.......talking about disabled loos

[2shoes]

what is the point of the bloody things?
dd cannot sit on the loo
there is not adult changing equipment.
just a load of grab rails.

ok I love them now dd is dry and I have perfected the use of the slipper bed pan.

but how the hell are other people who's disabled child/adult is not dry supposed to cope.

well we need grab rails; for us they are just what we need in fact we have replicated one at home

but I do know someone with a dd who is not dry and finds them no use at all

Do you know i cant believe you have just posted about disabled loo's LOL i was just about to start a little rant .

Totally agree that Disabled loos need more facillities btw.

We have all been out for the day today to an adventure park thingy. DD1 (5 AS) needed the loo, i was queueing with DD2 to go a ride so of DH trotted to the loo's with DD1. She wont use the gents, and tbh i would prefer that she didnt anymore, so he used the disabled loo. On the way out a little old dear passed comment on how he was taking libertys and how these handicap (hmm] toilets were for invalids in wheel chairs.

DH bless him told her to keep her fecking nose out of other people business, but DD1 is now refusing to ever use the disabled loo's again cos it made daddy cross i have spent the last hour explaining that it was the lady that was wrong not her Dad. Why do people feel the need to constantly pass judgements?? this now means that DH will struggle to take DD1 out on his own .

Interesting one this.

I was in the disabled loos in Ikea Croydon today. (Yeah, I go to all the coolest places ) They had a "disabled" sign on the door. It was occupied when I got there, and then a dad carrying a one-year old came out. Dad appeared to be able-bodied, my guess was he was using it as a baby change but obviously I've been on the wrong end of that sort of assumption often enough myself that I didn't say anything.

Inside the - frankly enormous - loo (you could have changed 4 adults on the floor) was the usual disabled/transfer loo and a vast cantilevered slab with a basin set into it and a small baby changing mat looking lost in the middle.

Sooo...
a) obviously they expect people to use it as a baby change. Is that good or bad? Legally, they just have to provide an accessible facility - unlike parking there's no obligation to stop the able bodied using it.
b) they could easily have room for a "proper" adult-size raising change bench. But they choose not to.
c) it's not at all clear how much weight the cantilevered slab is designed to carry. I can confidently report that it carries 15kg, though!

I think my view is that I'd rather they put in a big change bench and justified the outlay by making it an official baby change as well. But then we are OK to queue for the facilities - I'm sure there are a lot of elderly people out there who wouldn't agree.

Thorts?

A thing I've noticed on my travels is that disabled loos rarely have mirrors. I wonder why that it is? It's as if someone in a wheelchair can't possibly care what they look like and obviously their carers want to walk around with birdsnest hair too, or am I supposed to leave ds to his own devices while I nip into the ladies? Also, ds sometimes takes ages to go and it's very boring waiting but there is hardly ever a chair.

R3dh3d, the disabled toilet at Tropiquaria (zoo type place) in Somerset doubles as a baby changing area but there is a sign on the door to say so. I was in there the other week with ds. A woman outside was rattling the door handle the whole time and I called out that we wouldn't be long but then I heard her demanding a key from a passing member of staff who replied that a key wasn't needed. She sounded so stroppy I was very glad she was gone when I came out with my 8 yo 'normal-looking' ds!

I get annoyed at baby changing facilites being put in with disabled loos.

I have had the cat's bum faces - no one has dared say anything to me - as I take dd1 in there - she needs space, I have to go in with her and she needs the rail for support. yes she is walking - does not make her not disabled. I get even worse cat's bum faces when I emerge with dd3 in stroller and dd1 and 2 walking - they think I have nipped in there in stead of using parent and child toilets or stroller friendly loo.

It is bloody hard to answer your Q - clearly they are not encouraging the spending of their money if you need to take them home for a clean up.

perhaps we need to lobby the government to make it against the law not to provide an area for those who are unable to use the toilet.

Have you seen this

I was talking about disabled loos on Friday night.

Myself and DH went out for a meal with a few staff and members from the PHAB club he volunteers at, after the lovely meal (we very rarely go out as a couple but as it is our anniversary on Tuesday, we managed to get a sitter for a few hours) we got persuaded to go into the club next door, we havent been in a club since before DS1 (5) was born.

Anyways one of the young women who is a wheelchair user forgot her radar key, so asked a member of staff if they could get one for her to use the facilities. Although the staff were very helpful, the events that unfolded were quite unbelievable. Firstly there were various members of staff, frantically searching for a key for around 10 minutes, before finally giving up and resorting to numerous of them trying to open the door with 2 spoons.

The whole spectacle took around 20 minutes before the door was finally opened, during which time the poor woman was becoming more bemused and embarressed by the second, as well as busting to use the loo.

