Disabled toilets

[NoybSilent]

If you have the blue badge, I assume you have it for a reason and I don't judge. However, if you DON'T have that badge, then I'll glare at you. I recently read a story about a police officer not only double parked, but double parked in a pair of handicap spaces.

(I was looking for the police article and found this instead)
A New Way To Report People Who Abuse Handicapped Parking Spots | To The Max

I can't find the article in question but, I remember it happening in Ohio.

I'm Noyb Silent and I approve this message :P

[downtide]

In the UK, Radar keys for disabled toilets are easy to get. If you have a medically-diagnosed disability you can get one free, but anyone can buy them for a couple of quid. I have two; I applied for a free one and was told it might take a while so I bought one anyway because I couldn't wait. My free one took ten weeks to arrive.

[Calico]

I just found out that it's not just disabled people who are annoyed by able bodied people using those stalls, mothers of toddlers and infants also get annoyed when the same thing happens. They usually have changing tables in those stalls so if a person without small children is using that stall or someone who is able bodied using it, they get upset about it because they had to stand and wait for them to get through so they can change their kid's diaper. I have had that happen to me once but the person using that stall could have been disabled themselves. I didn't see who was in there because I didn't bother waiting and I went back to grocery shopping and left my son in his wet diaper until the stall opened. I decided next time I will just change him on the restroom floor using the changing pad if the person takes too long in there which lasted nearly the whole grocery shopping trip and why should my son get a rash from staying in a wet or messy diaper because someone was taking too long in the stall? I don't know if it be an hour or half hour before they get done in there. I wouldn't mind waiting a few minutes but after ten minutes, I am changing him on the floor. Yes I am too lazy to run all the way back to my car to change him. At least I am not changing him in the middle of the store or restaurant.

[Garzilla]

When i am out and need to change my wet nappy i use disabled toilets when i can. They have more space and have disposal facilities for nappies/ incontinence pads. I have a key to use them. I have sometimes had some funny looks when i leave the toilets, as people seem to think they are only for the use of wheelchair users. This week i got verbally abused by the carer of a wheelchair user. I just looked embarrassed and ran away, not wanting to cause a scene. Perhaps i should have made my case, i will next time. Has this happened to you?

One would think that if someone is using that stall in the UK that they would have had to have the key first. I suspect the reason the key is so easy to get would be because one does not need to be labeled as handicapped or disabled to still have toileting issues or need to change a diaper / nappy.

In the US the use of these stalls, including the dedicated rooms, are less restrictive. When a commercial space is established the number of stalls and the ratio of disabled to normal is set based on the ADA, state and local building codes. If the space is too small for more than a single stall and a single stall is adequate according to the code it will always be oversized and bear the handicapped sign.

The intent of the sign is to say, if you have a disability use this stall. It is not restrictive in nature. Now out of courtesy and consideration it is best to never use this stall if a regular stall is open and available. However, if you need it for whatever reason it is generally open for your use.

The dedicated bathrooms that are showing up in some places are very similar. They will bear a handicap sign, will often bear a miser sign and very often bear a family bathroom sign. The intent here is that this is the bathroom that is being set aside for a whole host of toileting issues including diaper changing. For example, a dad who needs t change or help his young daughter, or the mother helping her son. A parent with a child that has had an accident. Heck, even for an adult that has had an accident. Someone needing to change there own diaper. Someone needing the handrails and/or raised seat. Someone needing more room to manipulate a wheel chair, scooter, walker or whatever. You get the idea.

There is nothing exclusive about these toilets, and you will never find anyone handing out tickets just because you went to the wrong potty.

There are a lot of people out there that use these facilities that believe there use is exclusive, or that they are there only for someone who is wheelchair bound. They just do not stop to think that there are other issues that make these facilities appropriate to use.

If it were me I am not sure what I would have done, probably get really embarrassed and run away like the OP. I am very shy about diapers and about my potty needs.

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My standard response to criticism is "not all handi-caps are immediately visible"

This is so true and we have seen a number of examples here.

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The other issue is that unlike the parking spaces where there is a statutory bar for non-disabled to park there, the toilet stalls are just preferred for the handicapped. It's sort of like the seats up front on the bus.

This is exactly correct. In the case of handicapped parking it is illegal to use without the permit. There is a huge controversy out there over people cheating and using the spaces when there is no real need. It happens and I have seen it a number of times. I still refrain from saying anything unless it is someone I know, like my dad using it just because he has it for mom but mom is not with us.

I was accosted by a gentleman once because I ended up driving partly over the space of a stall trying to get into another tight parking spot. He came out of nowhere and looked like he was going to kill me be caused I dared violate that space. I had not driven through the space and I was not parking over it, not even by a millimeter. He had no call doing what he did but I was understanding as he expressed his frustration that he often could not find an open space when he had his wife with him.

Ok, I get it, do not park in a handicapped stall without a permit for any reason but then i was following this law perfectly and I always have without exception.

Normally I would have parked out as far as possible but this time I was having back issues and needed to be close to a cart and to the interface. I do not complain about the legitimate issues that I have and I never turn them into an excuse to cross the line. I see no need to get a permit myself even though I could easily justify it sometimes, but then that is personal choice. Just like parking in the far reaches of a full parking lot, when you have the permit but the disabled person is not with you. It is a choice.

Anyway, it is surprising to see how some people react and treat others just because they feel you have done something wrong. I try to never be a judgmental person and I always give others the benefit of the doubt because I simply do not know all of the facts.

[anna s]

I too was once verbally abused by an over weight old woman. I am not incontinent but like mentioned in this post previously, they are nice and private and you can dispose of your used nappies with relative ease.

I just bit my tong and walked away.

[bebehuey]

handicap restroom stalls; personally, I use them in one of 2 conditions,A) if its the only stall there (quite frequently in alot of settings, especially in the mens room, 2 urinals and a handicap stall, why should I change my diaper or do number 2 in front of a urinal?) b) when it is the last stall available (same reason). Parking slots.. I broke my leg about 9 years back and went back to work on light duty, I have a company truck, had placard on the mirror.. and the ass still booted me, I tore into the parking lot attendant over this, namely, why I have boot on truck, while still having placard on mirror, and still possesing boot on leg. poor guy actually lost his job over it. oh well.
if i ever run into the wheelchair asshole who bitches about my use of a handicap stall, i'll drop my pants and say F*** off., I actually don't like em anyways, the seats are too high to comfortably crap in.