question on handicap bathroom stall etiquette

[Unas]

I'm usually good with acronyms, but this one got me. I know I'll feel stupid when you tell me, but what's a TAB?

Temporarily Able Bodied.

 

[SueM in MN]

I don't need an accessible stall, but I won't hesitate to use one if that's what opens up when I'm next in line. I do try my best to be aware of anyone behind me with a mobility device, and if I know there is someone, I'll ask them if they would like to move ahead, but if not, I won't let it sit empty while I wait for a non-accessible stall.

That is what most people probably do.
No one is suggesting leaving a stall empty if there is a line (at least on this thread)

 

[pampam]

Please excuse my ignorance, but why would a person wait in a long line, working their way up, and then wait again for the handicap stall? Why not just go to the handicap stall and wait there rather than waiting twice, if you know it is the only stall you will be able to use? I hope I don't sound rude, but this is a serious question.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

Please excuse my ignorance, but why would a person wait in a long line, working their way up, and then wait again for the handicap stall? Why not just go to the handicap stall and wait there rather than waiting twice, if you know it is the only stall you will be able to use? I hope I don't sound rude, but this is a serious question.

Because there isn't a separate line for the handicapped accessible stall. There is one line. When you get to the front of that line, if you need the handicapped stall you wait the extra few minutes until it's current occupant leaves.

 

[Mrsjvb]

Please excuse my ignorance, but why would a person wait in a long line, working their way up, and then wait again for the handicap stall? Why not just go to the handicap stall and wait there rather than waiting twice, if you know it is the only stall you will be able to use? I hope I don't sound rude, but this is a serious question.

because one it ls cutting the line, period. and 2 you have NO idea if anyone else in the line ALSO needs a Handicapped stall. they do not have a line for Handicapped only and a different line for everyone else.

for instance, I am semi ambulatory.. I am in my chair in the parks but I can( and usually do) get out of it to stand in line for the loo. but like others I really DO need those grab bars to get upright after I have down my thing, otherwise I can literally get stuck and NOT be able to stand up at all, or can take many extra minutes to manage it.

 

[SteveMouse]

Because there isn't a separate line for the handicapped accessible stall. There is one line. When you get to the front of that line, if you need the handicapped stall you wait the extra few minutes until it's current occupant leaves.

Unless, of course, there is another person needing the stall, which means the wait is longer.

 

[Princess Disney Mom]

My son uses a wheelchair and it is people like you who take up the handicapped stall that really get me mad at times. when I get to the front of the line with the wheelchair, and let endless people go ahead of me because I am waiting for the handicapped stall ..... a wheelchair does not fit in a regular stall ..... and loudly say I am waiting for the handicapped stall, and nobody moves out of the handicapped stall for 10 minutes or more, I get really frustrated. I get even more angry when the family finally comes out of the handicapped stall and sees my son and I waiting and doesn't even say that they are sorry for taking so long. So please be considerate of how much time you are taking with your children in the handicapped stall and if you see wheels outside of the door or hear somebody talking about the need to use the handicapped stall, please put on a little speed. There are times when we were desperate and I had to park the wheelchair outside of a regular stall, lift my son out of his wheelchair (he weighs 109 lbs.) and carry him into the regular stall because somebody had all their kids in a handicapped stall and we could not wait any longer.

Please understand my daughter has autism and I use the handicapped stall with her as we don't fit in the regular. When she was young and had young siblings I would have come out of the stall with two little girls and we would look like we were with out any disability. I too wait a long time for the handicapped stall. I do understand.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

Unless, of course, there is another person needing the stall, which means the wait is longer.

But if there is someone ahead of you that also needs the stall, then technically you aren't at the front of the line.

 

[SteveMouse]

But if there is someone ahead of you that also needs the stall, then technically you aren't at the front of the line.

According to some, there should only be one line. So can I limit someone else going to an accessible stall until the one I need opens up? After all, I did wait my turn. Now if they had a sufficient number of accessible stalls.....

It's the same problem as for many rides. People needing the accessible vehicle (stall) have to wait an additional time- that's neither fair nor equal.

 

[aaarcher86]

According to some, there should only be one line. So can I limit someone else going to an accessible stall until the one I need opens up? After all, I did wait my turn. Now if they had a sufficient number of accessible stalls..... It's the same problem as for many rides. People needing the accessible vehicle (stall) have to wait an additional time- that's neither fair nor equal.

Aren't ride vehicles limited for emergency and safety purposes?

 

[Gracie09]

Aren't ride vehicles limited for emergency and safety purposes?

That was my understanding. Safety trumps all. Like why a person who does not meet height requirements can't go on rides regardless of age etc

 

[SteveMouse]

A PP posted

Because there isn't a separate line for the handicapped accessible stall. There is one line. When you get to the front of that line, if you need the handicapped stall you wait the extra few minutes until it's current occupant leaves.

