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Guest post: Do disabled loo designers see us as a genderless entity?
milo
Member Posts: 165 Pioneering
Over the past few weeks I've been thinking about disabled toilets. It's something that I've posted about in the past and no doubt we could all write at length about the positioning of handrails, flushes and whether or not baby changing units are a help or a hindrance. What I've been considering though is slightly different...
It was prompted by a recent visit to a certain Swedish furniture retailer. Yes, their toilets are wonderfully accessible, but while sat there I noticed something else. On the wall was a tampon dispenser. I had a sudden realisation, this was the first time I remember seeing one in a disabled loo.
Now I should explain that as a 41-year-old male, my experience of tampon dispensers is a little limited. But then I thought back to my pre-wheelchair days, and remembered that countless public toilets had condom dispensers. The point that I am gradually getting to is, why do non-disabled toilets have these but they are not found in disabled facilities?
All of this begs the question, are these omissions just a careless oversight or is there something more fundamental happening? I've long wondered whether designers realise that it's patronising to lump disabled people in with the elderly, when creating products or facilities. Now I'm coming to the realisation that in addition, they see us as a genderless entity that doesn't have the same needs as the rest of the population. At best that is mildly offensive, at worst it is indicative of a pervasive discrimination.
There are those who no doubt break into a cold sweat at the thought of the words disability, sex, sexuality and menstruation ever appearing together in the same sentence, but I'd hope that now in 2016 they were few and far between.
So come on all you current and future disabled toilet designers, lets make room for more vending machines and a bit more equality! Oh and while you're at it, how about some of these?
- Flushes that can be reached from a wheelchair (flushing while sat there is at best an over- rated pastime)
- Bigger spaces. I may be lacking the proverbial cat but it would be nice to be able to maneuvre my chair around.
- Bins that don't solely rely on a pedal to open them. This is aimed at my local physio department, where you'd think they could see the flaw.
Oh and finally, why do so few disabled toilets have mirrors? I know we may be invisible to many people, but we don't mind seeing how good we look.
What do you think? Anymore suggestions?
What do you think? Anymore suggestions?
Replies
Heather
One thing I hate is being lumped in with the baby changing room as well, makes me think that companies/buildings that do that think that a disabled person who uses their toiletting facilities are big babies too, if that's the case then maybe provide us with adult size (S/M/L/XL) nappies too! Seriously disposable adult nappies do come in handy for when waiting for someone to change their babies nappy, take their little toddler to the loo or just a plain lazy able bodied person!
However I sure feel that a lot more thought needs to go into building.
There is no standard hight which is bad
Worse thing at present is the amount being closed due to councils having lack of funds
Up for a petition on twitter as unluckyglo
I do think that the idea of differently able as opposed to disabled carries a lot of weight and not just in this context.
What do other members think of the idea of naming and shaming the worst facilities? Or alternatively could we institute a rating system similar to the points awarded for food hygiene? Maybe an award for the best facilities of the year.
A petition on Change.org might be useful.
I recently spent a couple of days on an orthopaedics ward at our local hospital. I was
absolutely gobsmacked to discover that the toilet in the bay had no adaptations whatsoever, no handrails or anything else, the nearest accessible toilet was in the corridor near the lifts and to get to it I had to be buzzed through the ward security doors. They offered me a bedpan which I refused on principle. If they can't make accommodations for accessibility then where is the incentive for anyone else to do so?
The point you mention about the facility always being unisex with non of the items that are within ables facilities is wrong. Why cant we have a decent mirror.
The lack of tampons and condoms maybe their afraid we might breed and take over the world maw ah ah !
And there's no Olympic Games for Mentally Disabled-We are completely discluded!!!
And the disability forms ask almost no questions about our mental health only physical as if that makes a difference to us!
I'm sure that the times I have been able to get into a disabled loo it has calmed my mind and stopped me from having serious mental issues that would cause me problems and everyone else around too-not to mention the State a small fortune of I had to go in hospital!! Sadly many times the disabled toilet was locked-I'd never been given my own key and serious problems resulted!!!
Most mentally ill people say if you are diagnosed with a condition that's it -your whole life over-your friends don't want to know you anymore and you are left alone! People say it is akin to a death sentence!!!
I live in a village in the middle of nowhere -I worked out in the last 5 years 32,000 hours or something I had spent about 8,000 hours asleep and 20,000 sitting alone in my room! Fortunately I do go out and possibly spent about 2,000 hours with people I met.20,000 hours alone is a long time!