As parents or guardians raising kids with disabilities, we’re all striving to create a world that feels more inclusive and accessible, yet some of the barriers aren’t out in the world but at home. From choosing the right ramps (and where they should go) to bathroom and bedroom updates, and making the most of smart devices, these changes can make everyday life more accessible.
To better understand common home and car modifications and how to pay for them all, we spoke to Andrea Loveday-Brown, an Undivided Navigator and parent to a child with a disability; Leslie Lobel, Director of Health Plan Advocacy at Undivided; Lisa Concoff Kronbeck, Public Benefits Specialist at Undivided; and Dr. Sonja Biggs, PhD, TVI, co-founder and president at Sonja Biggs Educational Services.
When it comes to determining what accessibility equipment to add to the home, we know that it’s a uniquely personal experience that varies depending on the disability and the needs of your child, and — to be frank, the budget. While we will be sharing a list of common updates you can make to your home, we also want to acknowledge that every family’s experience is completely your own.
For Loveday-Brown, creativity came before adaptations. “I remember buying a mesh camping chair for months before we got an adaptive bath seat because it was just a quick and easy solution,” she says with a laugh. “It starts with small equipment, or things that we like to call, ‘accidentally adaptive,’ and using those until even those don’t work anymore.” Loveday-Brown’s experience highlights a blend of practicality and resourcefulness that many parents of children with disabilities know well, along with the realization that some are making accommodations without even realizing it.
As Dr. Biggs tells us, even small adjustments can help a child feel more confident in their home. Speaking to your child’s doctor, occupational therapist, or physical therapist can help you come up with small home modifications to larger ones and how to implement them. Regardless of where you are in the accommodations process, here is as good a place as any to start.
Generally, it’s recommended to start making updates based on order of priority. Do you have a hard time lifting your child out of bed? Start with a bed lift. Notice the floor is a bit of a slipping hazard? Lay down some traction strips. There’s no “right” place to begin. Feel free to jump around wherever you need to start your accessibility journey!
Most homes have outdoor wall lights, which tend to be a bit more decorative than functional. For families with a child with a disability, clear visibility of the path leading up to your home is important. That’s why a well-lit path to your entryway can make all the difference. Path or track lighting on the ground/path to the house can help to make pathways more easily visible. This can be accomplished with solar-powered lights that can be attached or staked into the given pathway. Reflective strips and stakes in the ground can also be helpful at night to see where any steps leading up to your home are too!
Additionally, it might be worth investing in some motion-sensor, smart/automatic, or voice-activated light bulbs. This way, you don’t have to run inside to turn the lights on, leaving your children unattended in the car.
Something else that can also be easily overlooked is highly visible street numbers to help our children who might have low vision. You can make street numbers more accessible and visible by getting backlit street numbers that you can see at any time of day or night.
For mobility aid, railings and grab bars can help make the transition in and out of the house smoother. Common handrail placements include pathways leading to and from your house's entryway(s). Dual handrails are often the most popular type of railing because they provide two different heights, one for wheelchair users or younger children, the other for adults.
You can install the outdoor railings yourself and purchase the tools and materials from a home improvement store or online. Pro tip: choose a waterproof material so it does not rust!
For individuals with vision loss, there are textured railings for anti-slip and to establish where you are, or railings made with contrasting colors for higher visibility. A noteworthy mention is that there are now handrails being made with braille on them to describe direction and scenery. While it’s not available to the masses, it’s exciting to see and keep an eye on.
If you have steps that lead to your home, check their condition, making sure that there is traction, no cracks, wobbly steps, or any areas where feet can get caught is important for removing any hazards. Simple fixes to this can be traction or anti-slip strips, rubber mats, or textured paint, which can all help improve traction.
For wheelchair users or people who struggle with stairs, ramps can help overcome this common obstacle. For budget-friendly and travel-friendly options, there are portable ramps you can take with you almost anywhere. The prices for portable ramps can range $125-$1,000, depending on the type of ramp you select. Make sure you keep an eye out for the amount of incline and length a ramp can run along, and any weight restrictions (certain portable ramps have restrictions).
For more long-term and permanent structures, you can always opt for a built-in ramp. They are commercially available at a wide range of prices and installation efforts, from self-installed metal wheelchair ramps to professionally installed, specifically crafted ramps from organizations like Mobility Works. If you love to DIY, companies like Lowe’s and Home Depot offer instructions on how to build a mobility ramp on your own. Or, if you’d prefer a premade option, online businesses like Discount Ramps and EZ-Access sell them in a variety of sizes, durabilities, and prices.
