(COLORADO SPRINGS) — A Colorado Springs mother says she was questioned over her 5-year-old daughter’s disabilities by Southwest Airlines on Sunday, Aug. 4 while trying to pre-board her flight.

Janey Sprouse-Cadenas took four flights to a medical conference in Boston with her daughter, Lucy, who has a rare medical condition and requires extensive care. However, the disorder is not physically visible. Janey says that they were questioned about the significance of Lucy’s disorder in multiple different cities by Southwest Airlines employees.

“I shouldn’t have to hold a big sign and shout it from the rooftops of what’s wrong with my daughter for her to get the help and support that she needs,” said Janey.

Over the weekend, Janey and Lucy traveled from Colorado Springs to Boston on four different flights. Lucy has a rare medical condition, but you wouldn’t be able to tell just from looking at her.

Janey says in three different cities, Southwest Airlines employees questioned the significance of Lucy’s disorder, before letting them pre-board.

“It was such an issue that even the other employees, the stewardess, and other people came and said, ‘You need to make a complaint, that wasn’t okay,'” she added.

FOX21 News reached out to David McDivitt, an attorney and COO of McDivitt Law Firm, who weighed in on the situation.

“The disability doesn’t need to be visible to somebody else, it needs to be a self-identified disability, and there is room for abuse with that,” said McDivitt.

Janey said she was questioned by employees: “Why did she need pre-boarding?” “What qualified her for pre-boarding,” the employees asked according to Janey.

“Which again, is not something you’re allowed to ask,” Janey pointed out.

Southwest does have a policy against this sort of question, the complete policy about accommodation can be found in the link above.

Laws regarding pre-boarding for air travelers with disabilities also state that pre-boarding can be given to anyone who may only need a specific seat assignment but also covers passengers who may need additional time to board, be seated, or for stow accessibility.

“It was one of those situations like where somebody is like scanning you or watching you and almost like judging, is how it felt, and analyzing her, that’s the way I felt, is him analyzing ‘why is she needing this?'” Janey said.

McDivitt said the law requires airlines to comply with accessibility procedures without question or medical proof.

“If you go to a gate agent and you self-identify as somebody with a disability, the airlines are not allowed to then start asking for medical documentation to support that,” said McDivitt.

FOX21 News also reached out to Southwest Airlines to weigh in on the situation: “We always strive to meet our customers’ standards,” said Southwest. “Our teams will look into this matter, and address any irregularities directly with the customer.”

All of this comes after the New York Post reported a California nurse was also kicked off a Southwest flight over her medical condition.

“I think it needs to be universal training, and that’s just what it comes down to, is education and training. It does not take anything out of anybody to just be kind,” said Janey.