I explained that I would need a toilet with bars to permit me to lift myself and a water closet that would permit access in a wheelchair.
My hosts looked at one another and then, with some embarrassment, told me there was no such bathroom in their building. The Americans with Disabilities Act exempts private clubs. They asked for time to consider how to solve the problem. After a few days the club leadership graciously agreed to alter a bathroom to suit the disabled. I hope my little talk proves worthy of their efforts. I am sure others will be grateful for the redone bathroom.
When I arrived at a Florida medical facility for some X-rays, I discovered that my wheelchair was too wide for the office front door. There were some awkward minutes while the poor receptionist scurried about to get me and my chair inside. I had to wonder how a medical office could have been designed to preclude easy entry by a person using a wheelchair.
When I went to see a surgeon at a major orthopedic hospital in New York, I discovered how difficult it is to get into and out of even a proud and caring institution. The turning axis of a wheelchair is quite large and the transition from the waiting room to the X-ray room was replete with tight 90-degree turns. Even well-intentioned legislation cannot specify what is needed to accommodate those of us who are made to feel subhuman by unintentional failures to provide suitable facilities.
I know all the excuses. In one major New York hotel, the bathroom had a tub with a built-in shower. There were bars around the rim of the tub, but it would have been impossible for me to climb into or out of it. The manager told me the hotel had only one true handicap room but the person using it had overstayed one night. The hotel assigned me to what they hoped would be a satisfactory alternative. It wasn't.
I once asked the CEO of one of the major hotel chains why there wasn't more attention paid to the handicapped traveler. His candid reply was instructive. "There are not many people like you visiting the top-level hotels," he explained, "so it does not make business sense to cater to the handicapped."
That surely explains some of what I have experienced. Yet there are small adjustments that would not require either great expense or major alterations.
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I begin by urging the wide acceptance of toilet facilities with suitable bars and seats about four inches higher than normal. I know the cost of such a bathroom isn't great and the comfort and security such equipment offers the handicapped is enormous.
I'm stunned by the number of doors in offices and other public places that aren't wide enough for my wheelchair—and by the number of door sills that make wheelchair use difficult.
If the doorways were constructed to make it easy for the wheels of my chair to slide over the sills, the awkward occasions when the chair is unable to cross the sill would be avoided.
I'm not looking for sympathy, only better understanding. Modern medicine is keeping us all older for longer. It makes sense to try to ease the way for those of us who cannot walk. Riding in a wheelchair can permit me new vistas but I need some help in some small ways. The big stuff, including ramps and elevators, is done and welcome. I think the little things require little more than some good people paying attention.
Mr. Vincent is a former CEO of Columbia Pictures Industries and commissioner of Major League Baseball.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303343404577514931697914496.html
Related:
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/09/19/what-if-hospitals-thought-us-as-customers-not-patients/
