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‘RHONJ’ Alum Jacqueline Laurita Claims Her Autistic Son Was Kicked out of His Favorite Library
Former Real Housewives of New Jersey star Jacqueline Laurita is claiming her son Nicholas, who suffers from autism, was unfairly kicked out of their local library for making noise this week. In a series of video posts, the reality star details the upsetting experience, and reveals that no one offered to help when her eight-year-old had a meltdown in the public space.
"So… Nicholas got kicked out of one of his favorite spots (our PUBLIC library) this week. I guess non-contextual vocals and tapping [twice] on the DVDs are frowned upon. He had a meltdown as I struggled to get him to leave. Not one person offered or tried to help, or even opened the door for us. They just watched me struggle to get him out… as asked," she wrote. "My heart hurt so bad for the both of us after I got him out of there. The day before he had such a great experience there. I wish everyone understood autism." Watch the video above for a look at Nicholas' day at the library.
However, Jacqueline reassured fans she was going to fight back against the alleged discrimination. "Sitting home right now, thinking about what happened at @franklinlakeslibrary and I am NOT ok with this," she added. "#TimeForChange! #TimeForInclusion! #TimetoSpeakUp! #TimeForAction. Determined to make a difference."
As expected, followers showed their support for the mother-of-three on the social media platform. "Absolutely unacceptable!!! They should be ashamed," one fan wrote before another added, "We as parents of #autisticchildren should not feel afraid to go places with our children! They are people too! They deserve fair treatment!" To make matters worse, April is Autism Awareness Month — something employees at the library definitely lacked.
The Bravo beauty has been very open about her son's developmental disorder since his diagnosis at age three. "It was very hard to see your son taking a gradual decline in his developmental milestones," she told Entertainment Tonight last year. "He was completely tuned out to us; he wouldn’t even answer to his name. I came to terms before my husband did."
Despite the setback, Nicholas has come a long way since his diagnosis. "[He] makes a lot of eye contact, he has a lot of words in his vocabulary now, he is starting to put together sentences, he reads very well above his age," Jacqueline added. "He is much more engaged and we see progress all the time with him." #JusticeForNicholas!