Mother, autistic son refused service at Sunbury store

A major department store has apologised to a Sunbury woman and her autistic son after a sales assistant called the child “rude” and would not serve them.

Serenity Jenkins and her young son

A SUNBURY mum has been refused service at a major department store after being told her autistic son was “being rude”.

Serenity Jenkins said she and her six-year-old son, who she did not want to name, were shopping at Big W Sunbury recently when the incident occurred.

Ms Jenkins said her son became restless and started to move around to calm himself.

This caught the attention of a staff member who began to “tell him off”, she said.

“Because of the time of day, as well as how busy it was, he became overwhelmed,” Ms Jenkins said.

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Despite explaining that her son was on the autism spectrum, the staff member allegedly refused to serve them.

“She said she refused service because he was being rude,” Ms Jenkins said.

“No mother should be shamed the way I was.”

Ms Jenkins said the incident had an impact on her son, who was uncomfotable about walking past the store.

The store manager has since apologised, she said.

“They offered for us to come in the morning before opening to make him feel comfortable again. It’s a matter of gauging where he’s comfortable,” she said.

A Big W spokesman said the matter was “being addressed with the team members involved directly”.

“We sincerely regret the way the family was treated at Big W in Sunbury and the store manager in charge has been in touch to apologise,” he said.

“At Big W, we put families at the heart of all we do and want everyone to feel comfortable shopping in our stores. We’ve also reiterated the need to treat all our customers with patience and respect during busy trading times to all team members nationwide.”

In the aftermath of the incident, Ms Jenkins called on Australia’s big chain stores to improve employee education around autism and other disabilities with a national memo.

“We make up a big portion of the population and deserve to be treated respectfully,” she said.

Recent data collected by peak Victorian Autism body AMAZE revealed while 98 per cent of people knew what autism was, only a third of respondents said they had a good understanding of how to support people with the condition.

AMAZE chief executive Fiona Sharkie echoed Ms Jenkins’ sentiments.

“Autism is a big issue. It affects a large number within the community,” she said.

“We’re calling on the wider community, the business and recreational communities to get more skilled around autism.”

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