It's accessible for other people with disabilities in addition to the
blind.  The design is based on thousands of interviews of disabled
people.  Technology based solutions for information access are not simply
limited to computers and electronics.

kelly




 From the web page:

The Missoulian

http://www.missoulian.com/display/inn_new_health/health1.txt

Man invents toilet for use by people with disabilities

Pat Schildt designed a toilet for people with disabilities by talking with
them about their needs whenever he could. The result of his research is a
stainless steel toilet that has covered tissue containers attached to both
sides of the bowl.
Photo by TOM BAUER/Missoulian

By BETSY COHEN of the Missoulian

Flush with promise


One day about three years ago, it occurred to Pat Schildt that not all
public bathrooms are created equal.



Schildt realized that people with disabilities, particularly people with
limited vision or no vision, often were frustrated by having to hunt for
the most basic things - like toilet-paper dispensers.



"Most of us take something like this for granted," Schildt said recently.
"But for somebody with disabilities, they have such an appreciation for
basic necessities because they have to deal with things on such a different
level. They don't know if the seat is wet or if it's dirty, if there is
toilet paper or where it is - or, if it is there, how to get it out of its
container."



As owner of the busy Glacier Way convenience store in Browning, the problem
bothered him. In fact, he became downright obsessed with finding a solution.



"I wanted to make my restrooms more accessible to people with
disabilities," he said. "My son said to me, 'If you want to help people
with disabilities, why don't you ask them what they would like?' "



So the 48-year-old Schildt hit the road in search of the people he wanted
to help. He talked with people with disabilities, their caretakers and
friends, and with administrators of programs for people with disabilities
across the state. When he traveled, he talked with complete strangers on
the street or in grocery stores if he believed they would have a vested
interest in what he was trying to accomplish.



His mission: create the perfect toilet.



"In three years, I have interviewed over 2,000 people with disabilities,"
he said. "If I ran into somebody with physical disabilities I would ask
them about the product I was designing."



What he learned is that people just want to know that they can find toilet
tissue in the same place each time they need to use public facilities.



"Frustration over this can be very high," said Nancy Holt of Great Falls,
who is blind. "I hate having to ask someone to take me to the restroom if
it is somewhere new. Usually I ask a waitress or I have to ask my date. You
have to swallow hard and either hold it or ask someone."



Schildt took the advice he gathered from people like Holt and transformed
what he learned into a prototype. The result is a stainless steel toilet
that has covered tissue containers attached to both sides of the bowl.



After inventing his creation, he contacted a patent lawyer in New York to
research the invention. He and his lawyer learned that no one else has
developed such a product.



Schildt's toilet design, officially called the "Hygienic Toilet for the
Blind and Physically Challenged," has gone through most of the legal hoops
in the patent process and he expects it to be patented by summer.



Meantime, Schildt is traveling around the state showing his prototype to
many organizations that represent people with disabilities and to others
who are interested in his invention.



"This toilet has more miles on it than most cars," he said. "I take it
everywhere and I take into every motel I stay at. I've invested $20,000 to
$30,000 in it and I'm not about to let someone steal it."



So far, it appears the time and money Schildt has sunk into his invention
is paying off. He is getting rave reviews and generous thanks of appreciation.



"I think it's awesome," said Dick Howse, who has a retina disease and
became blind gradually. "It's freedom. Now if everyone could just put sinks
and hand wipes in the same one area, a blind person could find it easier.



"The restrooms in Montana, they are all different. It would be better if
they were standardized," Howse said. "Maybe they figure blind people don't
go to the bathroom by themselves, but they do."



Teresa Leese, who also is blind, said Schildt's toilet is an important
advancement for people with disabilities, including amputees and people who
have suffered strokes.



"This gives a new meaning to restroom," she said. "I think it's easier for
everybody, even for younger children who have to reach or stand up to find
the tissue. For me, it relieves some of my stress of having to put my hands
where I don't want to. For women, especially, the feminine napkin disposals
are often next to the toilet tissue rolls and that's something I don't
particularly want to put my hand on."



Schildt envisions a time when his invention becomes standard for all public
facilities. It could happen, he said, if the people who have examined his
creation pass on their opinions to policymakers in Washington, D.C. The
comment period for changes in the American Disabilities Act accessibility
guidelines closes May 15.



"My long-range plan? I'd like to find a manufacturer to produce it," he
said. He would prefer that the company interested in manufacturing the
toilets to employ people with disabilities and for the company to be based
in Montana.



"Ideally it would be in Browning," he said.



If and when he sells the patent, he'll begin working to develop other ideas.



"I'm hoping this will give me the freedom to work on the things I have
thought of since this project began. Everything I see and look at now, I
wonder how I can improve on it and make it better," Schildt said. "I want
to continue spending my time making peoples' lives easier.



"So many people with disabilities could improve their level of living, but
don't have the resources do it. People shouldn't have to struggle with the
most basic things."


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