Thread by @QueerlyAutistic

It's great that @bbcstrictly have a paralympian on the show this year, but it's important that accessibility is carried throughout your practices, and the @BBC failed my mums deeply at the recording last week.

My mum is a wheelchair user. This is what happened. #Strictly2019

I'd been trying to get them tickets for years, and I finally got two wheelchair tickets for the first live show. They were so excited! They called the ticket providers about access, and were assured that everything was in hand, they were on the list and would be looked after.

They booked two nights away, and arrived at Elstree the morning of the show. But they didn't have them down as reserved tickets, despite them having wheelchair tickets. Their names were not on the list. The people there were lovely in trying to help, but the stress was immense.

My mum can't queue. She has multiple musculoskeletal conditions and chronic pain. She is a full time wheelchair user. They were assured that this would be okay. Living as a disabled person is stressful enough without this.

They managed to get their tickets validated as standbys, and did end up having to queue for an hour in the evening.

When they got in, however, there was no designated wheelchair space. None.

Bear in mind, @BBC, my mums literally had WHEELCHAIR TICKETS.

They asked if my mum could transfer. My mums said yes, fearful that if they said no, they wouldn't be able to stay and see the recording.

So they were taken to a row of chairs, and my stepmum transferred to a narrow, painful chair.

Her wheelchair was wheeled out the studio.

After some time, it became clear that sitting on the chair was not the best option. So my mums flagged down someone and asked for help - if there was somewhere she could sit with her wheelchair, or if they could take away two chairs to make space.

The person said he would look into it, and then never came back.

My mum, who can barely move without excruciating pain, was left in the seat without either of my mums knowing what was happening. Totally reliant on someone else to bring the chair back at the end.

They loved the show. But the stress was immense, and my mum is still recovering physically from having to transfer from her chair.

What would you have done if there was an emergency? There were death threats made to contestants - what if the studio had been attacked?

My mum shouldn't have to hope that, in that situation, someone would remember to bring her her chair so she could evacuate.

The way they were forgotten and left in the chairs, I doubt they'd have gotten out in an emergency.

My mum's wheelchair is my mum's legs. You take that away, you take away her legs. It's built for her.

Again, they had a WHEELCHAIR TICKET. I specifically ticked the box requesting that. And that's what was promised.

Why send out wheelchair tickets if there are no designated areas for wheelchair users? Why send them out if it doesn't ensure entry and a seat that works?

How dare you not be prepared to have a wheelchair user at your recording?

I spent years trying to get this for my mums. They deserve it. And through lack of care for disabled people, you ruined what should have been an amazing experience. My mum is not a burden for you to deal with. They deserved more from you.

So please, @bbcstrictly, do not feel like you deserve praise in accommodating a disabled contestant when you won't even consider that your own studio guests may be disabled. It's all talk. Disabled fans deserve better from you. My mum deserved better from you.

Sort it out.

I'm tweeting for my mums as they don't really have a social media presence. This is all signed off by them, and they are ready to talk if you will reach out to us. But private communication just wouldn't do. You need to be publicly held to account. Thank you.

P.S. the wheelchair toilets were up a steep ramp with an outward pull door. My mum was scared to use it. If it wasn't for a member of the security team holding her wheelchair to stop it sliding back, she wouldn't have been able to use it at all.

This is NOT acceptable.

@Tanni_GT @JessicaOOTC @just_Iike_you @DrFrancesRyan

Please tag anyone else who needs to hear this.

@threadreaderapp Unroll please.

Update: my mums did send in a complaint privately, and the response as reported to me seems to have been 'well, at least you got in'.