'I'm forced to change my disabled child on toilet floors'

A mother whose daughter was born with a severe brain injury has called for better changing facilities for disabled children in public venues.

Ella Dean, 31, often has to change four-year-old Ada on a dirty toilet floor because standard baby changing units only take a maximum load of 15kg (33lbs) - about the size and weight of a two-year-old.

The situation poses a "massive risk" to Ada, who was born with a rare Arachnoid cyst causing brain damage, blindness and seizures.

Dean, from York, said: "It's degrading. There's no dignity. I just think we could do such much better to make sure our children are included without worrying about basic human rights."

Although Ada has impaired vision and is unable to talk, she is "fully aware" that she is being changed on the floor, Dean said.

She recently started a government petition, which currently has more than 5,500 signatures, calling for larger venues such as supermarkets and family attractions to provide accessible changing benches.

A changing bench gives people who use incontinence pads or who need help undressing to use the toilet a stable and hygienic platform to get changed on.

Some models enable the bench level to be adjusted, making it easier for a carer to assist with the transfer.

Dean said: "A lot of disabled toilets actually have adequate space to be able to provide this.

"But I think because there isn't really anything in the law that states what is needed in these disabled toilets other than 'reasonable adjustments', businesses are not going to know what people with complex needs actually need."

Dean said the lack of accessible changing facilities had affected the whole family.

She and partner Drew Millard, 31, also have an older daughter, aged nine, who does not have disabilities and wants to go on days out to family attractions.

"She wants to go to theme parks, she wants to go to water parks, she wants to do all these fun activities.

"And most of the time, we can't. Or if we do go, I've got to pull her away from it early (if they lack changing facilities suitable for Ada)."

Jenny Miller, CEO of the Changing Places Consortium, which is a group of organisations and individuals campaigning for extra equipment to be installed in all big public spaces, said the petition shone a light on an issue that families experience "far too often".

She added: "Across the UK, each nation's building regulations now require Changing Places toilets in many new and significantly refurbished large public buildings.

"However, many existing buildings and community spaces remain excluded. Ella's call is about dignity, safety, and the right for families to participate in everyday life."

She also sounded a note of caution around introducing large changing benches into standard accessible toilets without the required space or lifting equipment, including a ceiling track hoist.

"It may give the impression that needs are being met, while in reality placing disabled people and carers in unsafe situations.

"There is also a danger that partial solutions become a 'get‑out clause' for venues, undermining the clear case for fully equipped Changing Places toilets and leaving families without a genuinely usable facility," she said.

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