My Accessible Home
Hi,
After spending nearly 20 years living in a nursing home, I recently had the wonderful opportunity of moving into my wonderful new one story condominium home which is fully wheelchair accessible and is only one mile from my parent’s home.
It is a unique and wonderful situation. My parents purchased the home. DMR funds the residential services and supports for me and my roommate, Josh. The residential services are provided by Community Systems who leases the home. Community Systems does a GREAT job providing the supports and services and they really care about the quality of life for me and Josh. And my home staff take excellent care of both of us.
Because my home was purchased when it just had a foundation, I was able to be involved making many changes to the floor plan so it would be fully accessible for my wheelchair. Planning a fully wheelchair accessible home takes much time and thought but it can be a lot of fun too! We had a lot of fun picking out tiles, the colors of walls, lighting fixtures, and we even went to the granite company to pick out the piece for the granite that was cut for the kitchen counter top and island!
I want to THANK my dear friend, Betty Ann for encouraging me to make this move which has been the best experience of my life.
I also want to THANK Steven Schwartz of The Center of Public Representation for making this all possible through all of his dedication and efforts in helping to improve the quality of life for Rolland Clients living in nursing homes. I’ll never forget that snowy night in November of 2006 when Steven came to the nursing home and explained to me and other Rolland residents and families that Rolland placements in the community were ending soon. It is at that moment that my family and I decided to start the process of moving me out of the nursing home to the community! And it is because of the Rolland Case that it was all made possible. (Rolland: http://www.centerforpublicrep.org/nursing-facilities.
Most of all I want to THANK all the wonderful folks at DMR and CSI who provided me with much support, encouragement and guidance.
Below are some helpful tips we learned about building a fully wheelchair accessible home and a list of changes we made to the original floor plan to make my home fully wheelchair accessible. There are also some pictures which show how wheelchair accessible my home is for me.
Kenny and Company
1. Find a Builder who is reputable and knowledgeable with all ADA Accessibility Guidelines for Buildings and Facilities (ADAAG) http://www.access-board.gov/adaag/html/adaag.htm
The builder of my home was Matt Falconeiri of Falconeiri Construction and our realtor was Kim Thomas of Remax. They were both wonderful and helped to make many changes to the floor plan to make it wheelchair accessible. Matt had experience building wheelchair accessible homes as did Kim for her sister was disabled. I am thankful to them both for being so wonderful and patient with us for making so many changes.
2. Seek Advice from Experts
- Maureen, my DMR case manager arranged for a consult with an ADA design expert , who helped give many suggestions on how to make the home barrier free.
- Kathleen, my Visual Mobility Specialist from the Carroll School also consulted and gave us many great suggestions regarding the layout, lighting throughout the home and colors for the walls for contrast.
3. List of changes we made to make wheelchair accessible.
- Enlarged all doorways to 3 foot doors
- All doors to outside have ADA Thresholds
- Enlarged master bath to accommodate for larger wheel in shower
- Eliminated small Hallway to make main bathroom larger
- Added door from second bedroom to main bath for easy access
- Added an ADA wheel in shower - we chose tiled wheel in shower
- Added all ADA compliant fixtures in bath and shower
- Added ADA wheel under sink in bath
- Added two ramps to entrance door and to back deck off family room
- Added doors from both bedrooms to deck to have exit doors in case of emergency
- Enlarged deck off family room to accommodate wheelchair and exit doors
- Installed Hardwood floors throughout home to make easy wheeling for wheelchair.
- Flair Lever Handles by Schlage on all doors for easy opening
- Kitchen has roll out shelves for easy access to w/c
- Granite Island is proper height for wheelchair to fit under for eating
- To find proper height measure for proper depth and height
- depth- measure from stomach to end of footrest to determine how far counter top
- needs to extend out to accommodate w/c
- height- measure 2 inches above arm rests for height of counter for w/c to use counter
- All lighting followed MCB guidelines for low vision persons
- Placed Dimmers in all lights
- Placed Overhead lights in all rooms and closets
- Installed Generator in case loss of electricity ( needed for medical equipment)
- Converted Garage to a Recreation/Therapy/Office room with door leading to small storage area
- Installed Murphy Bed in built in unit in Rec/Therapy/Office room so caregivers may rest if needed
- Installed built in desk and bookshelves in Rec/Therapy/Office room because takes up less space
- Installed Wall mounted Therapy Mat in Rec/Therapy/Office room
- Removed apron on dining table so w/c could fit under it to eat
- Installed Custom closets drawers and shelves to save space in bedroom for w/c to maneuver
- Installed mini blinds on all windows and doors to limit glare
- Installed Electric mini blinds with remote on high , hard to reach window for accessibility
- Installed Alarm system connected to police and fire
- Placed a six foot EZ Access portable suitcase ramp in my garage storage area in case I ever need to get down the steps from my recreation room out of the garage area during an emergency. I also have a four foot one that I keep in my car in case I want to access a place that has steps. For more information, please see my review on EZ Access Suitcase Ramp.
