The topic on my mind right now is handicap bathrooms. I personally feel most people don’t realize what it takes for a handicap person like myself in a powerchair to use a bathroom. My chair is around 4 feet long and is 28 or 29 inches wide. Therefore, in order for me to go into a bathroom, and close the door, I need at least that amount of room, that is not in the path of the door. Have you ever wondered why a handicap stall is so big in a store? It is so I can get in the stall and close the stall door. Not only that, if I need to use the toilet, I need room to be able to get my chair at least mostly beside if not fully beside the toilet to be able to transfer to it because I cannot stand up to pivot. Even just to pee, as a male, isn’t as straight forward as you would think. If you have a more commercial style toilet that hangs on the wall, you can sometimes move your feet to the side and get your foot platform to go under the toilet. Otherwise you have to raise your foot platform up, which makes you further from the toilet and try to get as close as possible. You then have to slide forward in your seat, careful not to slip off the front as you can fall and use the bathroom. I personally have found that I need to carry a bottle with me so that if I get into a stall that I cannot get close enough, I can go in it and then pour it in the toilet. Some days it almost feels as if I should just use it all the time as it is just that much easier.
I am going to skip over the pants issues you encounter trying to use the bathroom in this post and will probably cover that in the next one. If you were in a chair, you would be surprised at how many bathrooms I feel like I cannot use, even ones deemed handicap accessible. There is also a reason that the sinks are open below them, so that I have a place for my foot platform and feet to go if I try to roll up to it to wash my hands. You would be surprised at the number of trash cans that are in the way as it takes up floor space that I need to drive. I also have issues if the paper towel dispenser are to high or the soap dispenser is on the back wall, next to the mirror, with a deep sink. The other main issues that I sometimes have is that the bathroom door is stiff and awkward to open or hold open as I try to go through it. The other door issue is the handicap stall door. If it swings outward, like it should, most of them have no good way to pull them to you to close them. If they have a handle or a clothes hook, they are not too bad. If they don’t, you either have to try to pull them by the latch or the bottom of the door, neither of which is ideal when you have to try to actually latch the door because it is hard to pull it and latch it at the same time. I have threatened more than a few times to try to become some kind of handicap consultant as I know I could improve a lot of people’s handicap bathrooms, but finding someone to pay me to do it is easier said than done. I actually feel I would consult on more than just bathrooms but I feel this is the main area that lacks.
Below are pictures of what it takes for handicap bathrooms.
This is what I am talking about as far as not having anything to grab onto to shut the door.
How it is to shut the door.