CONCORD A Concord couple said their legally blind daughter was told to surrender her white cane before entering the Museum of New Hampshire History because a staffer said the museum has had “issues with kids.”

Penny Duffy, president of the New Hampshire chapter of the Parents of Blind Children organization, said that on Monday her husband, Chris, took their daughter, Abby, 8, and son, Sam, to visit the nonprofit museum, operated by the New Hampshire Historical Society and located in Eagle Square.

Chris Duffy said he was told by the woman taking their admission fees that Abby, who lost her eyesight two years ago, would need to surrender her cane before she could go in.

“I told her, 'But she's blind,'” said Chris. “She just said, 'We have had issues with kids in the past,' and told me where she was putting it, so we could pick it up on our way out.”

“Who are these kids she spoke of?” wrote Penny Duffy, in an online blog posting about the visit to the museum. “I envision a ninja army of blind children with white canes trashing the museum. It's a white cane, not a switch blade.”

“That is not, in any way, our policy,” said Bill Dunlap, executive director of the New Hampshire Historical Society, which oversees the museum. “The employee involved is a good employee, a longtime employee, who has worked that job before. She just misunderstood that the girl had a legal impairment. It was a terrible misunderstanding, and we have apologized to the family.”

The right to use a cane in the museum is protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act. New Hampshire also has a “White Cane Law” that states: “The blind, the visually disabled, and the otherwise physically disabled have the same rights and privileges as the able-bodied to the full and free use of the facilities.”

“We've worked hard to make the museum ADA-compliant,” Dunlap said Wednesday. “We want all guests to feel welcome and enjoy the museum. The employee involved feels terrible about what happened.”

Chris Duffy said his daughter felt the lack of her cane as her family toured the museum.

“Abby was really bothered by it on the fire tower,” he said. “There are some steep stairs, and she was uncomfortable on it without the cane. She's pretty confident, but her whole demeanor changed.”

Abby lost her vision two years ago due to a condition known as Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy.

“She had 20/20 vision at the start of 2010,” her father said. “We've taken her many places since, and most of them go overboard to make her feel welcome. The McAuliffe Planetarium offered to have someone go around with us and describe the exhibits. Canobie Lake Park made sure she had time to get on and off rides, and really made sure her visit was great. There was a for-profit place going out of their way, and here was a nonprofit saying she couldn't use her cane.”

The Duffys have received an apology from museum staff, as well as an offer for free passes for a return visit. But Penny Duffy said she is more concerned about making sure this doesn't happen to another family.

“Abby was told her independence and safety isn't important,” Penny Duffy said. “She thought it was legal for someone to be 'mean' to her because she has a disability. She had to depend on her father for mobility. The issue is that it happened and that can never be changed. The experience is now part of our whole family.”

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Paul Feely may be reached at pfeely@unionleader.com.