A single mother has blasted a fun park after her autistic son was refused entry to sit beside his mum in a designated parents area.
Jerrilee Shipley, was visiting the soft play with her two sons Connor Shipley, 17, and Sonny Shipley, 10, who are both diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome.
Connor was hoping to sit with her in the parents’ section while Sonny met up with his friends to play.
However, Jerrilee was told she could not bring Connor in with her as he was a teenager and he could only be let in on their teenage nights.
Jerrilee revealed she felt helpless as a single mum as both her children are dependent on her due to their autism and she could not leave either one of them behind.
The family’s visit to Big Fun Hull on Tuesday, November 10 has left a detrimental impact on the two boys, according to Jerilee.
Speaking to Hull Live, the mum said: “I’m really disappointed because how do I choose one child over the other? I couldn’t make that decision because I’m a single parent. So I would have had nobody to look after my oldest son, that is why he was with me.
“I used to be in the army and since we moved to Hull when Connor was three, we have been going there and the manager knows him and his condition.
“He only wanted to get a slushie and wait with me, why couldn’t they just let him in?
“My younger son had an absolute meltdown because of this, he was really looking forward to playing with his friend.”
The west Hull mum added that the whole ordeal had a huge impact on her kids, and believes Big Fun should have been more accommodating to the family given their circumstances.
A spokesperson from Big Fun Hull said: “Our policy is that our daytime play sessions are for children aged 0 to 14 years old, and their accompanying adults over 18 years.
“We do not allow those aged 15 to 17 to enter or play during the day because our experience has been that they tend to be more boisterous on the play equipment which can be upsetting or even dangerous for our younger customers. Likewise, those who say they will just ‘sit and watch’ most often do not.
“However, we appreciate that those aged 15 to 17 years may also wish to come to Big Fun to play, and so we run regular Teen Nights for those aged 12 to 17 years old. We also run weekly sessions for those with SEND.
“This was all explained to the customer at the time, and they were invited to attend the SEND session when both children would be able to play.
“We are sorry that we were not able to meet the customer’s expectations on the day.”
