Sometimes we can tell that we are disappointing the person standing in front of us at a health fair or talking to us on the phone. We are simply too responsible to attempt to solve their home accessibility answer without more information and usually without going to their home. Sometimes they’ve given long explanations of what is going on and what isn’t working, and we have listened. But even when they can accurately describe their abilities and what their home looks like, they are only able to give us their perspective of those things.
While our client’s perspective is critical and plays a huge role in the recommendations we make, they deny themselves the benefit of our objectivity and experience over the years if they ask us to rely solely on their impressions.
Here are a few reasons why a responsible access consultant won’t just attempt to solve problems for people without a good individual and on-site review:
1. There are accessibility guidelines that some people think can be used like a cookbook for access such as the Americans with Disability Accessibility Act Guidelines, but these are not designed to meet the personal need of every individual and they aren’t required in private residences unless they’ve been incorporated into a building code.
2. Every person is different from others and should be treated individually. Even two people with the same medical condition, same age, same size, and same sex, will have different goals, preferences and abilities.
3. Houses are very different from each other.
In short, there really is no notebook or cookbook that says what is exactly right for every person and we know there is really no such thing as accessibility magic wands so we have to rely on good old evaluation, knowledge about a multitude of options, and the experience to match those options with the individual’s needs. We feel like the best way to solve an access issue is to listen to a person to understand their goals and observe them in the environment they want to change. So if you give us a call with an access question, we really don’t want to disappoint you. Expect a thorough residential access answer to include a visit to you in your residence.
If you want an objective, professional solution to your residential access problem, call us and set an appointment with one of our designers. We provide in-home assessments with no travel fee in the Greater Omaha, Nebraska area. All other areas in Nebraska and Iowa are possible with a travel fee. We will give you a firm estimate of your costs for consultation when you call to make an appointment.
Think about this the next time you drive up to your own “Home Sweet Home”. Most people don’t have any problems getting into their own homes and know that they are going to be able to use any part of the house they want to, safely and easily. People who have physical disabilities don’t always get to assume these things, because the average house presents many barriers to independence and safety. It’s easy to sit back and assume that the issue is so big that one person can’t do anything about it, but you can. You can do it today.
People typically want to live on their own. You may not realize how many different efforts are going on in Nebraska to make independent living a reality for everyone. Home Access Solutions provides private residential access design and remodeling services. We work with architects, other remodelers, and builders to customize homes and sell equipment for people who have disabilities or who want to age in place. There are government and non-profit agencies in Nebraska such as The Assistive Technology Partnership, The Greater Omaha Chapter of the National Safety Council, and the League of Human Dignity that are involved in the effort to provide information and resources for homes that meet the needs of seniors and people with disabilities. Many support groups such as The Midlands Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, United Cerebral Palsy Association of Nebraska, and ALS in the Heartland to name just a few, include information about living at home in the resources they make available. Then there are countless individuals who see the need for more homes and resources and have taken the problem into their own hands such as Ben Leypoldt and his family who live with the problem of in-accessible housing every day.
The desire to live on one’s own is a pretty common feeling, but how that is accomplished can be extremely unique. Among people who have disabilities there is a great range in the way people move, grasp, balance, see, hear, and interact with the environment around them. Just like among people without disabilities, there is also a great range in what they want to be able to do in their home and how they want that home to look. Not everyone needs or wants the same thing in a house. So when Ben and his family decided from their own personal experiences that they wanted to do something to encourage more choices for independent living in their hometown, they decided to start first with asking questions about what other people with disabilities would like to have in a home. Ben didn’t assume that everyone would need or want the same things he wants and uses in his home.
Right now, Ben is collecting information in a short survey. If you have a disability that changes how you live in a home, please take the time to fill it out. If you know someone with a disability, please forward this blog or the link to them and ask them to take the survey at www.livingonyourhome.org.
We actually have a lot of information and resources available in Nebraska compared to other parts of the United States, but we don’t have enough yet. One way to improve housing for everyone is to talk about it and collect information to discover what’s needed. Filling out the survey or passing the information on is one way you can help. Do it today.
At Home Access Solutions we work with the changes that occur due to disability and aging. It’s not uncommon for people to deny the need to change in response to disability or aging and it’s not uncommon for that act of denial to lead to disastrous loss of independence and quality of life. Watching people destroy themselves makes me unhappy. It is so sad, and so unnecessary.
