“Accessible” Public Bathrooms: Hits and Misses

This experience was just the beginning. In the next few weeks, I encountered numerous out-of-reach public bathroom features—door locks, toilet flushers, toilet paper, faucets, soap, and paper towels. Rarely could I see into the bathroom mirror. Living 70 years without such essentials, prepared me for some of this exposure—I carried my own tissue paper and sanitizing soap, accepted air drying as an alternative to blow drying or hand towels, and risked using the toilet with an unlocked door.

It amazes me that more than 35 years after publishing the first book in my dwarfism trilogy—Dwarfs Don’t Live in Doll House—I’m still writing about access issues as shown in the following excerpt from Chapter 5, At Your Physical Pleasure:

“I remember too well the time I locked the toilet door in the airplane taking me to Malaysia. That time I took the risk and locked the door anyway. There seemed to be more at stake. Unless the door was locked, the light would not come on and I would have to leave the door wide open. I did not fancy exposing myself to the strangers waiting in line outside the door.

When ready to leave, all my energy failed to release the lock. I was trapped. After several attempts, I sat back on the toilet, lid down, exhausted. The thought of spending the rest of the flight in there did not thrill me at all. A person can only spend so much time sampling the lotions and potions. I should have been grateful that they were in reach.

My eyes settle on the emergency button. It was so attractive that I pressed it, twice. Nobody came. I felt relief and panic simultaneously. Relief, because I didn’t really want to be rescued from the toilet and be associated with the usual child victim; and panic, because I had pressed the emergency button twice and nobody responded. There was truly no escape.

The panic subsided as my strength returned. It didn’t take as long as Samson’s hair to grow, but I suspect that in the single moment when I needed extra energy to stretch up to the lock, I was given divine help. I reached up and again the door sprung open. I was relieved to get out of there in more ways than one. . .

When ready to wash my hands [in another location], I discover the taps (faucets) are out of reach. They’re not too high, just set too far back in the hand basin. My mother’s well-worn advice to always wash my hands after using the bathroom must be put to rest this time. The words don’t die easily. Of course, reaching the tap was only the first of three steps necessary to accomplish the joy of clean hands. After the tap comes the soap and then the hand towels. In this bathroom, I can’t reach any of them.

It’s even more frustrating to come across a bathroom where you can reach some of the amenities but not the others. To be offered the sensation of water running over your hands and be denied the cleansing effect of soap is infuriating. To have the water pour from the tap and extend to a flow from the wrist to the armpit as you reach in vain for the hand towel is drenching. To have the air dryer not only diminish the quantity of water on your hands, but also destroy the style of your hair is enough to make you blow your cool.”

At the time of writing Dwarfs Don’t Live in Doll Houses there were no laws mandating access. But the public bathroom photos taken in New Zealand and Australia, and shown in the table below, depict both current and early examples of various bathroom barriers that occurred long after laws mandating accessibility were in place.

Let’s install the toilet paper above her head so as not to mess with the tiles. (picture left) No tile preservation excuse for elevated toilet paper (picture right)

Toilet flush on top of tank! (picture left) Toilet flush even higher on the wall (picture right)

It’s apparent to me that lack of access can be attributed to flouting building access codes, lack of common sense, lax building inspection practices, and failure to consider or care about the needs of people with disabilities. It’s especially aggravating given how much technology has provided access solutions. See, for example, the three photos of accessible locks.

So what needs to happen to make for accessible bathroom experiences? How much longer do people with disabilities need to endure access inequality? And why do we continue to tolerate inaccessible bathrooms? The law mandates access, so let’s use it to achieve our equality.

For additional Angela Muir Van Etten accessibility blog posts, go to:

• “Accessible” Public Bathroom Absurdities. November 16, 2020. https://angelamuirvanetten.com/accessible-public-bathroom-absurdities/
• ADA Compliance Challenge Continues. January 25, 2021. https://angelamuirvanetten.com/ada-compliance-challenge-continues/
• Breaking the Six-Inch Reach Barrier. June 28, 2021. https://angelamuirvanetten.com/contests-breaking-the-six-inch-reach-barrier/
• Take Action Against ADA Access Violations. January 24, 2022. https://angelamuirvanetten.com/?s=Take+Action+Against+ADA+Access+Violations
• “My Trip to New York City Was Full of Accessibility ‘Hits’ and ‘Misses.’” July 16, 2022. The Mighty. https://themighty.com/2022/07/using-mobility-scooter-new-york-city-accessibility-challenges/
• Defendants Feign Ignorance When Hit With ADA Complaints. January 30, 2023. https://angelamuirvanetten.com/defendants-feign-ignorance-when-hit-with-ada-complaints/
• The Long Road to Update Federal Reach Guidelines. July 24, 2023. https://angelamuirvanetten.com/federal-reach-guidelines/#respond
• Are We There Yet? January 29, 2024. https://angelamuirvanetten.com/are-we-there-yet/

You may also want to read books in Angela’s dwarfism trilogy, https://angelamuirvanetten.com/books/:

• Dwarfs Don’t Live in Doll Houses
• Pass Me Your Shoes: A Couple with Dwarfism Navigates Life’s Detours with Love and Faith; and
• Always An Advocate: Champions of Change for People with Dwarfism and Disabilities.