Autistic teen turned away from school prom

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Autistic teen Jayce Whisenhunt was turned away from his school prom because his sister, Jessica Helling, was too old to be his date!!

The two were unaware of a rule that students could not bring dates who are older than 20, said their father, Tone Whisenhunt. He said an exception should have been made for his special-needs son, who wanted his older sister by his side to protect him from bullying at Montgomery Central High School in Tennessee.

http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/parent ... dbb7d672bd

The only thing that schoolmarms and their male equivalents understand is the almighty annual budget. Sue them for an amount equal to the school's athletic budget, and watch the blood drain from their faces.

And it is Autistics who said to be black and white thinkers, too much rule oriented.

That's messed up. It is great to see that the community is raising funds to throw an all age prom so that he will be able to attend it with his sister.

Ageism.

We have driven racism and sexism, as well as discrimination based oin religion or sexual orientation as much as possible from society but ageism still seems to be rife.

Neuro-Typicals are just gigantic hypocrites.

Don't let the NWO subvert your thinking.
They intentionally have turned this world up-side-down and backwards, promote good to be evil, etc.
"War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength" -Neurotypical Logic

Too much is being made out of this (NWO? Really?!). Since the rules were there before the prom, and the participants could have easily known the rules before the prom, then they should have known the rules before the prom. Ignorance of the rules is not an excuse.

The only people at fault are those who tried to break the rules.

It depends on how intrusive the rules are. Schools are still public venues under the federal Equal Access Act. As such, they are prohibited from restricting that access to student (and public) groups (prom dances or neighborhood meetings). While the act would likely prohibit non-students from attending decidedly student-oriented prom dances, should it? It was only a couple generations ago when schools sought out parents and other family members to act as chaperones. Even if schools no longer seek such chaperones, should the school's rules go so far as to ban voluntary chaperones? This is what the school in question has done ... prohibiting family members from attending their (disabled and otherwise) students' need for the accommodation of bringing a chaperone. Needless to say, such action takes a legal swipe at the Americans with Disabilities Act, too.

The point is that the student was barred from the prom for not obeying the rules. He was not barred for being autistic, so let's not turn this into yet another pointless Crusade for Autism Rights.

There shouldn't be ageist rules in the first place..

That is a matter for the courts to decide. As it stands right now, the school seems well within its rights to have barred the student from the prom.

Once the ageist rules are struck down, you'll see students bringing anyone to the prom who is old enough to dress themselves and behave in a rational manner.

Imagine 18-year old jocks dancing with their 8-year old dates, or 14-year old girls making out in the hallways and parking lots with their 24-year old escorts...

Sure.... That certainly happened when chaperones were invited to attend such events.

Did they ask the sister how old she was? I always thought it's bad manners to ask a girl her age!

A little flexibility and leeway should be granted.

True, true.

I read that the reason she wasn't allowed in is that the school does background checks on guests over 20. Since they didn't know she was coming, they couldn't do the check. I also read that she has a couple of convictions, so maybe she purposely showed up unexpectedly to avoid the screening.
It really is sad for the boy, but it's his family's fault.

True but also there is reasons for these rules like 1 year olds can't drive.