This story touched a nerve with me when I read it.This parent is obviously on a mission as this is all over facebook as well! If this was a small business it could ruin them!
Im an ex employee but I am in no way shape or form an advocate of The Range, when I read this article it felt to me like half of the story was missing in order to create as much negative impact as possible! I just wanted to give my take on it.
I sympathise with this ladies position and realise how difficult it must be to bring up two autistic children but does that mean she has the right to let them do what they want and to be completely iresponsible? She is clearly very angry, so has she twisted the facts and omitted one or two things?
I have had kids run riot and their parents have a go at me when I have told them to control their kids for their own safety, only to have the parents go nuts because their children have problems!
I have had kids on roller skates in a store kicking footballs you name it, but in the end if I ignore it how responsible does that make me? Does it make it ok for the children to put themselves at risk by climbing fixturing etc if they have a problem? Should I stand by and let them do it?
What is not mentioned in the article is the fact that it is company policy for The Range to put a sign up to say that the water contains chlorine and that it can be an irritant to the skin. I dont work at this store so lets argue that the sign was not up and no chlorine was added. This would mean that the child would not get skin irritation but instead they would be at risk from all sorts of nasties including "Legionaires Disease"! Perhaps the Manager, Staff, and Customer had no clue about these risks?
Could the villains in this article have actually been trying to protect this child?
Who is the ignorant person or people in this situation? Is it the staff, the Parent, the customer, The Manager or all four? I think The Argus really didnt put their brain in gear when writing this article but im sure a story like this will sell papers so perhaps they dont care!
I am not saying who is right or wrong here I speak from my own perspective and wouldnt side with anyone until all of the facts are on the table. im just trying to open peoples minds to the possibilities. There are two sides to every story and all im saying is it would be interesting to hear the other side because there are many potential variables in this one!
The bigger issue here is not whoever is right or wrong, the bottom line is its unfair that a paper and social media can be judge, jury and executioner before all of the facts are out and influence public opininon on a brand unfairly.
Perhaps that is the only Draconian thing here and not the treatment dished out in this unfortunate situation but what do I know. I am being as objective and neutral as I can be but thats the way I see it.
Its an eye opener thats for sure!