| MYTHS |
FACTS |
|
The "percentage mentality"
illogically suggests that the percentage of homes with access should
roughly
equal the percentage of population who currently have mobility impairments. |
Visiting other people's homes is as important to people with
mobility impairments as it is to others. And, finding the rare accessible
house or apartment to rent or buy at the time it's needed is often
impossible when there are few choices. Lastly, it's not
possible to predict which formerly able-bodied person will suddenly
need access in their own home.
|
| All the dozens of access features detailed
in typical home access checklists are equally important--from the mirror placement to
the type of cabinets. |
The three access features people with disabilities need
most in order to visit friends and use their own home are
getting in and out, fitting through interior doors, and using the bathroom.
All other features, needed as they might be, pale beside these
three. |
| Access looks unattractive. |
Well-planned access is integrated into the home/landscape design
and is unnoticeable, or an attractive asset. |
| Access is expensive. |
In new construction, $0 to $25 per home built on a concrete slab
and $300-600 per home built with a basement, are reasonable averages for
planned-in-advance, basic access. (In renovation, depending on the
situation, adding basic access is
usually expensive.) |
| A zero-step entrance is feasible only on a
flat lot. |
When siting a structure and grading the lot with access in mind---using the lay of the land to
advantage---a sloping lot is often even easier to
work with than a flat lot. (See photo gallery on this
site.) |
| People with disabilities are the only folks
who benefit from home access. |
At resale, a home with basic access is available to a wider
market, especially in an aging population like the U.S. And
non-disabled residents like wider doors and step free entrances to
ease bringing in baby strollers and moving heavy furniture. |
