Changing room at swimming baths

[Sally44]

Just been to the swimming baths with the two kids.

My son has now turned 9, and when we go swimming he has had to come into the female changing rooms if dad is not with us.

So I had a word with the supervisor and she showed me a disabled changing room that has its own shower. We can use that one. Which will be brilliant. And apparently most swimming baths should have this facility. So I thought i'd post so that other families know they maybe able to use that changing room. Having your own shower is brilliant too.

[coolblue]

Just been to the swimming baths with the two kids.

My son has now turned 9, and when we go swimming he has had to come into the female changing rooms if dad is not with us.

So I had a word with the supervisor and she showed me a disabled changing room that has its own shower. We can use that one. Which will be brilliant. And apparently most swimming baths should have this facility. So I thought i'd post so that other families know they maybe able to use that changing room. Having your own shower is brilliant too.

 

We had exactly the same issue, Sally. In fact, because my son has problems getting changed after swimming - he just stands there in his towel, shivering, and can't even start to think about what to do next - he needed support after school swimming lessons to help him get changed afterwards. But because he had a female teacher and female TAs, they couldn't go into the boys' changing area, so I had to turn up and we had to nip into a family cubicle in the girls' changing area - which I thought was highly inappropriate since he was nine at the time and there were a lot of girls getting changed in the main female changing room. I eventually asked why the swimming pool didn't have a disabled changing room. "Oh we have" they said "You just need to ask and you can use it." Now why did we have to go through all that? And why didn't it occur to me to ask about disabled facilities earlier???

 

[call me jaded]

We had problems with DS not understanding that there are some showers where you keep some clothes on Much better now.

[chris54]

At one swimming baths were we use to live you had to go through the changing rooms, which were open plan communal,(one for each gender) with a few side cubicles, to get to the pool, only way for public. So there was no option but for mums/dads to take their sons/daughters with them.( The disabled changing facility's were off the main changing rooms, so that was no help.)

 

As for school swimming lessons, the pool was closed for normal use, but the female instructors, teachers had no option than to go into the boys changing room with them.

[KezT]

Our local pool uses their disabled changing room as a store room! When asked if i could use it, they said it was closed because no-one wanted to use it. I pointed out that I wanted to use it, and they said but it's used as a store room now!

 

I know I could make an issue out of this, And write to the LA and explain about DDA etc. I know that I should do this. But I worked for Lesiure services of this LA, in that centre for many years (the disabled changing rooms were open and available then!!!) - i know all the staff and it makes it a difficult situation..... It's easier to send OH with DS for now.

 

If anyone else in NS wants to stand up for this I would be happy to help behnid the scenes/draft letters ect.........

[Sally44]

Unfortunately I don't think that services available are very well publicised.

But for children on the spectrum, as they get older, it is not appropriate for boys to be in the female changing room. And using the disabled changing room could help them cope with all kinds of other sensory issues as well. I just happened to mention it on this occasion because there was a very unpleasant argument between two families trying to use the showers (2 showers were broken and one family was using the rest of them, and for a long time too, with everyone else having to stand and wait). So I was more than pleased to be able to avoid that in the future.

However the supervisor first pointed me to a disabled changing room we could use, but we would still have had to use the communial showers. So after we had changed I went and spoke with her again and said it really was not appropriate for my son to be in communial showers with woman (as some of them do strip shower and my son would not think to avert his eyes and would probably say something). It was only then that she showed me this other disabled changing room that has a shower in it as well.

 

[Sally44]

Our local pool uses their disabled changing room as a store room! When asked if i could use it, they said it was closed because no-one wanted to use it. I pointed out that I wanted to use it, and they said but it's used as a store room now!

 

I know I could make an issue out of this, And write to the LA and explain about DDA etc. I know that I should do this. But I worked for Lesiure services of this LA, in that centre for many years (the disabled changing rooms were open and available then!!!) - i know all the staff and it makes it a difficult situation..... It's easier to send OH with DS for now.

 

If anyone else in NS wants to stand up for this I would be happy to help behnid the scenes/draft letters ect.........

 

Could you use your address and a different name?? Or do your former colleagues know where you live as well?

Even as an adult someone on the spectrum may truely benefit from having the opportunity to use this type of changing room. However many facilities are not known to the very people that would use them.

[caci]

Kes - where is the pool without the disabled facilities ? I am in West Kent, so if it is anywhere near me I would be happy to complain.

[KezT]

Kes - where is the pool without the disabled facilities ? I am in West Kent, so if it is anywhere near me I would be happy to complain.

 

Thanks, but it is in North Somerset.

 

It's a small county, they know where I live

[Cariad]

We do this too as T is 14 and stripping in front of all the women is a bit embarrassing, especially when T is staring at them too