How accessible are "accessible" washrooms?
Disability advocates have done more than anyone to promote the idea of access to washrooms as a citizen's right. After all, if you can't use a washroom, your access to public space — not to mention employment and housing options — are severely diminished. And yet, despite incredible gains, bathroom access still leaves a lot to be desired.
Winnipeg's Emily Ternette was born with spina bifida and began using a motorized wheelchair after breaking her ankle in 1998. Wherever she goes she needs to make sure there is an accessible bathroom.
While finding an accessible bathroom is not so challenging in this day and age, the quality of these accessible washrooms is often not good enough. Since Emily is in a motorized wheelchair, space is the most crucial aspect of an accessible space.
She tells us about the struggle disabled people face when using public bathrooms, takes us on a tour of one she considers to be among the worst and tells us how the ability to go to and get to the washroom when she needs to would make her life more normal.