A bus station attendant refused to let a teenage girl with autism and extreme anxiety use the accessible toilets because she “didn’t look disabled enough,” the 15-year-old claims.
Millie Collins from Blackley, Manchester, wears a lanyard to explain that she has a hidden disability. Still, she says a bus station attendant told her, ‘you don’t look disabled enough,’ pointing out that she’s not in a wheelchair.
The alleged incident occurred at Shudehill bus station in Manchester city center at around 5.30 pm on Tuesday, September 14, leaving the young girl in tears.
According to Millie, after a brief exchange, the staff member relented and opened the accessible toilets while still complaining about her apparent lack of disability.
Transport bosses have since apologized for not “meeting the standards expected,” Manchester Evening News reported.
Millie is registered disabled and has autism, fetal alcohol syndrome, and extreme anxiety.
She was returning to her home in Blackley following a shopping trip into Manchester with a friend when she needed to use the facilities at Shudehill bus station. She asked a member of staff to open the accessible toilets for her.
She said: “I asked politely and they told me ‘no.’ They said ‘well you don’t look disabled enough.
“I told them I had special needs, that I have autism.
“They would not let me use it. I showed them my hidden disability lanyard, which I was wearing around my neck. They were dead rude, and I started crying.
“I told them I had terrible anxiety and that I have panic attacks if I go in the small stalls. I also showed them my disabled bus pass.
(Image: KBP)
“They just kept shouting at me that I didn’t look disabled enough. I was dead polite, and the only reason they let me in was that I started arguing back.
“Even when they unlocked the door, they were still carrying on and said, ‘you are probably lying.’
“I said, ‘why would I lie?’.”
Millie said she was given a key for the accessible toilets when she got her bus pass, but she had never used it, and it was at home during the incident.
She added: “I was very upset about it. It wasn’t very comfortable.
(Image: MEN Media)
“I was mistreated. There was no need for it. I don’t think they understood the impact that could have on someone. I’m worried about going to town now.”
Millie’s grandmother, Wendy, 58, also her legal guardian and carer, has sent an official complaint to Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM).
She said: “It’s disgusting. She had the lanyard and bus pass, and she’s still not believed. It does highlight that people do have disabilities other than physical disabilities. There are lots and lots of people who don’t have a wheelchair who have disabilities.”
TfGM’s head of facilities management, Howard Hartley, said: “I am sorry for the experience this customer had with us at Shudehill Interchange and for any distress caused.
“We do a lot of work to make sure everyone can use our bus stations and interchanges safely, confidently, and independently and last year joined the Sunflower scheme to further support people with hidden disabilities.
“Unfortunately, we did not meet the standards expected on this occasion and have reminded staff about our policies with regards to the use of our facilities.”