samw47•4mo ago

My neighbor Carol changed how I think about accessible housing

I was complaining to Carol last weekend about how our city council keeps ignoring curb cuts on new sidewalks. She just looked at me and said, 'You know, it's not just about ramps. My son uses a walker and the real problem is grab bars in bathrooms.' I never thought about how different needs clash. It made me wonder, how do we push for all types of accessibility at once without one group getting left out?

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wendy2054mo ago

Carol got me thinking too. My aunt uses a wheelchair and she always complains about how hard it is to find a bathroom she can actually use. The grab bars thing is huge, but so is the sink height and the mirror angle. It's like nobody designing these places has ever had to use them. I'm just so tired of seeing one type of access get all the attention while others get left out completely.

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harris.uma4mo ago

Actually, that's not entirely fair. ADA codes have specific height requirements for sinks and mirrors now, so newer buildings are way better about this. The real problem is older buildings that got grandfathered in, not some conspiracy to ignore wheelchair users.

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