Public Restrooms

Bambam is now 7 years old. But he's also a really tall kid. So people often think he is 9 or even 10 years old. Unless they talk to him. Then they know that he's younger and most likely that he has special needs. But from across the room he looks like a typical 9 or 10 year old. This is quickly becoming a problem. Especially in public restrooms. I am starting to really dislike public restrooms and locker rooms.

Bambam is not yet independently potty trained. We work on this constantly. And he works really hard at it. But he's just not there yet. His fine motor skills are very delayed. He cannot go to the bathroom independently. Nor can he change his clothes independently. So when we are in public, I have to take him to the bathroom in the ladies room. We try to use family restrooms where ever we can find them. But they are not everywhere. And I'm left with no choice but to take him into the ladies restroom. We've worked so hard to get to this point that I refuse to take 2 steps backwards by not taking him to the bathroom when he tells me he needs to go potty.

This is also an issue at the recreation center at the fun house. This brand new facility has 2 very nice family dressing rooms complete with showers. However, the only way into the indoor pool is through either the ladies or mens locker rooms. There is no other way. So after I take Bambam into the family dressing room to get him all ready to go swimming, we still have to walk through the ladies locker room to get to the pool.

After getting strange looks during several trips to the pool, I finally tracked down the operations manager to talk to him about it. He confirmed that there is no secret passage to the pool. He then shared with me that he has 2 autistic brothers who as adults still cannot get ready to go swimming independently. So he understood where I was coming from. He simply said that we should do what we need to do to take care of Bambam. If other people have an issue with Bambam walking through the ladies locker room, that he would deal with it. He was very understanding and supportive. And I really appreciate that, really I do. But, it doesn't stop the looks or the comments being uttered (usually not so quietly).

Why are we all so quick to judge each other? A mile in my shoes people, a mile in my shoes.