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Theater shows the door to disabled teen

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Published: Feb. 28, 2006 at 5:56 PM

OLDSMAR, Fla., Feb. 28 (UPI) -- The parents of a disabled Florida teenager, whose loud laughter got him thrown out an AMC theater, turned to the American Civil Liberties Union.

Matt Brown, 19, has Angelman syndrome, a neurological disorder that, among other difficulties, can lead to excessive laughter.

Brown's mother, Susan, said -- even though her son laughed at more parts of "The Pink Panther" than other moviegoers -- she was outraged when management at the AMC Woodlands 20 theaters in Oldsmar, Fla., asked them to leave Sunday.

"His way of expressing delight and joy at this movie was laughing, but because his communication technique got in the way of someone else's space, he had to leave," Susan Brown told the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times.

While theater management, citing complaints from other moviegoers, offered a refund, Brown said that was not the point.

"Nobody apologized. Nobody looked at Matt in the eye. It was like he didn't exist," said Brown, who has taken the issue to the American Civil Liberties Union.

Topics: Matt Brown
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