	July 1997

Making The Home Accessible

Universal Design

by David Ward
Cdavidward@aol.com

Making the home accessible can mean different things to different people. This quickly became apparent to me after my home became the so called "living laboratory" for demonstrating independent living concepts. In my experience, little understanding exists in the building or remodeling industry about the needs of the consumer with disabilities. The consumer, on the other hand, has little knowledge about what is possible in remodeling their home for accessibility. This combination of ignorance and unawareness translates into angry consumers and bad reputations for home remodeling contractors.

Many of us don't recognize the need for an accessible home until physical trauma or illness seriously challenges our ability to carry out the activities of daily living. The aging of America also, has a great deal of influence on the need for accessible housing. Parents of growing children with disabilities know too well the need to consider making their homes more accessible. It is necessary, not only to meet the needs of an adult child, but to provide a more comfortable environment to care for their child.

One question we could ask ourselves is, why would we need to modify an environment if they were planned properly in the first place? For the most part, we wouldn't. The concept that reinforces this answer is "Universal Design."

Universal Design means that most Americans can live comfortably in homes that provide for their environmental needs throughout a lifetime. When we apply the concepts of Universal Design in the revitalization of our communities and in the building of new communities there may be no need to modify them later. Most importantly the need to identify, and accommodate special populations of people for accessible housing would not be necessary, because Universal Design is accessible design.

It is important to appreciate that, for the most part, our ancestors did a good job of designing well built environments. They also recognized the importance of diversity, balance, and stability in the communities they built. If we continue to build, restore, rehab, adapt, remodel, and modify environments that disable the people that live in them, we are failing to acknowledge our changing population. We can no longer afford to adapt people to our environments rather than build a community that meets the needs of the people.

Other countries like Sweden has recognized the need to change the way we build our communities. The Swedish Parliament for example, define disability as the relationship between the person and the environment. This definition reflects the concept of a person with a disability as an environmental feature rather than a persons' condition. As a result of this attitude, the responsibility is placed on government and society to ensure that environments, programs, and services are developed in a way to be accessible to everyone.

The next time you can't jump a curb, climb steps, answer a phone, operate an ATM, or open a door remember that your physical condition is not the problem the environmental barriers are.

Universal Design holds promise for all citizens regardless of their physical abilities. Universal Design concepts can be applied to any environment and incorporated into any of our remodeling and home modification projects. It should be utilized in revitalizing and rebuilding our older communities.

Consumers can drive the building industry and our public policy makers into endorsing Universal Design. In the meantime we must be aware that not everyone in the building industry is reading from the same book and the consumer must become more aware of the benefits Universal Design offers. To learn more about Universal Design contract the Center for Accessible Housing North Carolina State University

School of Design
Box 8613
Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-8613
TDD 919-515-3082
800-647-6777 information & technical assistance

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