I wish I had studied the law.
If I had known the direction my life would take I would definitely have studied law.
As it is, I am floundering in a world which subtly excludes my family.
For example, I know that direct discrimination is where a person is treated less favourably, because of a disability, than someone who does not have that disability would be treated in the same circumstance.
I know that organisations have an “anticipatory duty”, which means that they should be constantly looking ahead. They should not wait till they are told that a disabled person cannot use their services before making changes.
I know that The Equality Act exists and protects disabled people should discrimination occur.
I know that service providers must make “reasonable adjustments” for a disabled person if they would otherwise be at a substantial disadvantage compared with non-disabled people.
I know that making reasonable adjustments includes providing special equipment.
But this is where it gets a bit confusing.
What is considered a reasonable adjustment?
Personally, I think that needing the toilet is a really important matter for us all.
I think that not having the necessary facilities needed to use the toilet when out puts those with disabilities at a substantial disadvantage.
My son is 10 years old and he certainly feels disadvantaged by a lack of properly accessible toilet facilities with a ceiling hoist and changing bench.
I have been writing to local councils and have had this response back from Truro City Council.
I know that they mean this nicely, but I read that they have known for three years that my son and many others are effectively excluded from the city centre. If you cannot use the toilet, you cannot stay all day.
And they know this.
They know.
I recently read a news article which said that Truro has 43 coffee shops.
Yet not one place where people who need a hoist or changing bench can use the toilet.
Is that reasonable?
Ordinary Hopes 
They care. But they don’t care enough! We matter. But we don’t matter enough. They understand the importance, but it’s ok for families like ours to wait. Because people are not enthusiastic about helping the disabled. Let’s just hope that those businesses who were not enthusiastic, never have to live our lives. Agree with you. It did have good intentions. But that doesn’t help us. Not one. little. bit. 😦
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When I read it my heart heard, “Dear Adam, we have known for three years that we are excluding you. We thought about it for a while but it was a bit difficult to sort so we stopped trying.”
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Shame on you Truro city council!!
What they ment to say was ‘Basically making changes eats into our budget and as we don’t benefit financially so we won’t look into installing ‘changing places!’
The majority of companies look to the bare minimum they have to provide for disabled visitors which abides with the law… instead of having compassion and saying ‘we will do more!’
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one point of use: if a venue has 10 ‘covers’ for food, drink it legally has to provide a loo for customers! The recent High Court action re Greggs…!
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Love the way they suggest the Hall for Cornwall as a possible venue for a Changing Places Toilet … if only someone had suggested that to HFC while they were planning. Oh, wait…
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Yes, it is a little worrying how someone on the Project Board was not consulted when they were being directly asked.
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No it is not acceptable at all Truro council need to get their act together. We’ve recently had a big new development in our city centre and am pleased to say they have included a room with a hoist and changing facilities so if you’re ever in South Wales you might find it a bit better for a day out shopping. #KCACOLS
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That is fabulous!
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This is outrageous. These facilities should be in place so that it is accessible for everyone. It is truely not fair! Thanks so much for linking up at #KCACOLS. Hope you come back again next Sunday
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These sorts of places should be available, hopefully they sort it soon! #KCACOLS
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Absolutely not reasonable! I’m always astounded by the lack of decent Changing Places facilities out and about. Aside from the obvious social and moral responsibility, do these businesses not see the benefit to their own business, from increased custom and publicity? It’s such a short-sighted response to not install more CP toilets. #KCACOLS
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I agree with you they are basically saying we know thee is a problem but we are unwilling to try hard enough to find a way around it. Everyone has a right to use a toilet and toilets should be accessible to everyone who needs to use one! #kcacols
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