Toilet fail

[roserodent]

This lovely notice on the door of a disabled toilet states that it is to be shared between disabled toilet and baby changing. Now, marks for remembering to think of a disabled toilet at all, and yes it's very common to have to share with nappy changing, BUT this particular event is a special event for parents of young children. It's an unusually disporportionate number of people in need of nappy changing facilities, therefore facilities should be separated.

Anyway, I couldn't get my wheelchair inside the toilet. It's a 40cm sports model, so goodness knows what size of wheelchair they had in mind when they made it, I am guessing they manufactured it the size they can carry on a truck and worked backwards to make it level access and fit some ridiculously placed bars.

So my apologies if you were among the people who had to watch me go to the bathroom yesterday because I couldn't shut the door, but ...

Pedal bins in disabled/handicapped toilets

[roserodent]

Need I say more? Argh! The hospital has a special design of pedal bin that you cannot open by hand at all. It's to help with infection control so you don't have to touch the bins. So instead you have to lean out of your chair and push the bar where others have put their feet and push it with your hand. You cannot wash your hands afterwards because the paper towel goes in the pedal bin.

Who thinks of these things? Does anyone think?

The Eighth Floor

[autymn]

I work as a Physical Disabilities Specialist at a rather well known university which for my and my employers protection will remain namiless. Myself, I am blind and have neurological disabilities that result in fun things happening with the use of elevators (weeeeeee!) I also work with a service dog. Someone in university administration thought it brilliant to place our department on the eighth floor on the periphery of campus! This either means multiple trips up and down seven flights of stairs for me a day - something that is very taxing on my body/CNS or multiple rides on the elevator that causes its own set of issues. Oh, and of the three elevators, we're lucky if two are working.

And need i even mention the problem being on the eighth floor raises for the students I serve who use wheelchairs, crutches, or other mobility devices?!

Supposedly "they" have been working to get our department moved for "some time." Whatever that means.