Handicap

 

Handicap Vans

March 2nd, 2010 by time in mobility | Comments Off

When it comes to being able to get around town or travel over longer distances than just around the corner to the stores, or to visit local friends, one of the most popular means apart from regular public transports that is specially adapted for wheelchair access is using one of the specially manufactured handicap vans. There are many advantages to doing this as we shall see in this article on the uses and benefits of these vehicles.

Specially adapted or manufactured vans that are able to easily transport wheelchair users around the place are a boon to mobility issues faced by people with disabilities. These vehicles have wide access doors and electrically operated handicap ramps to raise and lower wheelchair users in and out of the vans, along with specially engineered seating that users can either transfer into from the wheelchairs, or lock the wheelchairs in place so the user can make the journey without having to get out of their wheel chair.

In this news article in the Huffington Post, reporter Loraine Boyle wrote of her own experiences when her Achilles tendon ruptured and she found herself plunged into the world of the handicapped, albeit temporarily for six weeks. She went from silently cursing the public transport bus that stopped for wheelchair users and the additional time it took for the driver to get out of the bus, open the rear access doors to the bus, operate the handicap ramp so the wheelchair user could get in, then set the wheelchair locked in place for the journey before finally returning to his own seat and continuing to drive the bus and its occupants on to teh next stop.

Why, she wondered, didn’t the City lay on special handicap vans for the wheelchair-bound travelers and let the rest of the passengers get to where they were going faster? But experiencing what it was like to have to live the life of a person with disabilities, she gained a useful insight into what it was like to ahve to wait around for a vehicle to come pick you up and all the hassle that goes with it.

Sure, a fleet of handicap vans would solve that problem while providing a better and more dignified service to wheelchair users. Unfortunately, something like that would cost money and most city budgets don’t stretch that far. Maybe some of the city politicians that take a huge slice of that budget for their expense accounts might forgo their perks that they don’t really need (in this blogger’s opinion, they make far too much money for the jobs they do in any case) and put that money to better use?

Handicapped Bathrooms

November 6th, 2009 by time in handicap bathroom design | Comments Off

Its a commonly well known thing that handicapped bathrooms are such important part of any home where an occupant need the use of one, that it cannot be overlooked in any good disability related blog. While I have already touched upon handicap bathroom layout in an earlier post, I want to cover more areas of this particular room not only in the home but also in public buildings and areas.

So first, let’s take public buildings and look at where you would expect to see a handicap bathroom.

The obvious place is a hospital or day care clinic and of course there will be a separate handicapped bathroom set alongside the regular bathrooms for men and women. There are generally several of these on each floor of the building so that people’s needs are covered. Also, in private rooms, the bathroom will be designed to cater for disabled users as well as patients recovering from operations.

You would also expect to see this facility in public libraries, museums, government and municipal buildings, theaters and cinemas and other publicly accessed buildings. They also appear at airports, railway stations and other public transportation buildings and waiting areas.

Many larger stores provide handicapped bathroom facilities for their customers as well as many of the larger restaurants and fast food chains such as the popular burger joints, pizza parlors and steak houses to name but a few.

So we know that these days, the vast majority of publicly accessible buildings that provide bathroom facilities will also incorporate those facilities that are easy to use for people with disabilities. But what about the home? How does that stand up to scrutiny when compared with the larger public establishments?

Often, the bathrooms private houses which are meant for use by people with disabilities are actually of inferior quality to the many public facilities that are now available. The main reason for this is down to pure and simple economics. This is to say, most families simply cannot afford to pay for the necessary renovations that are necessary to bring their domestic bathrooms up to the standard of the public ones.

Its more a case of having to make do with what you already have. While this is unacceptable in this day and age, the reality is that you simply cannot take money to pay for essential upgrades when that money simply does not exist. Many families are under pressure with budgets that are so strained that there simply is not enough to pay for any extras above the mortgage or rent, food, clothing and the basic human necessities of life.

Gradually, as families advance in their ability to earn extra income, certain upgrades are made possible, with the toilet often the first item of bathroom furniture to be upgraded to fit with a handicapped user’s needs, along with hand rails for support. Special faucets often come next followed by a shower seat as a makeshift solution until a full blown handicap shower stall can be bought and installed.

It all takes time when a family is on a budget, so don’t be too quick to judge if you know of a person with disabilities who has to make do with regular bathroom furniture. Money doesn’t grow on trees, unfortunately!

Handicap

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