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I am a paraplegic who uses a motorized wheelchair because I have limited use of my arms. Having just returned from a two-week auto trip in northeastern United States and 24 days in Fiji, New Zealand and Honolulu, I have some suggestions for making both public buildings and motels more convenient for the disabled.
* Airlines should assign handicapped passengers to aisle seats with removable arms.
* Airlines should always have aisle wheelchairs on board.
* Doors to go into bathrooms and accessible motel rooms should not be so heavy. If alone in an emergency, I could not escape!
* Rooms for the handicapped in hotels should not be above the third floor. Escape down stairways from higher levels would be impossible in an emergency.
* Rooms for the handicapped should be adjacent to emergency exits.
* Levers are easier to operate than round knobs as best brass kitchen taps handles, and levers work better than round door knobs as door openers.
* Hot and cold water mixers operated by a single lever are helpful.
* Light switches, soap dispensers, towel racks, electric hand dryers, and door openers should be low enough that a person in a wheelchair can reach them.
* Full length mirrors placed anywhere are helpful.
* Grab bars should be placed low enough for people sitting in wheelchairs to push themselves up.
* In hotels/motels, luggage counter space should be low enough to be accessible for a person sitting in a wheelchair.
* Pocket sliding doors are helpful on bathrooms in hotels/motels.
* Where there is a wide toilet stall door, a folding door can be helpful.
* The inside of toilet stall doors needs a grab bar and/or an oversized lock in order to have something to hold onto when closing the door.
* Toilet stalls for the handicapped should be long enough that the door can be closed with the wheelchair in the stall. I've had to lay aside modesty too many times because my wheelchair stuck out in the room so far I couldn't close the door behind me!
* Because I am just 5 [feet] tall, I have difficulty getting seated on a raised toilet. More helpful than having a high toilet is grab bars on both sides of the toilet. (The most accessible toilet for me was one that had fold-down grab bars on both sides.)
* There should be no threshold at doorways to accessible rooms, especially at bathroom doors.
* There should always be drain stoppers in washbowls.
* There should be access to at least one side of the bed in hotels/motels so a wheelchair can be backed up to the wall. There should also be an outlet near that side of the bed so a battery charger can be plugged in.
* Showers bounded only by shower curtains (not sills) are wonderful as are hand-held shower heads. A plastic chair or a built-in bench with grab bars can be used for seating.
* I found it helpful to carry a 36 [inches] strip of theraband to loop around knobs in order to pull doors open and/or closed.
* Airlines should assign handicapped passengers to aisle seats with removable arms.
* Airlines should always have aisle wheelchairs on board.
* Doors to go into bathrooms and accessible motel rooms should not be so heavy. If alone in an emergency, I could not escape!
* Rooms for the handicapped in hotels should not be above the third floor. Escape down stairways from higher levels would be impossible in an emergency.
* Rooms for the handicapped should be adjacent to emergency exits.
* Levers are easier to operate than round knobs as best brass kitchen taps handles, and levers work better than round door knobs as door openers.
* Hot and cold water mixers operated by a single lever are helpful.
* Light switches, soap dispensers, towel racks, electric hand dryers, and door openers should be low enough that a person in a wheelchair can reach them.
* Full length mirrors placed anywhere are helpful.
* Grab bars should be placed low enough for people sitting in wheelchairs to push themselves up.
* In hotels/motels, luggage counter space should be low enough to be accessible for a person sitting in a wheelchair.
* Pocket sliding doors are helpful on bathrooms in hotels/motels.
* Where there is a wide toilet stall door, a folding door can be helpful.
* The inside of toilet stall doors needs a grab bar and/or an oversized lock in order to have something to hold onto when closing the door.
* Toilet stalls for the handicapped should be long enough that the door can be closed with the wheelchair in the stall. I've had to lay aside modesty too many times because my wheelchair stuck out in the room so far I couldn't close the door behind me!
* Because I am just 5 [feet] tall, I have difficulty getting seated on a raised toilet. More helpful than having a high toilet is grab bars on both sides of the toilet. (The most accessible toilet for me was one that had fold-down grab bars on both sides.)
* There should be no threshold at doorways to accessible rooms, especially at bathroom doors.
* There should always be drain stoppers in washbowls.
* There should be access to at least one side of the bed in hotels/motels so a wheelchair can be backed up to the wall. There should also be an outlet near that side of the bed so a battery charger can be plugged in.
* Showers bounded only by shower curtains (not sills) are wonderful as are hand-held shower heads. A plastic chair or a built-in bench with grab bars can be used for seating.
* I found it helpful to carry a 36 [inches] strip of theraband to loop around knobs in order to pull doors open and/or closed.
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