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Original poster

How wrong is it to use the disabled toilet when you are not disabled?

192 replies

emkana · 08/09/2006 19:38

And does it make a difference whether you have small children or not?

I nearly always use the disabled toilets when I'm out with the children, I just don't see what to do otherwise, where to leave the children while I'm in a tiny cubicle.

Wrong or not?

OP posts:
Gingerbear · 08/09/2006 23:02

Good point jamiesam, hadn't thought of it that way.

jamiesam · 08/09/2006 23:02

(sorry, misdee, wasn't ignoring you, just genuinely surprised that nobody on MN tonight who is in a wheelchair - have no idea if there are any MNers who are disabled (and in a wheelchair - nod to jimjams too!))

mrs2shoes · 08/09/2006 23:04

ok colditz you got me on that one
But as dd is severely disabled things like disabled changing rooms at swimming pools/ disabled toilets are the things that make life easier without being able to access them means we can't go. not quite the same as when they are "normal"(ds is so I have been on both sides)

Bucketsofdinosaurs · 08/09/2006 23:06

I don't think it's unacceptable, they are there to provide extra room to manouevre so if you can't get your toddler and pushchair (or maybe you're just too big yourself with all the sanbins and giant bogroll holders) into the normal loo why should you have to go with the door open?
It's not the same as parking in a disabled space because it only blocks the loo for a few minutes and I think 99% of people would give a disabled person first dibs (or even someone who was desperate and asked nicely.)

colditz · 08/09/2006 23:06

I also see your point. If I saw someone swanning out of a disabled toilet with a makeup bag I'd feel like slapping them.

I guess my point is, it's ok if there is nobody else around, no other choice and you are hellaquick!

jamiesam · 08/09/2006 23:11

Look, I know I'm on my own here - but aren'te there any disabled people in the world with faecal incontinence who might find that it takes them longer to find a toilet than an able bodied person???

If there is a long queue and I'm urgent (as I've had in the past after a 3rd degree tear with ds2), I can reason with a long queue of women. If I'm disabled, I can't exactly reason with a locked door...

harpsichordcarrier · 08/09/2006 23:12

I am surprised, tbh, that anyone would think that designing public facilities to make them accessible for the disabled means they cannot be used by anyone else.
that certainly was never the intention behind the original legislation.
it is just not a practical or realistic use of public space and money to divide up areas in this way. hence putting changing facilities in there too in many cases.
People with disabilities would, of course, get priority and no one is disputing that.
No one on this thread who is used to using disabled loos for disabled people has said that they would not want anyone else to use them, ever, have they?

colditz · 08/09/2006 23:13

You can, you bang on it and say "Hurry up please I am disabled and desperate, if you are disabled you know how I feel, and if you're not pull your pants up and move!"

I would anyway. I understand most wouldn't. I have 'front'.

mrs2shoes · 08/09/2006 23:14

jamiesam well said
sadly it is a common occurance with disability that you just cannot wait(as I know through a member of my family)

colditz · 08/09/2006 23:14

Ok, the baychanging rooms. Would anyone be pissed off to see a wheelchair user coming out of one sans bebe?

colditz · 08/09/2006 23:15

well, neither can I!!! Why should I stand and soil myself just because I don't need to use a wheelchair?

jamiesam · 08/09/2006 23:17

As I said, I'm on my own here! I think I just embarrass easier than most?

If I came out of disabled toilets with ds2 and pushchair full of shopping and there was somebody in a wheelchair waiting, I guess they wouldn't be interested in my guided tour of the ladies to prove that it was toooo busy for us to wait.

Perhaps also ds2 does more wees in the street than strictly necessary - I'd rather hold him over a gutter than use disabled toilet, but that's just me!

Greensleeves · 08/09/2006 23:22

I do it. Until they start providing for mothers with children to relieve themselves any other way, I will continue to do it. There's no other solution which is reasonable and safe for me with a pushchair and two small children.

