VISIT-ABILITY (Inclusive Home Design)

(1) A focus on homes, not government buildings, restaurants, etc...(important as they are)

(2) ALL homes-- not just "special" homes; being at the party, the meeting, the reunion--not isolation.

(3) Narrowing the emphasis from a long list of possible or desirable access features to the most essential features: entering a home and fitting through the interior doors. So that widespread construction change is more likely to happen quickly.

People who use wheelchairs or walkers, or are impaired by stiffness, weakness or balance problems  are blocked by steps at every entrance of a home.  Wheelchair users are  stopped by inches from fitting through the bathroom door in a friend or relative’s home.

And basic access goes beyond visiting.  It's also about the home of a person who develops a disability,
whether child, middle-aged, or older.   Without basic access in place, architecture  forces severe choices:    Expensive renovations – if the home is even amenable to renovation.  Or existing as a virtual prisoner in an unsafe, unhealthy house--unable to exit independently or enter one's own bathroom.
Or the disruption,  grief and high financial costs of moving out of one's community into an nursing home.

To change that reality, three essentials can become routine:

• One ZERO-STEP entrance

• All main floor interior doors--including bathrooms-- with 32 inches of clear passage space

• At least a half bath, preferably a full bath, on the main floor

In other words, get in and out of the house and be able to use the bathroom--the essentials for visiting, and for surviving in one's  home with a temporary or long-term disability.

Constructing homes with these features is inexpensive and easy.  But advocates are needed  to change the status quo, builder by builder, city by city, policy by policy.

Builders, Contractors, People with Disabilities, Legislators, Realtors, Designers, Architects, Social Change Workers, Wonks, Webmasters,  Community Development Groups, Government Workers, Medical Workers, Journalists, Interested Citizens,  Friends...

Here you’ll find resources to "change the things we can."