My point is that in reality, for those people needing the accessible stall, there isn't one line, there's two. As the PP suggests, one waits in a single line to get to the "front" and another, once one gets to the "front" for the stall they need at an additional wait time, if they need the accessible car. It's very similar to, say, the wait for the accessible car on BLSRS or other rides after one has waited in the regular or FP queue, gotten to the front, and then having an additional wait for the accessible car.

It's an extra wait. I'm not suggesting there aren't some rational reasons for it, but it's there nonetheless, and it means at the end of the day it really isn't equal or fair access.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

A PP posted My point is that in reality, for those people needing the accessible stall, there isn't one line, there's two. As the PP suggests, one waits in a single line to get to the "front" and another, once one gets to the "front" for the stall they need at an additional wait time, if they need the accessible car. It's very similar to, say, the wait for the accessible car on BLSRS or other rides after one has waited in the regular or FP queue, gotten to the front, and then having an additional wait for the accessible car. It's an extra wait. I'm not suggesting there aren't some rational reasons for it, but it's there nonetheless, and it means at the end of the day it really isn't equal or fair access.

Where did I ever talk about it being fair? I was just stating how it works for the OP.

 

[aaarcher86]

A PP posted My point is that in reality, for those people needing the accessible stall, there isn't one line, there's two. As the PP suggests, one waits in a single line to get to the "front" and another, once one gets to the "front" for the stall they need at an additional wait time, if they need the accessible car. It's very similar to, say, the wait for the accessible car on BLSRS or other rides after one has waited in the regular or FP queue, gotten to the front, and then having an additional wait for the accessible car. It's an extra wait. I'm not suggesting there aren't some rational reasons for it, but it's there nonetheless, and it means at the end of the day it really isn't equal or fair access.

If they can't have additional handicap persons on the ride at once, I don't really see what the alternative is.

Similarly, if every stall was handicap accessible, there would be less stalls overall. In the end, it wouldn't help with the wait.

 

[ttintagel]

There is kind of a double standard, though, isn't there?

You can't tell who really needs accommodations on attractions and in lines, and you can't tell who really needs accommodations in bathrooms.

However, the general public is so OBSESSED with people with disabilities receiving accommodations they don't believe they really need, that our lives are made miserable by constantly having to justify ourselves, having needed accommodations taken away to appease the angry, vocal able-bodied, being publicly shamed and vilified every time we ask for something that makes us able to do what others do and take for granted, and being grilled by employees about whether we really need the accommodation (and often lied to about whether the accommodation is possible).

Yet the same general public has absolutely no problem with abuse of handicapped bathroom access by those who don't need it. (NB - notice that I said above that you can't tell by looking who does or doesn't need it, but A. statistically you know that not everybody who takes the stalls needs them, and B. when people discuss using the stalls they don't feel any need to justify themselves and feel that nobody should ask them to, even though PWD have to justify themselves ALL THE TIME for accommodations.) There are constant threads on the DIS and other boards about how people ought to have to show papers or doctors' notes to use a wheelchair or an alternate entrance, yet nobody ever suggests the same thing for bathrooms.

The general consensus of the public seems to be that PWD are doing something wrong by making able-bodied people wait even a few seconds to get on a bus or a ride, but that able-bodied people are doing nothing wrong by making PWD wait for much, much longer times to use the only bathroom stall they're able to use.

Let me just repeat for the record that if you're using a handicapped stall because you actually have a physical need for it that can't possibly be accommodated iin any other way, I am not talking about you.

 

[OurBigTrip]

There is kind of a double standard, though, isn't there?

You can't tell who really needs accommodations on attractions and in lines, and you can't tell who really needs accommodations in bathrooms.

However, the general public is so OBSESSED with people with disabilities receiving accommodations they don't believe they really need, that our lives are made miserable by constantly having to justify ourselves, having needed accommodations taken away to appease the angry, vocal able-bodied, being publicly shamed and vilified every time we ask for something that makes us able to do what others do and take for granted, and being grilled by employees about whether we really need the accommodation (and often lied to about whether the accommodation is possible).

Yet the same general public has absolutely no problem with abuse of handicapped bathroom access by those who don't need it. (NB - notice that I said above that you can't tell by looking who does or doesn't need it, but A. statistically you know that not everybody who takes the stalls needs them, and B. when people discuss using the stalls they don't feel any need to justify themselves and feel that nobody should ask them to, even though PWD have to justify themselves ALL THE TIME for accommodations.) There are constant threads on the DIS and other boards about how people ought to have to show papers or doctors' notes to use a wheelchair or an alternate entrance, yet nobody ever suggests the same thing for bathrooms.

