I then noticed that there was only one curb cut for the four spaces. To get to the walkway, you must wheel or walk to the last spot around any other car.
Then I noticed that the women’s rooms were on the far side of the building, by the truck parking. (I know many women now drive trucks, but I think the majority still come by car.) In the women’s room itself, the handicapped facilities were at the farthest end in the restroom. All this meant that a handicapped woman needed to travel farther than anyone else to use the restroom.
This caused me to think about restroom design for the handicapped, a sore spot for me. I have never yet heard about a group of disabled persons being asked how the restroom should be designed. We just have to live with what is given us.
We are each different in our abilities and disabilities, so a feature for one does not necessarily help someone else. There are, however, certain basics that should be common in every plan.
Fixture height is important. A wheelchair user needs to be able to slide sideways to and from the toilet. People with back, knee or hip problems need to be up high enough that standing is easier. If the knee or hip is flexed more than 90 degrees, persons with a weak joint will struggle and possibly injure themselves.
Yet time and time again I enter a restroom with the fixture the size that a 5-year-old would enjoy, quite close to the floor.
The bars need to be where the average arm can reach and apply pressure. Think about how muscles work to move a heavy load. Arms cannot be bent backward and work. The bar cannot be at shoulder height or too low because either may make the arm assist impossible.
On my trip last summer one handicapped hotel room had the only bar behind the toilet — no help at all.
Toilet paper dispensers are frequently near the floor. I don’t know why. That is supposed to be a clean item.
Far too often, the dispenser is placed so that the top is under the bar and the opening is on the bottom, just inches from the floor. This not only makes it more likely a person will fall when they need to reach so far down it makes contamination of the paper from contact with the floor possible.
The part of the dispenser where one places a hand should be at hand height, above the bar perhaps.
Heavy doors without openers can defeat us. Signs should not be so discreet that we can’t see them.
Soap and towel dispensers also need to be accessible to people in wheelchairs. These items should not all be at walking height. Hooks for purses and coats should be repeated so that a person in a wheelchair can use them.
There is nothing sillier than trying to jump in a chair to dry your hands or hang up your purse. My grandchildren also enjoy using the lower items; the nondisabled population also comes in a variety of sizes and shapes.
It should also be noted, the public restroom facilities for the handicapped are not changing rooms or places to camp. Use them if you must, but then leave.
The handicapped have no other option, you do.
Virginia Towne is a retired computer programmer from the University of Washington with experience in her own life with disabilities. A member of The Olympian’s Diversity Panel, she can be reached at townevi@gmail.com.
