Finding wheelchair accessible housing... how?

wolfehouse

in scotland we have a disabled persons housing service in most areas
wales seems to have a register of adapted homes. you could see ehat they have to offer
http://www.disabilitywales.org/accessible-housing

moose1982

Regarding the grab rail, you can get some which use suction pads. In my old property I had one which was pretty good, but it was a bit expensive. Something I have in my favour there though is my weight, I don't weigh much and so I didn't need a particularly strong one. I went for the suction type because of the same problems with repairs as you because it was a private rent.

I know that isn't all of the problems you are having, but could it help a little in the short term?

Mrs_Arcanum

Can you ask Monmouthshire council if there are any non preferred partner HA's in the area? Not all HA's work through the local councils and some you need to go directly.

24skins

Do you have a Disabled Person's Housing Service in your area? They keep lists of accessible housing from both social & private landlords.

Lum

kingfisherblue wrote: »

Could your partner get up 30 minutes earlier, so that she has time to allow the medication to work before getting ready? Could she have coffee and breakfast in bed whilst waiting for the pain relief to kick in (if you can't bring her coffee, she could use a flask - not ideal, but a possibility. Breakfast could be fruit, yoghurt, cereal placed on the bedside table the night before, keeping milk in a coolbag that is easily accessible).

She has ME, so no, she can't get up 30 minutes earlier, and I already bring her breakfast in bed every work day. That half hour wait for the painkillers is necessary before she can even stand to sit up and eat the yoghurt+banana.

Another alternative would be for your partner to take her medication and then have a shower, sitting on a shower stool. Again, not ideal, but surely a viable alternative to being late for work.

We already have one of those. To be honest the biggest problem is getting her legs over the side of the bath, since it's a shower over bath. Showers don't happen in the morning anyway as there simply isn't enough time.

Your partner could also ask her employer if she can start work later.

Already done, 10AM is the latest they will go. Still struggling to make that. The 45 minute commute doesn't help either. Or rather the one hour commute once you include the time to do a wheelchair transfer and get through the town centre from the car park to the office.

moose1982 wrote:

Regarding the grab rail, you can get some which use suction pads. In my old property I had one which was pretty good, but it was a bit expensive. Something I have in my favour there though is my weight, I don't weigh much and so I didn't need a particularly strong one. I went for the suction type because of the same problems with repairs as you because it was a private rent.

Unfortunately we have textured tiles with really badly done gloss paint. The suction types will not stick.

24skins wrote:

Do you have a Disabled Person's Housing Service in your area? They keep lists of accessible housing from both social & private landlords.

All of that has been rolled into Monmouthshire Homesearch, though I will ask the social worker, once again, if there are any other HA's that are not involved. Last time I asked this she just completely blanked the question.

Savvy_Sue

Lum wrote: »

All of that has been rolled into Monmouthshire Homesearch, though I will ask the social worker, once again, if there are any other HA's that are not involved. Last time I asked this she just completely blanked the question.

You could also do some googling of your own, if not already done so. The council's housing dept will know the ones they work with, they may not immediately be aware of those they don't work with.

Also not sure why part rent / part buy wouldn't work? You can still move on from them, can't you?

24skins

A

lum wrote:

All of that has been rolled into Monmouthshire Homesearch, though I will ask the social worker, once again, if there are any other HA's that are not involved. Last time I asked this she just completely blanked the question.

Are you sure that is the case? Up here Homesearch is a scheme run between the Council and Housing Associations where you apply and bid for social housing. The DPHS is completely separate, they help disabled people access social housing, private rentals and buy suitable properties - they keep lists of accessible properties and match them with tenants/buyers. The DPHS also makes nominations for tenants for our two disability-specific Housing Associations. You don't need to go through Homesearch (or social work) to access DPHS services.

Lum

From my googling, DPHS seems to be pretty much unique to Aberdeen. There's certainly nothing like that in Monmouthshire. It's all done through social services and Homesearch.

formaldehyde_perfume

Lum wrote: »

There are other problems with Homesearch as well as the banding. According to their terms, we only need a 1 bedroom property, wheras in reality because my partner works from home on days that she is too sick to drive into the office (and likewise I work from home too on days like that) we'd need an extra bedroom just to set up an office with the two computers in, but the homesearch people told me outright that they don't take things like that into consideration.

My local housing association won't consider me for a 2 bedroom property even though I need space for someone to stay over when I have periods of being incredibly unwell. If I needed 24/7 care they would have to provide space for a carer, even if I could quantify it in to set periods of time they would need to but because my condition is fluctuating and unpredictable they just won't. I could be 'fine' (just needing daily care) for a year but be incapacitated virtually overnight and need full time care for the next year. It's not even that I need an extra bedroom really, a big enough living room for a sofa bed and clothes storage for my carer, as well as room to manoeuvre safely (and general other living room bits like my rise-and-recline chair and tv) would be fine but the system just doesn't have that sort of flexibility. All the one bedroom properties are miniature, not really even room to get round in my wheelchair. Don't even get me started on their age discrimination .

Lum

Ahh yes, age discrimination.

GP referred me to the memory clinic due to symptoms that could possibly be early onset alzheimers (though are most likely due to methotrexate, but he left that part off the referral).

Memory clinic refuses to see me as I'm under 65.