Your home is more than just the place where you live—it is meant to be your haven of comfort, autonomy, and safety. As an adult with disabilities, this may look different for you than it does for others. One of the primary things to focus on when creating your home is accessibility. This may look like adding aids to help you with mobility, installing technologies that make things easier to see or hear, or any other features that make your home completely yours. To help you create your personal safe and convenient happy place, here are four accessibility tips and tricks to help you tailor your home to your needs as an adult with disabilities.
Assess Your Needs for Each Room
Your accessibility needs will differ depending on what you use your space for, and since every room in your home has a different function, it is important to take each one of them into account. This may sound like a simple and obvious step, but it can really help you understand the bigger picture of what you need. It is helpful to first think of the rooms you spend the most time in, then consider what kind of accessibility features would best aid you there. Think, for example, of your bedroom—is it difficult to get out of bed in the morning? Do you have trouble with things like hearing your alarm, or navigating out of your room safely and without difficulty? Each of these issues corresponds to a piece of equipment or technology that could make a huge difference in your day to day life. Go through each room in your head and identify these things.
Create an Easy Pathway
One of the biggest home accessibility issues for many adults with disabilities is navigation. If you use any mobility aids such as a wheelchair or a walker, you know that maneuvering around furniture and tight spaces can be extremely difficult. While this may be unavoidable out in the world, it should never have to
be a problem in your own home. Rearranging furniture and ensuring that all doorways and openings are wide enough to fit your mobility needs can help create an easy pathway through your home without the hazard of tripping over or colliding with anything. This will keep you safe and efficient as you move around your space.
Install Helpful Devices
Accessibility can take many forms, especially in a place so specific to your needs. After you have taken stock of what your needs are in each room of your home, you are now ready to address them. One of the best ways to meet your accessibility needs in your home is to install assistive and convenient devices. These come in many varieties for a number of different needs. For example, in your bathroom, it may be helpful to install grab bars, shower seats, and non-slip mats to keep you safe and make personal care tasks easier. Do you have more than one floor? If so, investing in a stair lift that allows you to go up and down as you please without the hazard of climbing the stairs may be a big help. Devices like this can be found for each of your needs, so there is no limit to your home’s accessibility capabilities.
Incorporate Smart Technology
In addition to installing features like lifts, ramps, grab bars, and other aids, it is important in the modern era to consider incorporating smart technology into your accessible home. This kind of technology can take the form of voice-controlled
assistants, app-controlled appliances and AC, automated blinds and lights, and so much more. These can help you take care of everything in your home safely and conveniently, making your daily tasks less of a struggle and freeing you up from worrying about your environment to engage in whatever you please.
Creating a home that supports your accessibility needs is not only about convenience—it is about tailoring a space that empowers you to live independently and feel safe in your own home. Helping you achieve this has always been a priority for Delta Center. We are proud to offer a number ofresources to help you create your accessible home space, including our medical equipment exchange program that provides vital medical devices and aids at no cost, adaptive telephones to add to your home and allow you to stay connected and in touch, aging in place assessments to help you determine what is needed for you to stay in your home safely and comfortably, and so much more. For a comprehensive list of our independence services that could help you create your ideal home, take a look at this link.