It’s time to tackle: adult changing tables

[mamabunny]

I have been using an App, called Roll Mobility for a while. It’s a great app that lets you post “reviews” about the accessibility (or lack there of) at any public location where folks might go. So, stores, restaurants, office buildings, etc. Very cool and very helpful, available for iOS and Android. Download that, and start helping to fill in the gaps wherever you happen to be!

Cool thing about Roll Mobility is that they also have a newsletter you can subscribe to for free. The most current issue had the following (pasted here with permission from the newsletter editor)

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If you haven’t heard via grapevine, coconut shell, or carrier pigeon the U.S. Access Board just released an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) on universal changing stations (read: adult changing tables), and they’re actively asking the public to weigh in before the technical standards get cemented — standards that medium and large hub airports will need to follow when pursuing certain airport development grants. (Shout out to Pittsburgh’s newly renovated airport for being at the forefront and installing one, as well as their sensory rooms, children’s play spaces etc.) This is in motion because the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 told the Board to create the requirements, and right now they’re working through the unglamorous-but-critical details that determine whether these stations are truly usable or just a “we tried” plaque on a wall: Do we adopt an existing standard (ICC A117.1) or build something new? What should the room include for privacy/sanitation/accessibility? Should tables be continuously height-adjustable (and within what range), with non-porous surfaces that can survive real-life cleaning (and real-life bodily fluids, because… humans)? And yes, because the spreadsheet Capitalism gods demand tribute: what do these installs actually cost out in the world?

And here’s the part where the disability community gets to do what it does best: show up, be loud, be specific, and bring receipts. Public comments are due April 20, 2026. You can submit through Regulations.gov via the notice, or email the Board at docket@access-board.gov with docket number ATBCB-2026-0001 in the subject line. If you’ve ever had to MacGyver dignity in an airport bathroom, consider this your official invitation to turn that experience into policy.

Ring ring its accessibility and universal design calling, let’s pick up the phone.

Pittsburgh International Airport’s newly installed Adult Changing Room​

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So we have a bit of time. Spread the word if you are part of another community that might benefit from responding to this call for feedback. We have to use these opportunities to make thoughtful, reasonable comments that can change the future for all of us.

None of us know when we might need to use an adult changing table. I am a prime example of this. I can never again assume that I will never need a particular kind of accommodation - because in the blink of an eye you can find yourself right where you said you would never be.

Also, if Sarah (the editor of the newsletter, and a charming human as well) shows up, please join me in welcoming her to our community! She is working hard to help everyone, everywhere have a better experience as a mobility device user, and that is a worthy endeavor!

Thanks, everyone!

 

[mamabunny]

Ope, forgot the link to subscribe to Sarah’s newsletter, called “The Roll Up”

Here you go! Subscribe to The Roll Up

 

[WonderlandisReality]

Such an important topic. Also putting out there, if you are a physically disabled caregiver yourself, these changing tables are amazing in ways I never knew until I encountered one. I was physically unable to lift my developmentally disabled children after they were 25 lbs due to a spinal disorder in my own childhood. So I was changing my children on the floor of the public companion bathrooms. Sitting on the floor myself, then having to crawl over to the wall to get the grab bar to get myself off the floor. Definitely not sanitary or elegant. These functioned as an adjustable table, the one time I saw one. My daughter was able to get on it herself, and I was able to change her without sitting on the floor.