Tulsa Mother Of Child With Special Needs Receives 'Cruel' Note While Shopping

A Tulsa woman said someone left her a nasty note on her car while she was out shopping. Now, she hopes to turn it into a learning experience for others.

Colleen Scarlett Stice said she stopped at the Target in Tulsa Hills to do some shopping. She parked in a wheelchair-accessible parking spot - which she has a permit for because of her son - but said strangers left her a judgmental note.

The note scolded her for parking in the spot, even telling her, "Shame on you!"

What that stranger did not know is that Stice's son Rowan has special needs. He can only walk a few steps by himself, so he uses a wheelchair.

Stice said she was in a hurry after a long day so she carried him into Target instead, and that stranger made the wrong assumption.

"Immediately just, I felt shocked for a minute, but then I was just angry, I was so mad. I cried from being so mad because I couldn't believe someone felt the need to pass judgment on someone and to put it so cruelly," she said.

Stice said she rarely parks in a wheelchair-accessible spot because she's self-conscious for this very reason: people passing judgment.

She said, "I try not to use it. Every time I do I feel like people are looking and judging and seeing me get out of the car and thinking I'm perfectly fine, why would I need to use it?"

Frustrated, Stice said she went home and wrote a long Facebook post about the experience; it got thousands of shares, likes and supportive comments.

Stice said she's focusing on the positive side to all of this; she's able to let others know words can hurt, especially if you don't know the whole story.

"You don't know who you're passing judgment on, so don't do it," she said.

Rowan will turn four years old Friday.