Over the years, I have been of service in my career to many people with disabilities. This includes people born with a disability and those with disabilities that happened after birth. There is a big difference between the two as those born with it don’t know life to be any different. For those who identify later in life, they have lived two different lives. They lived that of a person without a disability and that of a person with a disability. Today is a day of awareness that represents both scenerios. It’s International Day of Persons with Disabilities. It’s a day to advocate for inclusion and to celebrate the leaders of this campaign.
Here in New York City (NYC), there are millions of us residents who live in close proximity to each other. With this you have many large buildings to house the large number of people. The worse part of being an Occupational Therapist in this area is telling someone I can’t recommend sending them home. When there is someone with a temporary or long term physical disability, their environment plays the biggest role in this decision. Imagine being an independent 65 year old person and then one day you fall and break your hip. You had a surgery and spent a few weeks in rehab, but their is still residual pain and limited mobility. Next, imagine having an apartment on the 4th floor of a walkup. Do you think you would be able to easily access your home? I’m sure the answer would be no.
Many of us don’t think about these possible obstacles in regards to accessing one’s home. In the last few years of building new property in NYC, many of these buildings are accessible, but there are still thousands of homes that were built before regulations and are not accessible to all. So, what are some things that someone with a disbaility has to think about when looking for a home.
- Ramp to access the building/home.
- Elevator access
- Entryway size; is it wide eough for a wheelchair
- Countertop and cabinet heights
- Grab bars near the toilet and shower/tub
- Doorknob and light switch if there is hand weakness
There are many more things to think about if you are a person with disabilities, and this is why advocacy is needed. If you are someone without a disability this is also something to think about as you get older. Check out the United Disabilities Service Foundation (UDSF) home accessibility checklist for more information.