Toileting Children with Disabilities in Public

When you walk into a public washroom what is your first thought? Is it, “Wow, this washroom is so clean!” Is it, “Man oh man, this place is gross!” It could fall somewhere in between, but I’m guessing either way, you would not want to lay on the ground in a public restroom. Frankly, you have absolutely no idea how clean it really is.

My first-born child was born in Calgary, Alberta in late fall. It is cold, very cold, in Calgary during the winter, so outings often involved meeting with friends at the mall and going for a walk. We often did laps of the mall. Inevitably at some point along the walk, the faint (or not so faint) smell of a bowel movement painted the air with its aroma. I took my child to the washroom and lo and behold, more often then not, a change table. Perfect.

With his change mat in place, I did not have to think twice about laying my baby on the change table to change his little bum. Koala Kare, the brand of change table often seen in public washrooms, states on their website the length of their change tables as 35 inches. The average length of a two-year-old child is 34 inches. So what does that mean? It means that I can fairly easily change my child in a public washroom, on a public change table, until the age of two.

What happens when my child is four or five or eight or 15 and still not potty trained?

My middle child has special needs, including a developmental delay due to a genetic mutation on the Fox P1 gene. She is eight and wears pull-ups with little to no awareness of bladder and bowel movements. The average height of an eight-year-old child is 50 inches. Does anyone else see the issue at hand?

Large Size Changing Tables

The Financial Post had an article on June 10, 2019 headlined, “Pampers announces commitment to provide 5,000 baby changing tables for installation in public restrooms.” The article starts by saying, “Picture this…dad is out and about, enjoying quality time with his baby and the inevitable hits — diaper duty….” While I am clearly on board with male restrooms having more accessible baby change tables, could you imagine an article that started out by saying, “Picture this…parent is out with a child with a disability, enjoying quality time when the inevitable hits — diaper duty….”

I have changed my daughter quite possibly everywhere because I refuse to leave her sitting in a bowel movement both for hygienic reasons, and also because of the potential embarrassment of an eight-year-old wandering around with loaded pants and the smell that accompanies them.

I have attempted to change her on those public baby change tables with her head and limbs hanging over the edges. It’s quite a sight as you can well imagine.

I have laid my jacket on the floor to change her.

I have tried to change her sitting over the toilet.

I have spread paper towel all over the washroom floor to change her.

I have taken her back to my car to change her.

I have changed her on the grass, on the beach, on the pavement. It is amazing she has yet to contract a UTI!

Let’s imagine for a second if the next article in the newspaper stated, “(So and so company) has committed to making bathrooms more accessible to those with special needs by installing a small bench….” That would be a fantastic start, wouldn’t it? While I’m sure many of our special kiddos could benefit from a lift being installed in each public family restroom, the likelihood of businesses committing to such an expense is very small. However, a bench seems feasible. Right?! A bench would be easy to clean, easy to install, and does not require much space, but it is a nice flat space to lay our taller kids on to change so we are not subjecting them to the filth and bacteria on the floor. It’s behind closed doors to eliminate those staring eyes while changing our kids outside or hanging out the back seat of the car.

Taking Action

Accessibility is an ability to access by all. We have accessible vans to drive to public places, automatic doors to allow us to enter the building; now let’s introduce accessible restrooms so we don’t have to leave these public places for something as simple as, quite frankly, changing a dirty bum.

Several campaigns and organizations are spearheading efforts to raise awareness about the need for large size changing tables in bathrooms. For more information, see:

• Changing Spaces Campaign
• Changing Places (UK)
• Universal Changing Places

Julie Miller lives in Kelowna, BC, Canada with her three young children: Alexander, Isla, and Aaron.