Heartbreak High actor Chloé Hayden’s experience with ableism at Harry Styles concert

While Heartbreak High actor Chloé Hayden went to Harry Styles Melbourne show for a ‘cute and blissful’ time, the autism awareness advocate experienced ableism while attempting to access the sensory room at Marvel Stadium.

The room is meant to offer accessibility-based equipment such as noise-cancelling headphones and fidget toys in order to make concerts safer, more accessible, and enjoyable for people.

Hayden posted about the hypocrisy of being faced with the venue’s dismissive behaviour on Instagram:

In venues that preach inclusion, that pride themselves on their accessibility, that giddily placed ‘Be like Harry, Treat People With Kindness’ across their billboards, that was praised this week for their sensory rooms, their disability inclusion; how goddamn disappointing that the same venue has proven that flying it’s woke flag and ticking the disability box is where it’s values begin and end.

“These spaces aren’t for you”
“Show me your diagnostic papers”
“That’s not what a meltdown looks like”
“That’s not a real panic attack”
“Well, maybe you just shouldn’t have come.”
“You’re lying, you’re too pretty to be disabled.”

From laughing at folks during a meltdown to disabled seating being “nothing but a raised plank of wood” Hayden writes that she’s tired and is going to do everything in her power to fight the ableism in public spaces.