When that diaper needs changing
Public officials, advocates push for more restrooms to include changing stations
During the teacher walkout last year, Kelly Albright faced a familiar dilemma for parents with young children.
Her daughter needed a diaper change. But after navigating the crowd and the long line to get inside the state Capitol with her two young children in tow, Al bright couldn' t find a changing table. A state senator let her use his office so she wouldn't have to trek back to her car.
Now a state representative, Al bright is working to make changing tables more accessible.
Some public buildings, including the state Capitol, are taking steps to install more changing tables. Some communities have enacted policies to require them in certain buildings. With that focus has come a push to make changing tables that can be used by older children or adults with disabilities more accessible, too.
The Capitol does have some baby changing tables, as Al bright later learned, but a lack of sign age can make them difficult to find. Shelley Zumwalt, director of public affairs for the Office of Management and Enterprise Services, said they are working on new digital signage for the Capitol and changing table locations will be incorporated into that project.
Both the men's and women' s first and third floor public restrooms adjacent to the rotunda have changing tables that were installed in 1999, Zumwalt said. There
also is a changing table in a family restroom that opened in May in the east wing of the ground floor.
By the beginning of the next legislative session in January, all restrooms at the Capitol will have changing t ables, Zumwalt said.
Some public buildings and businesses lack changing stations altogether. Those that have them usually only offer baby changing stations and sometimes only provide them in women's restrooms, putting the burden on the mothers to always handle diaper duty and making it difficult for fathers to take care of their children's basic needs.
Parents sometimes are forced to choose between leaving the venue, laying their loved one on an unsanitary restroom floor or walking back to their vehicle while carting their child and their baby gear, a task made more difficult in Oklahoma's sweltering summer heat.
For Oklahomans with disabilities, the challenges are even greater.
Motivated by her own experiences, Albright, D-Midwest City, introduced a bill last legislative session that would have required at least one baby changing table that's accessible to men and women in all state and municipal buildings open to the public that are new or undergo major renovations. The bill stalled, but Albright said she plans to re-introduce it next session. She requested an interim study to further examine the issue, but House Speaker Charles McCall did not approve the study.
Jason Sutton, McCall' s press secretary, said meeting space is limited because of the Capitol construction that's underway, so House members who requested multiple studies, such as Albright, were limited to two.
Al bright said she was appalled as a new mother when her nearly 7-year-old son was a baby to discover how many places lacked changing tables in men's restrooms or at all.
“A common reaction I get when I talk about this issue i s, ` Oh my gosh i sn't there something more important we could work on? Aren't there bigger issues that we need to address?'” she said. “Maybe it seems trivial to some people, but what I would say to those people i s that any measure that we can take to improve the l i ves of Oklahomans i s worthwhile, and i t doesn't take away from my focus on bigger issues.”
Accessibility for all
Rep. Mickey Doll ens, D-Oklahoma City, also was forced to improvise when his son, Dean, needed a diaper change at the state Capitol earlier this year. Dollens couldn't find a changing station on the fifth floor where his legislative office is located, or on the fourth floor, so he resorted to using his office desk.
His wife snapped a photo, which Doll ens posted on social media to raise awareness about the issue and to promote the baby changing table legislation last session.
“As a new dad, I love being involved in my son's daily activities and part of that is changing diapers ,” Dollens wrote on Facebook. “However, most public men's restrooms aren't equipped with a baby changing station.”
Thousands of people reacted to his Facebook post. Many chimed in with their own experiences and frustrations. Audra Beasley, an Oklahoma mother of three, reached out to Dollens with a simple request: Let's think of those with disabilities, too.
Most baby changing stations have a 50- pound weight limit, Beasley said. Her 3- year-old son Max, who was born with spin a bifida, will someday outgrow them. Her son requires catheterization every four hours. Otherwise, he could suffer kidney damage. He also has n eu rog enic bowel, which prevents him from knowing when he needs to make a bowel movement.
“No matter what your ability is in society, you should feel free to leave your home and have dignified access to basic human needs,” Beasley
said.
Adult changing tables, or universal changing tables, as they are sometimes called, are made to bear a larger weight and can be adjusted for height. Advocates are pushing f or public buildings to provide adult changing tables in family restrooms so that caregivers have a safe, secure space to help loved ones who need assistance.
Earlier this year, Arizona passed a law requiring new or renovated government buildings to have adult-accessible changing tables.
Dollens has been working with Beasley to draft legislation for the next session that would require adult-size changing stations in public buildings that are new or undergoing major renovations with the capacity to serve 1,500 or more people per day. He's calling it Max's Bill.
“Accessibility is a right for all,” Dollens said. “When we talk about all Oklahomans and the Oklahoma Standard, that includes being inclusive and making sure that people have the proper amenities to take care of themselves. … It's a moral priority and it can happen, we just have to have the initiative.”
The Capitol doesn't have any adult changing tables and there are no plans to add any, Zumwalt said. However, she said, if legislation passed requiring them, officials would make sure the Capitol was compliant.
Enacting policy changes
Norman City Councilwoman Kate Bierman once changed her daughter's diaper on the table of a restaurant that had no changing stations.
Bi er man championed an ordinance the Norman City Council passed earlier this year to make baby changing tables more accessible in public buildings that are new or undergoing major renovations. She said it was frustrating when she and her husband took their young daughter out and often the only changing t ables were in the women' s rest room. Sometimes, t here were no changing tables there, either.
“I' m just hopeful that Norman can stand as an example of how cities can really tackle this head on, particularly cities and states that consider themselves to be family friendly and inclusive,” she said.
Response to the measure was mostly positive, Bierman said. Some in the business community were concerned about the cost. Others felt the ordinance didn't go far enough. Parents with older children who are disabled contacted Bierman to voice concerns that changing tables often don't come with a high enough weight limit to be able to change a child older than 4 or 5 years.
“That was definitely something that I took to heart,” she said. “I tried to let them know that, especially with a somewhat major change like this, we have to move in small steps.”
A survey of several highly trafficked public venues shows the disparity that exists. Some buildings have no changing stations while others have installed them in every restroom. Often, businesses that cater to children and families tend to have better family amenities.
At the Oklahoma City Zoo, all 36 guest restrooms have changing stations, with one exception. The zoo does not have any adult changing stations but that is something officials are planning to add, said Candice Rennels, director of public relations. For now, there is a private medical room in the entry plaza next to the ZOOfriends office that guests are welcome to use as an adult changing area, she said.
All 21 public restrooms at Will Rogers World Airport have baby changing tables. The airport does not have any adult changing tables, a spokeswoman said.
The Oklahoma County Courthouse has just one changing station, in a women's restroom on the third floor. The Oklahoma County Annex Building also has one changing station, in a women' s rest room on the fifth floor. Keith Monroe, director of facility management for Oklahoma County, said officials are planning to remodel the restrooms in the annex building, which should include the addition of more changing stations.
“You think about the public that comes down here ,” Monroe said .“It' s a very, very busy place. Certainly families are here, and so it's an important requirement in my mind.”
City Hall in downtown Oklahoma City doesn't have any diaper changing stations, but city staff are looking into which restrooms would best accommodate changing tables. Only two floors of the building — the third floor, where the council chambers is located, and the first floor — have restrooms big enough, said Paul Bronson, the city's General Services Department Director.
Bronson said last week he has asked an employee to look into the matter and make recommendations.
“It's probably overdue, and I think we just need to get it done,” he said.