To think this was totally and utterly ridiculous.

[hathorkicksass]

take DD swimming to the local pool. It has male and female changing areas.

The utter faff that some poor woman had to go through to get her big teenaged son with learning difficulties changed was ridiculous.

She had to :

Get out of the pool.

Get him out of the pool.

Both in cozzies dripping wet.

Walk all the way through the female changing (where the only ones getting changed).

All the way out to the desk.

Get the receptionist to call an attendant.

Walk back to changing room.

Wait for attendant.

Who then got the key for the disabled changing room.

The the mum and her son had to walk all the way back through the female changing and round the corner to the disabled changing.

I got talking to her as she waited for the attendant and because he was over 8 there had been complaints and she'd been told not to change him in the female changing.

The thing is the complaint, and their new policy hasn't actually changed things has it as mum and teenage son still need to walk through the female changing area twice AND they are both wet and therefore getting cold whilst doing so!

The leisure centre does need to come up with a better system.

I will no doubt encounter this when DS is older, he is already a very big 7 year old.

My local pool has cubicles, but there's only a few and most change in the communal area.

Even DD - there are hardly ever any free even though it's a dreadful faff with her towel and the fear that anyone would see any of her from her neck to her knees but that's another issue

you do need to complain on her behalf.

quite often, a complaint from the person involved results in a "we've done something about it" attitude, but if a fresh eye complained, it might make them think (more than one complaint iyswim)

YANBU

On a side note, have you ever tried to maneouvre a wheelchair in, around and out of a disabled loo or changing room? You need armour plating for the chair user's feet just to get the arsing door open

YANBU.

Can't they at least have their own in house RADAR key type system,ffs? It's just so demeaning, otherwise.

My experience of germany is that everyone gets changed beside the pool, but I'm thinking of British sensibilities, here.

Not only is this system a huge inconvenience to the woman and her son, it defeats the point of keeping older boys out of the women's changing room as they had to walk through it!

Why don't they keep the disabled changing room key on a clip attached to the poolside lifeguards chair? That way staff could control who had access but the lifeguard would not have to leave poolside to unlock the room.

the problem is not having lockers in the disabled changing space. They should sort that out! If they put in a few lockers, then this wouldn't have been a problem. WHY are there no lockers in the disabled changing space?

I bet the disabled changing room is also the disabled toilet (and probably the baby changing room)

The pool near us has that. I always wonder what would happen if one person really needed the loo while another was getting dressed.

Hec - it is also the disabled toilet. You are quite right. Dunno about baby change.

ouryve - you might have hit on something there.

why not suggest they make one or two disabled changing rooms next to the pool?
in our pool, there are equipment rooms that open onto poolside, so if they had those, they could be adapted.

Why not agree with attendent exactly what time they think they will get out of the pool, to meet them there with the key to disabled changing? That would speed everything up. Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but The rest sounds like just part & parcel of using pools, you end up shivering in a cold swimming cozzie for a spell.