To add insult to injury when she rejoined us, she told us how the toilet was no bigger than a broom cupboard, wasn't really equipped very well and how there was no mirror.

It struck us on how many companies obviously just do the bare minimum to meet legalisation and nothing more. This was particularly noticable in this club, as all of the other toilets were sparkling (I must admit this was quite a novelity for me, things certainly have changed since my clubbing days), with no queues, plenty of loo roll, an attendant at the entrance of each loo to make sure standards are maintained and fancy decor.

It was evident this club was trying to do everything it could to make sure it provided a good experience for it customers, however it was sad to think that they didn't see fit to extend this good practice to ensure that it customers with additional needs had just as much of a pleasurable experience as the rest of its customer base.

I've noticed since DD2 was born that the babychange is almost always in the disabled toilet. I assume it's a space thing but it doesn't seem right to me.

We once queued for ages at Membury Services- toilet queue went right round the block and there were about 5 women queuing with babies outside the one disabled toilet. Normally I change DD in the car but it was a bitterly cold night and she was very mucky. When I came out there was still a big queue of babies but also an elderly lady in a wheelchair.

Acquaintance of mine is a disability adviser to churches. She assembled all the local architects and church senior people for a training course on disabled loos. On stage she'd set up a loo, a loo roll, and a pull cord for emergencies. She sat a senior church leader in a wheelchair and told him he only had the use of one hand and would he please now get himself onto the loo. Rather difficult. 'Now take off some loo roll', she said. Except the roll wasn't started off, so with one hand it was a complete nightmare to get it to release any paper and he ended up using his teeth and getting a mouthful of paper. Then she told him to fall off the loo and pull the emergency help cord...except the cord was tied up out of reach of toddlers, so he couldn't.

It made the point quite nicely for them. Good for her, I say.

Accessible loos are rarely accessible for those that need them.

I would agree that disabled toilets do seem to double up as baby change facilities too - probably a combination of cost and space. I have encountered just one disabled toilet that my ds would be able to use (i.e. one that has an adult changing bench) and the attendant told me that it had cost several £thousands. It was money worth spent but sadly, they are noticably absent from the vast, vast majority of places. My ds gets changed in the car boot (getting tight), the floor or the ground (grassed or otherwise, depending on the need, the urgency and where we happen to be). I do wonder what we'll be doing when he's a teenager with a hairy body?

I think that the DDA should be amended to allow disabled access for ALL. Space would be the main issue, but things like height adjustable changing benches only cost around £2500 and wouldn't break the bank for larger establisments at least.

My local tesco's, I shop daily (can't get more home on bus while pushing disability chair). Disabled loos-I have daily seizures (therefore may need a disabled CHILD to reach emergency pull cord)-pull cord actually CUT 1 1/2 inches below ceiling??!! who the hell can reach THAT?. blimmin hand dryers are the automatic ones, which are placed just above the loo roll ffs,so son who cant get on & off loo by himself SCREAMING each time. DD often needs underwear change after even a small seizure, she's disorientated as well, no change bench, have to try and do it around the side of my 4 yr old's (ds2) buggy (huge maclaren thingy), not easy, and as ds1 is only 6, he's not old enough to go in mens by himself, can't get him into ladies cos of maclaren, so he has to use the loo with us. the room is so small that if you push a full size wheelchair in forwards, you have to reverse it out as there's not enough room to turn it. Can you imagine 4 people in there at once??!! THEN i get the catsbumfaces when I come out, despite the disability pushchair, as they must think I'm being difficult. RANT! (sorry!)

Possibly there could be some exemption so that only £££ orgs need to provide the "full monty" changing room ... I can see that some places won't have the space or money for the full raising bench, hoist etc. Or eg not every outfit in a chain has to but they must do one in three geographically or something. I'd be happy enough to stop at a specific service station, or shop at the big Tescos not the Tesco metro. But I can't see any excuse for an org like IKEA with almost infinite space to play with and obscene amounts of money changing hands every day.

Maybe each council and large shopping complex should be made by law to provide suitable facilities, complete with hoists and whatever else is necessary? Then it wouldn't be down to an individual company to do it. Even just one or two in each town, city and major out of town shopping centre alongside existing disabled toilets would make life so much easier. They don't expect babies to get uncomfortable and sore in a dirty nappy until they get home, do they?

I think they put the bare minimum in the disabled loo's because of the risk of vandalism. If the facilities were properly monitored and maintained they should be ok.

Ohhh I'm so glad we're not the only ones who use disabled because of the hand dryer terror....

Ds1 hates hand dryers as well. I've taken to wiping my hand on my trousers or skirt now instead.

Erm, can I take a wild stab in the dark and say none?