Out of the Box Holiday Gift Ideas

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**Download our complete Alphabet of Gift Ideas and see what you can do for the special people in your life.**

If you have friends or family that are older or that have significant disabilities you may be at a loss for a great gift idea. At Home Access Solutions we’ve put together a fun little gift list from A to Z with interesting items and ideas. 

To listen to a re-play of a great radio show sponsored by Financial Visions and  hosted by Cathy Wyatt and Dale Percival that covers more  “Out of the Box”  thinking about holiday gifts for Seniors and People with disabilities, go to this link. www.financialvisionsllc.com  and click on “The Art of Aging” Radio Programs.   I was there along with Jim Brown, the gift planning officer for the American Red Cross and Jim Shaffer of Counterparts.  Even I was surprised and amazed by some of the original and useful gift ideas.


We are heading into the season when many of us start thinking about gifts for the people we care about. Giving a gift is a loving gesture. The best gifts are those people treasure long after they are unwrapped and ones that have meaning and purpose. Sometimes it is hard to come up with that perfect gift. We all know people who are hard to buy gifts for. They either don’t want anything or have everything they need. But I’m talking about the other folks who are hard to buy for. If the People we care about have disabilities that are so severe they limit what they can do or use, it is often difficult to think of really meaningful or useful gifts. Let’s think out of the box and skip the same old knick knacks and aftershave collections! How much of that stuff can one house hold? Gifts don’t have to be expensive or fancy, but they can change a person’s life for the better.

Even Santa Can Use Independence

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Someone recently told me that “my kind of equipment” wasn’t really the kind of thing people gave at the Holidays.  I must vehemently disagree!  How priceless is the gift of independence and safety?

I urge you to think of access, independence, and convenience for your family and friends who have barriers in their homes or who are providing care for others.  Whether you come up with remodeling, helpful equipment, or just the gift of your time, your gift will make a huge difference in their lives every day.

Give us a call if you need help thinking of something based on a person’s needs and abilities.  Enjoy 10% off anything on our web site www.HomeAccessSolutions.com  with the coupon code GIFT2011 through December 16, 2011.  If you like the car mobility items you saw on this video visit our web site. They are on sale and you can still use the coupon.

A Home Feature is Only a Barrier if a Person Can’t Use the Feature Safely

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Steps actually provide access to your home if you are able to use them.  They aren’t a barrier unless you are unable to use them safely.   That is one of the interesting things to consider when you think about residential accessibility.   Home features like steps, deep tubs, or under cabinet storage, that may be very helpful to us during one phase of our lives, may become a barrier in another phase or if we become injured. That is why there isn’t a list of home features that must be changed to make a home truly accessible to everyone.  Everyone is different.

Universal Design is a concept of making an environment as useable as possible for as many people as possible, but residential accessibility is a personal customization to match a personal need.  What it takes to make a home accessible for different people may have similarities, but will vary based on an individual’s goals, skills, medical condition, preferences, budget, social environment, and existing physical environment.  When you are planning to make modifications or choosing equipment to reduce barriers in your home, you should follow a process we call “prescriptive access design” .   Our handout “5 Tips For Successful Home Accessibility Remodeling” is a good starting place.  Make sure the solution you choose matches your goals, current and future abilities, and preferences in order to make sure the solution will actually work the way you expect it to.

Access to your house is critically important and there is nothing wrong with having a ramp, power door openers, stair glides, etc.  Just as access needs vary from person to person, so do personal preferences.  Sometimes access designs that aren’t well thought out might be noticeable or obtrusive.  If appearances are important to you, it is often possible to use universal design concepts to blend the access features in, to minimize their visual impact, or at the very least to make them removable when you no longer need them.   Interestingly, some health professionals and construction professionals are not well versed in this concept.  There are some people who still believe that they must follow American with Disability Act guidelines when providing residential access and do not address the individual needs of their customers.

A home feature is only a barrier if a person can’t use the feature safely. Residential access can be both customized and lovely.  If done well, it can have either a positive or a neutral impact on the value of a home.