Accessibility Solutions
Rachel was born in 1996 with Cerebral Palsy and Epilepsy. Rachel’s family moved into their current home in 1998. Since 2000, Rachel’s parents have made about one modification each year to make their home more accessible for their daughter.


Bathroom: In 2002 the bathroom underwent several changes. The sink was opened underneath (Fig. 2) so that Rachel can roll under the sink in her wheelchair and reach the faucets (Fig. 3). They placed a shower chair in their bathtub to make bathing safer (Fig. 4). This works while Rachel is small enough to be lifted onto the seat by caregivers, although a roll-in shower would be more convenient in the future. A linen closet equipped with a lever handle, (Fig. 4) provides storage space for supplies Rachel uses. A big back-saving improvement was the addition of a changing table to avoid having to lay Rachel on the floor to help her get dressed (Fig. 5). The changing table they ordered was similar to the one Rachel used in therapy, with a couple of modifications. They cut the legs to a convenient height, and then modified the table so it could be folded against the wall and out of the way when not in use (Fig. 6). One last modification that was made was the installation of grab bars by the toilet (Fig. 7).

The newest additions to the bathroom are a lift system and moveable shower curtain rod. The lift system runs along the ceiling (red arrow, Fig. 13). It allows Rachel’s parents to strap her into a mesh seat (Figs. 8, 9, 10 & 11) and transport her to the shower (Figs. 12, 13 & 14) by using a remote control (red circle, Fig. 15). Now that Rachel is older and bigger, it is harder for her parents to continually lift and move her into the shower. This system saves her parent’s and caregivers’ backs from the strain of lifting. The shower curtain rod can swing and move out of the way (Fig. 16) so that the lift system can get Rachel completely into the shower. Future plans are to extend the lift system out of the bathroom and into Rachel’s bedroom across the hall.

Hallways and Doorways: Rachel’s family was lucky enough to find a house that already had wide hallways, thus avoiding expensive remodeling which would have made the adjoining rooms smaller (Fig. 17). However, they did need to widen all of the doorways in the house though so that her wheelchair could easily roll through (Fig. 18).


Living Room: Although the home benefits from an open space plan that allows furniture to be easily moved to accommodate a wheelchair, several significant changes were made in the living room. They removed the carpet and replaced it with hardwood floors for Rachel’s ease in moving around the house (Figs. 19, 20 & 21). They were fortunate to find a house that already had a spiral staircase for the rest of the family to use, providing more space. The railing around the spiral staircase provides a safety barrier for Rachel (red circle, Fig. 20).

They borrowed space from a storage closet and stairway to install an elevator (Figs. 22, 23 & 24). Rachel just pushes one button to operate the elevator (red arrow, Fig. 25).

Entrances: The entrances on both the front and back of the house have been modified as well. The sidewalk in front has been widened, gently sloped to the door (Fig. 26) and made level with the main floor to create a no-step entrance (Fig. 27) A motorized lift has been added at the inside garage entrance so Rachel can get from the kitchen into the garage (Fig. 28). On the side of the house a sidewalk gently slopes down to the backyard (Fig. 29) and curves around the patio (Fig. 30 & 31). There is also a gradual slope built into the side of the patio so that Rachel can also access it (Fig. 32).

Homemade ramps were constructed to help Rachel roll over the high threshold on both the inside (Fig. 33) and outside (red circle, Fig. 34) of the sliding glass door on the lower level. Both can be easily moved out of the way. Because Rachel does not use this entrance very often, so they have not yet had a professionally built ramp installed.

Outside: One noticeable change to the outside appearance of the house are the modifications they made to their deck and the patio underneath. Before, they had a large deck that had over 10 steps leading down to the yard (Fig. 35). Because Rachel could not safely access the deck, they decided to make it smaller and, instead, create a patio that Rachel and their other children could socialize on (Figs. 36, 37 & 38).

Home Computer: The family created a convenient spot for Rachel to roll up in her wheelchair to use a computer (Fig. 39). She uses a touch screen to operate the computer (Fig. 40).


 

Financing the Project
Personal Funds
Loans
Other

Rachel’s family has used personal funds to make modifications to their home. In addition, they took out a home-equity loan to build the sloped no-step entrance on the front of the house, and also the sidewalk that wraps around the house. They also used state waivers to help pay for modifications. The Mental Retardation waiver is a lifetime, one-time $5,000 grant for modifications. The Brain Injury waiver provides $6,000 per year for home modifications. The Department of Human Services also provided partial funding for a van and helped pay for bathroom modifications through Adoption Special Fund Issuance and the HCBS waiver. These grants have been very important to help make their home more accessible for Rachel. Rachel’s father said, “It would be almost impossible to make home modifications without the waiver. It would also be hard to care for her ourselves without the home and vehicle modifications.”

Lessons Learned/Advice for Others
The family found the length of construction time to be the most challenging part of the modification process. Another challenge was to anticipate Rachel’s changing needs and to decide which modification to make, since they were limited on how many they could afford each year. Rachel’s parents said they found it works well to wait until things are needed before they make the next modification.

Rachel’s father said, “Every time we have done something, we have waited until we knew exactly what it is that Rachel needed. Don’t buy the first thing that comes along. If you do you may find that it wasn’t exactly what she needs and you may not be able to make the modifications you need to.”

The family also suggested that you “don’t rush into too many things, but also don’t hesitate to do things; and to know your contractor.”

What Difference Did It Make?
According to Rachel’s father, “These modifications have been worth it because they have made her more independent – she can move freely throughout the house and outside.”