Asda introduces new disabled toilets

Because not every disability is visible

This is one of my latest photos. If you seen me coming out of a disabled toilet you would probably think ”There is nothing wrong with her, why was she in there?!”

Yet I have a heart problem which causes me to collapse, sometimes I collapse up to 10 times a day and I have had everything from a bump on the head to broken ribs.

I wear a heart monitor right now to try and work out what is going on with my heart as the collapsing tends to happen just after I have stood up or if I have been standing for a long period of time. So by using a disabled toilet I can pull the emergency cord if I collapse and hurt myself. In the past I have collapsed in a toilet and been there 50 minutes because I couldn’t get up and there was no one there to help me.

Now Asda have just announced they will introduce accessible toilets in more than 400 stores as they recognise that not all disabilities are visible.

The idea was prompted by a conversation between Asda Newark manager, Abby Robinson, and customer, Tonya Glennester, who was visiting the store with her daughter, Evalynn, five and was questioned by another customer about why they used the disabled toilet.

Tonya said: “Evalynn has ADHD and autism and can be affected by the noise of the hand dryer as well as queues and crowds of people.  It can often cause a sensory reaction causing Evalynn to become upset or have aggressive outbursts, so the accessible toilet gives us a little bit more space and privacy. When we walked out on this occasion there were two customers waiting, one of whom was in a wheelchair, and they disagreed that I should be using the toilet. I also suffer from health issues that that can cause pain, chronic fatigue, bowel pain, and balance problems meaning I often have to use hand rails. I tried to explain that not all disabilities are visible but we were told ‘you don’t look disabled’. We were both really upset and left the store but I decided to go back in and speak to the manager because I know there are so many stories like ours.”

What do you think of this idea? Will this make things easier for you when in Asda? Should it be rolled out elsewhere? I certainly think so!