‘It’s really important;’ Adult changing tables being installed in the Miami Valley

HUBER HEIGHTS — Adult changing tables are inside restrooms right now in the Miami Valley.

The tables help those who tend to need assistance while going to the bathroom.

News Center 7′s Kayla McDermott met up with the Montgomery County Board of Developmental Disabilities services at the library in Huber Heights where the first table was installed.

One family says the tool has helped change their lives.

Jennifer Corcoran’s family has made sacrifices in order to care for one of their members, Matthew Helton.

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“We haven’t been on a vacation. Further than Cleveland for probably six, seven years at least. Because we did I have no place to change him,” Corcoran said.

Corcoran said her 22-year-old son is completely dependent on others.

“Matthew has Dandy-Walker malformation,” she said. “Before he was born his head was completely full of fluid.”

One of the biggest challenges in being a caretaker she faces has to do with restrooms.

“It’s just horrifying. It limits what we can do,” she said. “It was probably 10 degrees out and I needed to change him in the van.”

She has been pushing for nearly a decade for places to install adult changing tables.

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“We all went to the statehouse and testified and it died,” she said.

Recently, the Montgomery County Board of Developmental Disabilities Services received $125 thousand in federal funds, which is being used to install tables.

“This was an opportunity that we couldn’t pass by,” said Janice Saddler Rice, director of communications for the board of developmental disabilities services.

Rice said the tables are a necessity.

“It’s really important for people with disabilities to be included in the community,” Rice said.

Corcoran showed News Center 7 how much easier it is for her to change Matthew with the table.

The tables enable the disabled to be changed in sanitary and safe conditions.

They also allow Matthew and his family to have peace of mind while traveling.

“We do things as a family so if it’s not accessible, doesn’t just cut Matthew out it cuts all of us out,” she said.

Rice said with the funds more changing tables are coming to the Miami Valley including at the Dayton International Airport soon.

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