I understand that you may be tempted to click right off this web page right now. No one, absolutely no one wants to hear someone tell them that they themselves should consider changing. But I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt that you are intelligent and brave enough to hang in there for a few minutes. Besides, I might be talking about someone else changing, not you.
When W. Edwards Deming said, "It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.” he was talking about managing a business not life in general. However, I believe it is applicable to managing your life when you are faced with changes around you that are beyond your control.
Since thinking or talking about aging and disability makes some of you uncomfortable let’s talk about change in a regular every day, every person life. Let’s look at getting food to eat. We all do that. With the recent upheavals in our economy, I’m sure you know someone who has had a reduction in income. They still need to eat. So they have a choice. They can continue to buy food and groceries the same way that they did when they had more income, or they can adjust in response to the changed situation. They can choose to continue to spend money at the same rate or choose to change the way they spend on groceries and food- eat out less, eat at less expensive places, or choose more economical dishes to cook. You can see where this is going. If they don’t change in response to the changes around them – reduced income – DENY if you will the need to change, they will run out of money and not be able to feed themselves at all. If they acknowledge the need to change the way they obtain food and groceries, and spend less, they have a better chance of continuing to do what is important- Eat. Respond positively to the changes around you and you will win. Deny the need to change and you’ll lose.
I understand that it isn’t easy to acknowledge the need to change something about yourself, much less embrace it, when you don’t feel like you asked for the change and you didn’t really cause the situation to change around you. A person who has to change because of a disability or aging usually hasn’t asked to become disabled or older. I’ve listened to my clients ask why they have to change. Whether it feels fair or not, it’s their life and their situation, and success or failure lies in how they respond to the changes in their abilities and circumstance. Denying the need to change by figuratively or literally crossing your arms, drawing your line in the sand, standing firm, and resisting change all feel so pro-active. These actions make you feel like you are taking charge and preventing loss. It’s a false feeling. It’s the first step on the road to disastrous loss of independence, of choice, and of quality of life.
Just like in my story about reduced income and eating. The way to win when change is necessary is to change how you respond so that you can continue to do what is really important to you. Here are some concrete examples that a lot of people facing changes due to disability or aging face: Which is more important, the way you get in and out of bed or that you can get in and out of bed? Which is more important, the equipment you use to move through your house safely or that you can move around in your house at all? It’s really the end result that matters. Respond actively to the changes around you and you will win. Deny the need to change and you’ll lose.
Thanks for listening to me talk about the big scary C word- Change. I hope that my words will give you the tools you need to delight in the world around you and stay excited about the adventure of living. To do this, embrace change.
To reward you for hanging in there, I’ve collected some quotes about change and added one of my own. Email me with your favorite from my list or another great one you find somewhere else. I will select one person from all the responses I receive before January 15th to win a $25.00 Amazon.com gift certificate.
"We would rather be ruined than changed;
We would rather die in our dread
Than climb the cross of the moment
And let our illusions die."
--W.H. Auden
"If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. Don't complain." --Maya Angelou
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
Winston Churchill
"When you are through changing, you are through." --Bruce Barton
"Change is hard because people overestimate the value of what they have -- and underestimate the value of what they may gain by giving that up." --James Belasco and Ralph Stayer, Flight of the Buffalo (1994)
"If you come to a fork in the road, take it. --Yogi Berra
"The first step toward change is awareness. The second step is acceptance.” --Nathaniel Branden
"He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery." --Harold Wilson
"Nothing is easy to the unwilling." --Thomas Fuller
“If you don't think every day is a good day, just try missing one.” Cavett Robert
“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future." --John F. Kennedy
“The only disability in life is a bad attitude.” Scott Hamilton
“You will never change your life until you change something you do daily.” --Mike Murdock
“You can’t go out and conquer the world if you can’t get out of the bathroom.” BevVan Phillips
“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” --Reinhold Niebuhr
"God grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change, the courage to change the one I can, and the wisdom to know it's me." --Unknown
"People don't resist change. They resist being changed!" --Peter Senge
“The problem is not the problem; the problem is your attitude about the problem."
--Unknown
“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change." --Unknown, commonly misattributed to Charles Darwin
“The time to begin most things is ten years ago.” Mignon McLaughlin
“Do not resent growing old. Many are denied the privilege.” Author Unknown
"It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory." W. Edwards Deming
Email me with your favorite from my list or another great one you find somewhere else. I will select one person from all the responses I receive before January 15th to win a $25.00 Amazon.com gift certificate.
