Handicapped Accessible

Welcome to Handicapped Accessible, a blog especially written to bring information and advice to people with disabilities that may need it. The site will cover most aspects of handicapped accessibility to places, vehicles and anything else that restricts those who do not have the full use of their entire physical makeup.

There are many places in this world that are still inaccessible to certain sections of the populace, such as those who are reliant on wheelchairs to get around or other mobility devices such as handicap scooters, Zimmer frames (walking frames), crutches or walking sticks or other mobility aids. That’s not to say any of this is deliberate, far from it. Most modern buildings are designed with handicap ramps to access those parts of the building that previously only stairs or steps would have. The have handicap bathroom facilities in addition to regular bathrooms. They have internal elevators or escalators, or stair chair lifts to help people access upper floors and get down again.

Unfortunately, many older buildings were simply not designed for handicap access, but through a series of upgrades and refurbishments, most public buildings now incorporate all the necessary aspects that allow for easy access by those who need it.

This blog will be singling out each and every aspect of disabled access and mobility from building access to vehicles to facilities and just about everything else in between that is related to the world of those with disabilities that see life through different eyes and with different needs than the able bodied.

In addition to this, we’ll be looking at a wide variety of different special needs, equipment and means of assistance that go some way to helping those who need them. That will include forms of transportation, home access and safety issues and anything else that is pertinent to this subject that we hope plenty of folks will get plenty out of.

One of the things you’ll see at the entrance to many public buildings that have stairs leading up to the main entrance is an additional ramp that provides access to the building for wheelchair users. But this is not the only place you’ll see these special handicapped ramps, although you’ll see more in these places than most anywhere else. So let’s take a look at where handicap ramps are needed and why.

Starting off with public buildings, these ramps are mainly seen at the entrance where the entrance is at a higher level than the street, meaning they will have stairs leading up. Most older building will have had ramps retro-fitted following the necessity made heard and understood by people with disabilities for many years. After all, people who need to use wheelchairs also need to visit many public buildings for one reason or another and they don’t want to be stuck waiting at the foot of a flight of stairs for an angel of mercy to come along and hoist them up. A ramp is a much better option and allows access to these building often unaided or with a helper if the user is too weak to push themselves along.

Other places that need ramps are for getting on and off public transportation such as trains, coaches and buses. Mechanical ramps are often deployed in these vehicles to allow wheelchair users access. Same goes for handicap vans for transporting individuals or small groups.

You’ll also see these ramps in public parks and other open spaces alongside steps going from one level to another. Very short ramps are placed at street crossings by the sidewalk to allow wheelchairs to roll smoothly onto the road to cross and back onto the raised sidewalk at the other side without having to stop and force their way up as was what used to happen before town planners got their act together.

So you see these great ramps are everywhere that wheelchair users need to get access without having to bump up or down steps or wait for a helper to carry them, wheelchair and all up and down.

Welcome back and in this post we’ll take a brief look at heavy duty wheelchairs and where they are needed most. This is not an in-depth look, but just an overview with a view to expanding upon this subject at a later date.

Of course the obvious use for heavy duty wheelchairs are for those users who have become very overweight or obese. This often happens directly due to the lack of exercise that their conditions bring about as it is sometimes simply not possible to engage in any form of meaningful exercise depending upon the severity of the physical handicap suffered by the user.

In this case, then a heavy chassis and running gear are needed to cope with the extra weight of the user so that they can still get about in safety and comfort that the more lightweight wheelchairs would not be able to fulfill sufficiently. The additional bracing and strengthening that is needed for these types of chairs comes with the trade off that they are in themselves much heavier than regular or lightweight models and are therefore that much more difficult to push around. For this reason, the fitter and stronger helpers are required to assist for safety reasons.

Often, when a wheelchiar user needs a heavy duty version, the best option is to go for a motorized wheelchair. These are built to take the extra weight in their stride while negating the need for a helper and providing freedom and a modicum of additional dignity for the user.

In the home that has more than one floor and an occupant with disabilities, accessing the upper floor or floors can be a real problem thanks to the major obstacle that is the staircase. Now for able bodied folks, this is not an issue and using the stairs is just second nature and something to give no further thought about. But when you include a physically handicapped person into the household mix, then the restrictions become evident.

For this reason, the home stair lift came into existence and is now seen installed in many homes that have stairways leading to upper floors or down into yards and gardens on a lower level to the house.

The residential stair lift is a marvel of simplicity and function. It runs silently on a rail fixed along the length of the stairway and is powered by electricity. Its operation is via a simple lever to go up or to go down or to stop and the seat is as comfortable as any easy chair with padded seat, backrest and armrests on deluxe models.

The chair itself is designed to swivel from its alighting position facing the person who is either wanting to climb or descend the stairs, to a 90 degree position facing across the stairs with the back to the wall for maximum comfort. At either end, top or bottom, when the chair swivels into its getting on or off position, it locks in place to prevent slipping or other accidents from occurring.

All in all, handicap stair lifts are reliable, virtually maintenance free and guaranteed safe and long lasting for the benefit of the user and to allow them to access every part of their home in comfort, without the need for additional; help and with dignity. The stair chair lift is a device that makes truly exceptional additions to a home where one or more occupant requires this kind of ease of accessibility to the upper floors of their home.

When you need to get around out of doors or go on a journey that is longer than a regular handicap scooter will take you, then you need the use of a handicap van to accomplish that. This article looks at how useful this means of transport is for the people that use it and how one of these specially adapted vans differs from a regular one.

Of course a regular van is simply a vehicle for transporting light goods from place to place and was never meant, at least originally as a carrier of people. Then someone had a bright idea that all that space in the rear section of a regular panel van could be used to ferry small parties of people around, and the twelve seater mini-bus or people carrier was born. Well that was fine for regular folks and a great idea for parties where a group of people were all visiting the same place and wanting to have a few drinks but didn’t want to risk driving. So they would all club together and hire a mini-bus and driver for the evening and all have a good time in the safe knowledge that they would get to where they were going and then home again safely without having to risk their driving license or reputation.

Of course, the idea soon followed that this kind of vehicle might also be really useful for transporting several wheelchair users around all together in safety and comfort. Plans were made and modifications to the basic model actioned and what we ended up with was a high sided vehicle with space to seat several wheelchair users together either remaining in their chairs, or using specially modified seating that they could transfer to.

The benefits are many and varied, not least of all the ability for several wheelchair users to go on day outings or visit places of interest with a driver to take them there and back and also all the comforts that a regular vehicle affords to able bodied folks.