The general consensus of the public seems to be that PWD are doing something wrong by making able-bodied people wait even a few seconds to get on a bus or a ride, but that able-bodied people are doing nothing wrong by making PWD wait for much, much longer times to use the only bathroom stall they're able to use.

Let me just repeat for the record that if you're using a handicapped stall because you actually have a physical need for it that can't possibly be accommodated iin any other way, I am not talking about you.

Sorry, but accessible stalls are not just for use by the disabled. It would be ridiculous to leave them sitting empty while people are lined up to use the restroom.

Of course it's common courtesy that before the non-disabled use the stall, they should check behind them to see if anyone with physical problems is in the line, and if so, the stall should be offered, IMO. But otherwise, there is no reason for the stall to sit empty.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

......

However, the general public is so OBSESSED with people with disabilities receiving accommodations they don't believe they really need, that our lives are made miserable by constantly having to justify ourselves, having needed accommodations taken away to appease the angry, vocal able-bodied, being publicly shamed and vilified every time we ask for something that makes us able to do what others do and take for granted, and being grilled by employees about whether we really need the accommodation (and often lied to about whether the accommodation is possible).

Yet the same general public has absolutely no problem with abuse of handicapped bathroom access by those who don't need it. (NB - notice that I said above that you can't tell by looking who does or doesn't need it, but A. statistically you know that not everybody who takes the stalls needs them, and B. when people discuss using the stalls they don't feel any need to justify themselves and feel that nobody should ask them to, even though PWD have to justify themselves ALL THE TIME for accommodations.) There are constant threads on the DIS and other boards about how people ought to have to show papers or doctors' notes to use a wheelchair or an alternate entrance, yet nobody ever suggests the same thing for bathrooms.

The general consensus of the public seems to be that PWD are doing something wrong by making able-bodied people wait even a few seconds to get on a bus or a ride, but that able-bodied people are doing nothing wrong by making PWD wait for much, much longer times to use the only bathroom stall they're able to use.

Let me just repeat for the record that if you're using a handicapped stall because you actually have a physical need for it that can't possibly be accommodated iin any other way, I am not talking about you.

I'm sorry that you seem to have such a chip on your shoulders. I can assure you that as a member of the general public, I don't spend any time obsessing as to whether or not disabled people are getting special accommodations.

You are mistaken about handicapped stalls being for handicapped people only. I agree, that is ridiculous; should they go unused 99.9% of the time?

 

[maxiesmom]

I'm sorry that you seem to have such a chip on your shoulders. I can assure you that as a member of the general public, I don't spend any time obsessing as to whether or not disabled people are getting special accommodations.

You are mistaken about handicapped stalls being for handicapped people only. I agree, that is ridiculous; should they go unused 99.9% of the time?

I agree with all of the above.

There is no such thing as abuse of handicapped bathrooms. They are not by law to be left open for certain guests. Anyone is free to use them.

 

[SteveMouse]

If they can't have additional handicap persons on the ride at once, I don't really see what the alternative is. Similarly, if every stall was handicap accessible, there would be less stalls overall. In the end, it wouldn't help with the wait.

It sure would if there we're say 10 people in line and 3 needed accessible stalls.

It would make the wait equal for all. And that would be fair.

 

[JenniBugInPink]

There is kind of a double standard, though, isn't there?

You can't tell who really needs accommodations on attractions and in lines, and you can't tell who really needs accommodations in bathrooms.

However, the general public is so OBSESSED with people with disabilities receiving accommodations they don't believe they really need, that our lives are made miserable by constantly having to justify ourselves, having needed accommodations taken away to appease the angry, vocal able-bodied, being publicly shamed and vilified every time we ask for something that makes us able to do what others do and take for granted, and being grilled by employees about whether we really need the accommodation (and often lied to about whether the accommodation is possible).

Yet the same general public has absolutely no problem with abuse of handicapped bathroom access by those who don't need it. (NB - notice that I said above that you can't tell by looking who does or doesn't need it, but A. statistically you know that not everybody who takes the stalls needs them, and B. when people discuss using the stalls they don't feel any need to justify themselves and feel that nobody should ask them to, even though PWD have to justify themselves ALL THE TIME for accommodations.) There are constant threads on the DIS and other boards about how people ought to have to show papers or doctors' notes to use a wheelchair or an alternate entrance, yet nobody ever suggests the same thing for bathrooms.

The general consensus of the public seems to be that PWD are doing something wrong by making able-bodied people wait even a few seconds to get on a bus or a ride, but that able-bodied people are doing nothing wrong by making PWD wait for much, much longer times to use the only bathroom stall they're able to use.

Let me just repeat for the record that if you're using a handicapped stall because you actually have a physical need for it that can't possibly be accommodated iin any other way, I am not talking about you.

Excellent post, absolutely excellent. By the way, I looked very closely, and you have no chip anywhere.