www.incontinentsupport.org

Uk campaign for fully accessible toilets including changing benches and hoists. Lots of info on specs.
http://www.changing-places.org

Ok, I can see this train of though is out there but in my honest opinion There needs to be a line drawn somewhere. If not it would be too much of a burdin for anyone to accommodate every possible need out there. Here in the US we have the Americans with disabilities act and there are times that goes to far. Best example of this is all ATMs need to have brail for the visually impaired. Great idea except it too goes too far. Ever notice there is brail on a drive through ATM? Like a blind person is driving a car aroung and suddenly remembers he needs some cash. Or you will see a sign that reads if you ccan't read, a picture menu can be provided. Again, nice idea if the person that can not read could read to ask for the menu because he can't read.
Large tables and lifts are not cheap and there is no way the owner should have to absorb the cost of every possible need out there.

Rope_Wrench, blind people use banks and spend money too. Just because an ATM is a drive through doesn't mean it is impossible for a person who is not in a car to walk or roll up and use, and just because a person who is visually impaired enough to need Braille will not be a driver, he/she very well could be a passenger in a car driven by another person and need cash. As for picture menus, perhaps the sign is there for the benefit of people who can read and tell the person who needs the picture menu, or to remind staff that they are available if anyone asks.

Whether any individual personally believes in it or not, the ADA has been federal law for almost 24 years. It's not going away. Many of us on this board are people with disabilities of some sort and/or family members and/or close friends with people with disabilities/disabling chronic medical conditions, which may well be the reason we/our family members/friends experience incontinence in the first place. In many contexts under the law, incontinence itself can be considered a disability, so this law also protects you and other U.S. residents on this board, even those who do not currently have other disabilities/chronic medical conditions. However, disability is the one minority group that *anyone* can join involuntarily at any time. We all are one accident or one medical condition or one complication of an existing medical condition away from a disability, or more disabilities, if we already have one. Anyone who lives long enough to get old will most likely have some degree of disability, with visual impairment very common.

I am old enough to remember what it was like to live as a person with a disability without the ADA and other disability rights laws, and have spent a lot of my personal and professional life advocating for, educating on and defending such laws. They are not perfect, but they have gone a long way in allowing a large segment of the population a lot more independence, dignity, ability to enjoy active lives in the community, not in institutions, like everybody else without disabilities, and to earn money and spend money on life's necessities and life's pleasures like anyone else. Things like curb cuts and accessible bathrooms are also helpful to people without current disabilities, like parents with kids in strollers. You're entitled to your opinion, but please think again about your potential audience on this message board. Thank you.

zenute,

My apologies for any misunderstandings. There is now way I would suggest that the ADA is not a good and needed thing. It is and it has helped thousands to live fruitful and productive lives. My only point is sometimes people want accommodation that are over the top. I can see how this can be a very charged topic on a board like this on so I will back down, admit I meant no offence and just keep my opinion to myself on this topic.
Again, I am sorry to anyone that read my post in a demeaning way.

Rope_Wrench, thank you for your clarification and apology.

Although I am not AB/DL, I do have ataxia caused by a cerebellar brain injury, and bi-lateral (both ears) Meniere's disease. Using a handicapped/family restroom always means that I must lie on the floor to change. A handicapped restroom with an adult-size changing table would be welcome, especially when I need assistance. A physical therapy table would suit perfectly. The problem would be keeping it clean for the next user.

Rope, please excuse the candor of my response, but I think your missing the point.

We aren't talking about overhauling ADA building codes here. I think the original poster is asking for suggestions for one bathroom s/he is designing. Again, it wouldn't help me, but if the builder is volunteering, I don't know why it would hurt to add it.

The braille on drive through ATMs isn't a symptom of the system going to far, so much as a cost of manufacturing issue. It may well be true that the ADA rewrites braille on all ATM buttons, but Evert of it only mandated it for ATMs mounted outside traffic lanes, it's likely the manufacturing process would still result in all like machines. It costs more to have two separate sets of dies to produce buttons both with and without braille, than to just put braille on all the buttons.

I think you're over thinking this one.

Spartin,

I totally understand where everyone is coming from. The link tangerine posted has a lot of information that make since. I just feel the is a tremendous finacal burden to put on the property owner. Relocating the toilet to a central location, a lift, tables, more square footage for a single toilet room? Just does not seem reasonable to do this in every venue. If it were in a place that has a high traffic of disabled people, then yes, by all means. I think if this were required everywhere, property owners would just close off there restrooms for everyone. But this is just my point of view. I would like to think there would be some middle ground we all could meet on this.

As for the original post, to me it did not feel like it was on the up and up. He had a few general questions and then jumped all over the changing table. To me it read like someone trying to get their jollies off. Then when he ended it, he asked the ridiculous question about "how do we dispose of our diapers". Again, it just did not seem like it was on the up and up. Maybe my distrust comes from being part of several other support forums and those without a medical need hijacking it for their own gradification.

I didn't follow tangerine's link, but I'll agree that it's fairly absurd to mandate this on a wide scale level.


You may be right about it being a troll. I haven't been at this as long as you have I suspect, so my radar may not be finely tuned enough.