Wheelchair Chronicles: Update from Genie

It's been awhile since I posted anything here. I've had some medical issues to deal with and just didn't have energy left over to create articles. Long story short is that I am now in a wheelchair and am doing much better.

At first I felt I had given up when I finally realized that I needed a wheelchair and there was no way around that fact. Before I got too depressed about it, my mother explained what a blessing the chair would be for me. She explained to me that now I have a wheelchair, I wouldn't have to use up all my energy on walking and I would have more energy to do other things. Things I haven't been able to do for years. Turns out she was right. This wheelchair is a wonderful blessing.

I'm not going to talk about my personal medical problems, just know that I have been disabled for years and this is just the next step in the process. I do hope that this isn't a forever situation, but if it is - then that's what needs to happen. I'm taking it one day at a time.

I have learned quite a bit in the last month about being in a wheelchair. Before I got to this point, I had heard that so many places were handicap accessible and it was pretty easy to get around. It is true that some places are easy to get in/out of, but a few places are just about impossible for someone in a wheelchair to have access.

I work at a large state university that prides itself on its accessibility. I used to see signs of accessibility and would be proud that it existed. Now that I have to use what has been made available to me and others like me in wheelchairs, I'm not so proud.

For instance, the ladies bathroom on my side of building that I work in had a gorgeous marble looking strip lying across the threshold. The wheels of my wheelchair got hung up on it and I was unable to get into the bathroom, even with the help of the two ladies who were in the vicinity.

When I finally got loose from the marble strip, I decided to go to the bathroom on other side of the building. I had to go through heavy metal fire doors to get to the other side of the building. These doors are not handicap accessible. Did I mention that they were heavy?

That bathroom turned out to be very small, so small that even with someone holding the door completely open; I had to do the backward and forward thing over and over to get through the door and through the short narrow hall leading to the stalls. Then when I came out of the stall, a student had left her backpack in front of her stall and I was trapped until she came out and moved it. Like I said, it is a small bathroom.

I didn't want to go through that harrowing experience again so I ended up going to the building next door to use the bathroom. If the weather had been nice that would have been no problem. In fact, I would have enjoyed it. But during that time, the weather didn't reach the freezing mark. I'm not sure it even reached the low 20s. It would have been a warm spell if it had. The reason I decided to go next door, is the bathrooms there have no door making it much, much easier to get in and out of. It took from Monday, when my department head first reported the problem, to Friday afternoon for the womens bathroom in my building to be fixed.

In the meantime I had to take paperwork to Human Resources from my doctor stating that I needed a wheelchair and why I needed a wheelchair. In other words, I had to given detail written information about my personal medical issues to strangers. All the time I'm thinking "I don't care if it is a disabled staff member, student or visitor who needs to use the bathroom; it needs to be fixed so a wheelchair can get in and out of door." No one should have to prove anything, when a bathroom clearly is not wheelchair accessible. What was the point of have a wonderfully huge wheelchair accessible stall if no one in a wheelchair could get in the door?

I'm a bit resentful that I had to come up with paperwork of personal medical information just to have access to a bathroom in the same building I work in. I doubt that any one else on campus has had to put up with this indignity for bathroom privileges. All that was needed was a metal threshold that has a gentle slope be put in place of the marble strip. It took just a few minutes to install it. Our bathroom has a huge stall for someone in a wheelchair, but no one could use it until this was done.

By the way, the only wheelchair accessible bathroom in the building I work in is the first floor women's bathroom on my side of the building. The men's room still isn't accessible and none of the second floor bathrooms are accessible. I don't understand this situation at all. Any males in a wheelchair visiting my building will need to go elsewhere. If this particular women's bathroom is closed for repairs, I'm back to going next door.

Before I go on, I want to thank the department head for all her efforts and one co-worker in particular for his initiative in figuring out how to get the job done. Both of these people went out of their way to make it possible for me to have access to the bathroom. I am truly grateful for both of them. If others were working in the background to help, I want to thank you as well.

Little things like that metal threshold piece make a world of difference to someone like me. Next time you go to your company's bathroom, look around. Is it really accessible? Have you ever since anyone in a wheelchair inside the bathroom? I have worked in this particular building for over nine years and I had never since anyone in the bathroom in a wheelchair. Now I know why.

When you are in you company's bathroom here are a few things to notice. Can someone actually get their wheelchair through the doorway? Is it wide enough? Are there obstacles like plants or trash cans in the way? How tight are the corners in the bathroom? Are the paper towels accessible? How about the toilet paper? Can someone in a wheelchair reach sink and easily turn on/off the faucets? Is there access to the mirror, if there is one? Is the pathway inside wide enough for a wheelchair and someone else? If there is a door, how heavy is it? How easy is to maneuver the wheelchair into place inside the stall? Can the stall door be easily closed? Is the flooring made of slick tiles making it easy for the wheelchair to skid? As the saying goes "The devil is in the details."