SOLON, Iowa (KWWL) - Daily tasks like changing your clothes or using the restroom are typically easy for the average person. However, if you are apart of the 12.5% of Iowans who have a disability, it can be challenging.

In response, the Iowa Department of Transportation has embarked on a project, to install adult changing rooms in DOT rest areas statewide.

According to Rest Area Administrator Steven McMenamin, the department has completed two rest areas, started on four others, and plan to complete 15 more by 2026.

"That has been a really popular decision by both legislature and for people that really need this," Mcmenamin said, "we stumbled onto the need and we took the ball and ran with it."

The adult changing rooms will include an adult changing table, an adjustable, wheel chair-accessible sink, and a lock on the door for maximum privacy and care.

These kinds of additions are what give the Lehman family, in Solon, confidence to head out the door and get in the car. A family of five, their oldest daughter, Kloie Lehman, was diagnosed with Holoprosencephaly at birth. This brain mal-formation has made Kloie unable to walk or speak, and need round-the-clock care.

A life of extensive treatments and appointments being the norm, her mother Cheryl said getting her out the door is a lengthy process.

"It takes planning, you gotta make sure you got her meds and her feeding," Cheryl said," "for 6 years when she was younger, we drove to Milwaukee for her neurology appointments and that was a 8 hours of driving sometimes for one appointment."

Imagine driving anywhere, and feel like you can't stop and use the restroom? Aside from the DOT's project, Cheryl told KWWL they avoid long drives or road trips, because of the lack of accessible restrooms for her family.

"We would get a blanket, lay her down, and change her in the van," Cheryl said, "my husband ended up hurting his back by changing her. After that, she hasn't really gone on any long trips."

According to the 2022 Iowans Disabilities Report, 63,256 Iowans age 5 and older have difficulty completing daily tasks, like using the restroom, on their own. Without the proper space, equipment, or privacy, that's the harsh reality for many disabled Iowans.

"I mean I couldn't sit in the seat for 8 hours without moving and that's what it is for them if they don't have those opportunities," Cheryl said.

Nancy Curtis, a mother in Grimes who cares for her 7-year-old disabled son has personally experienced this struggle, and told KWWL it has been a problem for years.

"I had to do my worst fear, I had to put him on that dirty bathroom floor and it just isn't right," Curtis said, "it's not sanitary and it definitely did not treat him with any level of dignity or respect."

Fed up with the health and personal risks is presented, Curtis became an advocate with Changing Spaces Iowa to fight for more adjustable, adult changing tables in the state. After a few years of pushing for legislation, it was an opportunity with the DOT that put their plan to action.

Currently, the department is on track to complete five rest areas a year by 2026. One of the finished adult changing rooms is located off of I-380 NB in Linn County.

As the department makes progress, Cheryl said her family are excited for the opportunities this brings.

"This will open the doors I think for a lot of people to feel more comfortable to change them when they're traveling."

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