MOST of us are wary of where we step in public toilets yet a Vincentia mother is often forced to place her disabled child on the cold, filthy, floors of disabled toilets to change him.
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Annette Pham’s only other alternatives are to change 12-year-old Liam’s nappies on a park bench or simply let him sit in his soiled nappy until they return home.
But Mrs Pham is determined to make a difference, starting a petition on change.org to try to get the Building Code of Australia changed to make disabled toilet blocks more accessible for the severely disabled.
Just one week after she launched the petition, it has been signed by more than 1780 people from across Australia with many offering their support and their sympathy.
‘‘I’ve had amazing feedback – from people who said they had never stopped to think about the issue, to other parents and carers of people with disabilities who’ve said it’s about time someone spoke up,’’ Mrs Pham said.
When Liam was younger Mrs Pham and her husband, GP Hao Pham, were able to use the baby change tables in public toilet blocks but at 26 kilograms he has long outgrown them.
‘‘Baby change tables are now too small and disabled toilets cater more for people with mild disabilities and mobility problems – not for children or adults with severe intellectual and physical disabilities who require help changing.’’
Mrs Pham is calling for the planning laws to be changed so that any disabled toilets, in public blocks or buildings, are fitted with an adult change table and ceiling track hoists to lift the wheelchair-bound person on and off the change table.
‘‘I now have three choices when we go out – to let him sit in his soiled nappy, to change him on the floor of a disabled toilet or to change him on a park bench,’’ she said.
‘‘I won’t let him sit in a soiled nappy, so I have to choose one of the other options – a filthy, urine-stained floor or a public park bench.
‘‘Both are undignified and it breaks my heart every time I have to do it.’’
Mrs Pham said the lack of public facilities meant Liam often had to miss out on excursions and trips.
‘‘Despite Liam’s disabilities, he is just like any other boy,’’ she said. ‘‘He wants to go out and enjoy the environment and participate and integrate in the community but this limits his ability to do that.”
On her petition she urges everyone from Gilmore MP Ann Sudmalis and NSW Minister for Disability Services John Ajaka to Prime Minister Tony Abbott to help her get the laws changed.
Go to change.org and search for Annette Pham to sign the petition.
