‘RHONJ’ Star Jacqueline Laurita Says She And Her Autistic Son Were Kicked Out Of Local Library

Fans of the Real Housewives on Bravo will most likely recognize reality star Jacqueline Laurita for her time on The Real Housewives of New Jersey, which she was a cast member of for a number of years. Most fans will also know that Laurita’s son, Nicholas, with husband Christopher, is autistic, as her son’s diagnosis and the struggles the family has dealt with were definitely part of the series while she was one of the housewives. In a series of social media posts from Jacqueline Laurita, it seems that Nicholas’ autism led to them being kicked out of a local library near their home in New Jersey.

According to the Daily Mail, Laurita apparently took her son to the library in Franklin Lakes on Sunday, and while this was not the first time the two had visited this particular library, it seems that on this visit, Nicholas was making noises, such as “non-contextual vocals,” that ultimately led to them being asked to leave. In a series of videos, as well as two statements made by both Jacqueline Laurita and her husband, the couple explained what happened, as well as their disappointment with the library over the way the entire situation was handled.

One of the videos that the former RHONJ star posted was captioned with a message explaining that Nicholas “had a meltdown as I struggled to get him to leave.” Laurita said that no one even tried to help them, with not a single person even offering to hold the door open. Instead, people watched as she struggled to take her son out of the library as she was asked to do.

Another video that was posted showed the apparent disturbance that Nicholas was creating, which included him pulling DVD cases off of the shelves. Once the cases were removed from the shelf, Nicholas tapped them, and then replaced them on the shelves. In the video, Jacqueline Laurita can be heard telling her son that he needs to “keep it down.” The videos also allow listeners to hear the sounds that Nicholas was making, even as his mother tells him he has to “lower his voice.”

Jacqueline Laurita explained that this entire situation made her “heart hurt.” The former housewife explained that the previous day, she and her son had actually had a great experience at the exact same library, and she wished that “everyone understood #Autism.” Laurita made it clear that she planned to go back to the library to speak to them about how the situation was handled because she felt they needed to learn more about inclusion.

The library itself issued a statement saying that they are very inclusive and feel that it is demonstrated on a daily basis. However, they also said that when it gets to a point where other library users are being disturbed, they feel that they can ask the person (or people) who are making the disturbance to leave the library.

'Real Housewives of New Jersey' star says she and her autistic son were kicked out of a public library https://t.co/I3vhx3HPwv

— Daily Mail Celebrity (@DailyMailCeleb) April 10, 2018

While the library may have explained themselves and their reasoning behind asking the Lauritas to leave the library, it seems that their statement did not satisfy either Jacqueline or Christopher, who each posted statements to social media. Ultimately both parents felt that the statement from the library was insufficient, with Christopher Laurita saying that the library placed the blame on his son, and instead of apologizing and learning from what happened, seemed to make things worse with what he feels is a lack of acceptance. In Jacqueline Laurita’s statement, she says that she feels that the library publicly addressed what happened “without taking any accountability, remorse, or declaration to make a change,” which she found to be rather disturbing.

The Laurita’s have since received an outpouring of support from many people, and they shared their appreciation for in their social media messages. For now, it seems that the library itself is sticking to their already released statement, which did not include an apology or any sort of accountability for what took place.