We went to a venue at the weekend.
I don't want to be too outing but it was an entertainment venue that we purchased tickets for in advance.
It was me, my adult daughter and two teenage sons.
My youngest has Down's Syndrome - severe learning disability. He's non verbal with mobility problems and complex needs. The event was to celebrate his 16th birthday.
I hadn't realised that the main part of the event was held on the top floor of the building - six flights of stairs.
Unfortunately my son has a huge fear of lifts - he gets very claustrophobic and refuses to get in one.
He can walk short distances but due to his hypotonia he needs more time when climbing stairs.
I waited until the rest of our group (about 50 people in total) had gone up ahead of us. We sent the wheelchair up on its own in the lift and then supported my son to climb the stairs. Myself and my daughter supported him either side while my other son walked behind.
We stopped for him to briefly rest in between flights of stairs and we reached the top without any issues.
The venue staff however were waiting impatiently by the door when we reached the top. They were huffing and pulling faces, saying we needed to hurry up as the event was about to start.
It honestly made me feel like absolute rubbish. I had done my best to get him up as quickly as I could while being mindful of his safety and ensuring he had a brief pause in between flights.
I had already explained to them about the lift situation, that we were sending the wheelchair up, so they knew we were making our way up the stairs with him.
We were last to enter the room and were confronted by row upon row of wide eyed wasp chewing faces!! 🥺🥺🥺
By this point I was on the verge of tears.
We had planned the event carefully for my son's birthday. It is something he particularly he loves. He understood that we were going and was so excited to be there.
Thankfully he doesn't notice eye rol
ls and impatient people so it didn't ruin his experience. It just left me feeling like I had somehow messed up in a difficult situation.
I just don't see how I could have done anything differently as he really is terrified of lifts.
At places like the dentist they provide us with a ground floor room, but obviously this venue is more complicated.