Escaping Alcatraz…

Accessible public lavatory facilities are a significant issue when you are a person who uses a wheelchair. Although adequately designed restrooms are becoming more frequent, other challenges can complicate the task. I worked for an engineering firm with ADA design rules and regulations, but no disabled person to explain how to assemble those parts. Just because you have all the ingredients for a birthday cake, there will only be a celebration if you combine them correctly.

I have always been an averagely sized guy at 5 ft 6 in and hovering around 150 pounds with a Pillsbury doughboy squishy center. My heaviest was around the end of my marriage when I was two hundred pounds, as she was a superb cook and excellent baker. The first year of my wheelchair life, I had a cumbersome hospital-sized wheelchair for average-sized adults. This information lets you know that the size of me and my wheelchair has never been an issue when using public facilities. The following chronicles are a few examples of the inadequacies of public restroom facilities that I often deal with.

I hope you are sitting down when you read this inexplicable, unbelievable, and unacceptable public bathroom amenities tale. A vivid memory resides intensely burned in my brain of the first inaccessible restroom I encountered as a wheelchair user. I struggled with an old, oversized, arm-powered wheelchair I had been using for only two months. At Mount Carmel West Hospital in Columbus, OH, I saw a neurologist at the neurology clinic to treat my multiple sclerosis.

I suddenly had to take a tepid tinkle and began searching for the facilities to relieve my internal plumbing pressure. Jan jumped up quickly from the waiting room to help me with my door struggles, as it was heavy and awkward to handle while rolling on wheels. She opened the door as wide as possible, and I looked inside and saw the magical space of a highly accessible bathroom. Unfortunately, the door jam stopped me as I tried to maneuver and wiggle my manual mechanism through the door opening with no success. I sat positively perplexed at how this inadequate facility of bathroom variety could be acceptable at a hospital neurology clinic. Although it is improving, this situation is more common than you think.

When visiting the Columbus, OH, Board of Health to acquire a certificate of birth, I needed to visit the Blatter Evacuation Center. My dad drove me to this place for the paperwork to prove I lived, so we began our trek to locate an accessible bathroom. I grabbed the door handle to enter the facilities, and it felt like I was dragging a six-thousand-pound elephant across the street. My dad, who was in his 50s and ambulatory, grabbed the door and pulled, saying it was like pulling a loaded wheelbarrow with a flat tire. I have used many bathrooms with extremely heavy or excessively narrow doorways, so I do not believe entries are considered with accessibility.

About ten years ago, they examined my eyes at a place called Blind People Optical Emporium or something like that, as I needed glasses badly. I requested directions to the facilities to relieve my achy, breaky bladder and quickly return to search frames for my face. Trying to get to the restroom, I found the door opened incorrectly, blocking the walking path because the hinge was on the wrong side. This situation means it would block the hallway when the door opens, proving they do not consider entry points in ADA regulations.

Now, onto a more lugubrious story because it is about a Recreation Center in my new neighborhood. While at this rec center event, I needed to visit the facilities to dehydrate so I could rehydrate, as hydration is essential. The door opened inward and was not excessively heavy, so I quickly pushed it open with my chair and entered the room. As I tried to exit, what made things truly challenging was location, location, location. The awkward metal trashcan blocked the door, which was in the corner in an unfortunate position, and the door handle to exit was too far out of my reach. They seldom alter entryways sufficiently to accommodate accessibility needs.

They explained that, unfortunately, the rules for the Americans with Disabilities Act do not work like most people think they should. These guidelines only apply to government buildings, not businesses, which are private property. Most companies do the bare minimum, installing grab bars and adding extra space where needed. These corporations follow ADA rules extremely loosely because they look good to the average Joe but often not to the wheelchair user. Typically, these businesses respond slowly, if at all, when there is a need for new equipment or repair for existing accessibility options. Keep in mind that in this blog, I only discuss the accessibility, specifically doorways of public bathrooms. “Eyes are the windows to our souls,” yet doorways are the windows to…well, nothing because they are not windows but doors.

I can’t open doors that aren’t open. But if a door opens, I would be happy to walk through. -Becky Hammon