While she didn’t reveal exactly what form her disability takes, Zinogirl made clear that she can “handle [her]self”, and questioned whether the only reason for her aunt leaving her off the invitation was that she didn’t think she could cope in the venue.

“If that’s the only reason, isn’t that something I should decide?” she wrote. “Maybe I can handle myself in that venue. Maybe my brother and dad will help me if I needed help [sic]. She excluded me because I have a disability.”

She said that she had tried to speak to her parents about the problem, but that they told her that she had to respect her aunt’s decision. Her brothers, meanwhile, had said that they would boycott the wedding if she wasn’t included on the invite list.

In a later post, the teenager revealed that the aunt had said that her decision wasn’t based on “pity, it’s genuine concern for my well-being. She doesn’t want me [to] see other girls my age do the things I can’t do and feel jealous and inadequate.”

Again, that seems like the kind of judgement call that Zinogirl should have been able to make herself.

Research by disability charity Scope suggests that the majority of physically disabled people have experienced social exclusion. So while it can be difficult to figure out how to accommodate everyone’s different needs at a wedding, it seems deeply sad that that sense of exclusion should come directly from a family member.

Image: iStock

Disabled teenager reveals heartbreak at being excluded from family wedding