It was so good to have you with us this year – you are a joy whose smile never failed to kick my spirits up even higher than they normally are.

See you next year- and on Oprah, too!
Terry

It sounds a wonderful networking time.

I can so sympathize with your bathroom experience. I spent five years on a scooter after my stroke, and I’ve had many of those kinds of experiences. Not as many as you’ve had being in a chair much longer, but enough to empathize with you.

Most people just don’t seem to think about things that they have no first or second-hand experience with; or it’s all ‘by the book’ rather than using common sense. As a kid I worked in a nursing home; that was my first encounter with accessibility needs of a mostly elderly population and one resident with CP. Early in our adult lives my husband drove a wheelchair van in Boston and we volunteered at a CP activity center one night a week. Much later my own mom was confined to a wheelchair. We now own a restaurant and I’m happy to say that we’re fully accessible – not according to us, but our many patrons who have not only complimented us but showed their appreciation by returning time and again. No stairs/ramps, chairs (rather than booths) that are easily relocated to make room for a wheelchair/scooter, and a wide, clear path to the bathroom with plenty of room to ride in circles if you’d like.

Maybe you should write an article that could be placed in a professional journal for architects – explaining the common sense issues around planning? And then a second one for the hospitality industry to make sure service workers in hotels, restaurants, and other public facilities know why it’s important that objects not be placed in certain spots that were meant to remain clear!

How long have we been at this, Mom? And they still don’t get it! I probably have enough content for an entire blog on “accessible” bathrooms. Wonder if Crane or American Standard would sponsor it. Hmm.