If I am on the right side of town I will go to mothercare and queue up for the one mother-and-child toilet facility - usually about a half hour wait - but if I am elsewhere, or it's ds1 who needs to go, I use disabled loos. Although I do take him behind bushes/in corners if I can get away with it too.

misdee · 08/09/2006 23:22

just because someone isnt in a wheelchair doesnt mean they dont need ther extra space. they are people with sticks who need the grabrails, people like jj's ds who needs supervision, people who need to change bags and tubes etc. they are not solely for use of wheelchair users.

lady with make up bag may have had a colustomy bag or something.

jamiesam · 08/09/2006 23:30

Fair enough Misdee - I promise not to frown at next dolly bird (ha ha, that's sooo 70's!) I see coming out of disabled toilet - will assume that she has a colostomy and that what appears to be a large make-up bag is not what it appears. Not that I loiter round disabled toilets waiting for people to disapprove of or anything...

Bucketsofdinosaurs · 08/09/2006 23:30

I didn't think disabled loos were about getting to them quickly, I thought it was just about space. Obviously there are different kinds of disability but what if there was a wheelchair user behind the locked door? You're still not going to get in but at least you can get into a normal ladies' loo (if only after some lengthy reasoning as you said Jamiesam.)
Personally I think all loos should be cubicles, unisex and big enough for a double buggy. Why companies don't think loos are important I don't know.

iota · 08/09/2006 23:32

this is such a bizarre thread.

Disabled toilets come in various guises and with different levels of exclusivity. There are :

  • disabled toilets with a radar key - intended just for disabled key holders ( I wouldn't use these)
  • disabled toilets that are separate from and alongside Ladies and Gents ( I wouldn't use these)
  • dual function toilets with baby change and disabled facilities ( used these a lot when I had a baby to change)
  • a row of toilets within the ladies, one of which is adapted for disabled access - larger doorway, handrail etc ( I would use this quite happily as would most people IME)
  • only one toilet, adapted for disabled access (e.g in restaurants) - I guess we'd all use these

I'm sure there are other permutations, but with all these variations no wonder we're confused as to whether we should use them or not

misdee · 08/09/2006 23:35

lol jamiesam, i have no idea what a colostomy bag actually looks like or the soze of it, but see plenty of people with tubing and other baggies walking about at harefield. itused to feel quite strange sitting in the canteen and seeing a bottle bubbling away as someone has a chest drain in. now its normal and i dont bat an eyelid.

i lead a very interesting life, lol.

SofiaAmes · 09/09/2006 06:17

Until they make toilets big enough for a push chair, I see no reason why not to use the disabled toilets.

I don't think disabled toilets are meant to be exclusively for disabled people. They are meant to be a toilet that is accessible to disabled people.

aaronsmummy · 09/09/2006 07:09

Disabled toilets are for disabled people -simple concept - can't understand why anyone couldn;t understand the concept. The same for Disabled parking spaces and Mother & baby Parking spaces.

aaronsmummy · 09/09/2006 07:11

Disabled toilets are for disabled people -simple concept - can't understand why anyone couldn;t understand the concept. The same for Disabled parking spaces and Mother & baby Parking spaces.

SofiaAmes · 09/09/2006 07:18

I don't think it's the same thing as a disabled parking spot at all. A parking spot is generally used for longish periods of time. If a non-disabled person parks in it, it becomes unusable for an unacceptable period of time to a disabled person. A toilet stall is used for short periods of time and it's silly to think that it should be empty the rest of the time. Are you suggesting that mothers with buggies shouldn't use ramps into buidlings and on sidewalks because they were installed for disabled people and therefore shoudl only be used by the disabled?

I have found that attitudes towards facilities for the disabled are very different in the usa than in the uk. Perhaps because we have had them for a much longer period of time here. I don't think I ever saw a non-disabled person park in a disabled spot before i came to the uk. I also never heard anyone express disapproval of a non-disabled person using a disabled toilet in the usa, perhaps because they are so much more prevalent here than in the uk.

naswm · 09/09/2006 07:29

I often use disabled toilets when I have the DC with me - there simply isnt room in the ladies. (unless I am at Bluewater, of course ). But I'd always let a disabled person ini before us - and feel guilty if there is a disabled person waiting when we coome out.

In my mind it is totally differen to parking in a disabled sppot (which I'd never do). You are in a toiled for a matter of minutes, and a parking spot for a lot longer.

threebob · 09/09/2006 07:33

How else do you rinse out your mooncup?

naswm · 09/09/2006 07:35

so using a mooncup makes you disabled does it threebob?!?!?! lol!