There are a lot of ways you can update your home doorways/hallways to accommodate your child with a disability. For the more fiscally intensive updates, you can renovate the doorways/hallway by widening them to accommodate wheelchairs, mobility aid users, or people with visual impairment. Though if that’s understandably not in your budget, there are also a few other things you can do to improve doorway/hallway accessibility.
Another update would be purchasing wide-throw or swing-away hinges (you often see these in medical offices and buildings) that move the door completely out of the way, allowing for wider access for mobility aids like wheelchairs or walkers.
Non-slip doormats or anti-slip tape can also be helpful in making sure our children’s feet or mobility aids stay firmly planted on the ground, especially if they have shoes or tools that have gotten a bit slippery. For non-slip doormats (and rugs) make sure that you’re purchasing from rug-tape or [non-slip pads](https://www.amazon.com/CHUNZEXI-Adhesive-Furniture-Protectors-Protection/dp/B0DSPSJ9DH/ to prevent it from sliding around.
For children with low vision or intellectual disabilities, Biggs recommends creating a predictable environment to help your child feel safe while independently navigating the home.
It’s easy to overlook something as simple as a door, but making them more accessible can (pun intended) open new doors for your child’s independence.
A good rule of thumb is to start by first looking at your door handles inside and outside the house. Doorknobs or thumb door handles are the most common type of handle, but can be rather difficult to maneuver and turn for our children with mobility and dexterity challenges. That’s why indoor and outdoor lever-style handles allow for easier grip and mobility. T-pull levers are another option for wheelchair or mobility aid users to help open and close doors. As well as sliding or bifold doors (similar to barn doors), make a doorway wider and easier to navigate than a hinged door.
Lastly, for a more high-tech (and pricier) option, you could invest in automatic or push-button door openers for indoor doors.
Check door viewers (peepholes) and accessibility Being able to see who’s at the door is an important part of safety, especially when we’re teaching kids about strangers and giving them more independence. That’s why it’s important to factor in the height of the door viewer. A few options can be:
Adapting a bathroom can be particularly tricky at times, especially as our children grow and require accommodations to evolve. For Loveday-Brown, updating her bathroom started when she realized that lifting her daughter out of the bathtub no longer felt safe. “It just sort of happened overnight,” she explained. “It felt like, oh, this does not feel safe anymore, and there has to be some kind of solution.”
This moment of realization that what once worked no longer does is one that many parents raising a child with a disability can often relate to. It’s also about accepting that we (as hard as we try) need support.
To get you started, we recommend starting in the order of priority! But in case you need somewhere to get started, we recommend starting with smaller updates like grab bars, touchless faucets, and bath chairs, then working your way up to larger modifications such as roll-in tubs, adjusted counter heights, and non-slip flooring. If you’ve made it this far and are starting to feel a bit overwhelmed at the amount of updates that are growing on your list, take a deep breath and do what you can, when you can!
Toilet supports come in all different shapes and sizes. From raised toilet seats, or grab bars to toilet seats with handle bars, toilet supports can help children gain a stronger sense of independence and safety when using the restroom. Below is a range of lower-tech to higher-tech options:
Loveday-Brown shares that she used a potty training seat for her child until they outgrew it. The smaller seat helped prevent slipping, and the handles on each side provided extra support for mobility and safety.
Toilet safety rails are another great option for children who need extra support or have outgrown their potty seat. These rails attach directly to the toilet and come in a variety of sizes and styles to meet your child’s changing needs.
Toileting accommodations can be one of the more sensitive areas of daily care, but the right supports can make it easier and more empowering for your child. These simple additions can help make the bathroom feel safer, cleaner, and more accessible for everyone.
Adjustable and accessible shower heads, often hand-held or mounted on a sliding bar, make it easier to control water flow and direction. These attachments let you bring the shower head closer for rinsing or adjust its height to meet your child’s comfort and mobility level.
Non-slip materials are an easy way to make your bathroom safer and reduce the risk of feet and hands from slipping or falling. Below are a few simple products that can help keep surfaces steady and secure:
The kitchen is known for being the heart of the home — it’s where we go to connect, gather, and interact with our families daily. That’s why it’s so important to do what we can to make sure that the kitchen is safe and accessible, and therefore, welcoming to everyone in our home. Even small adjustments can go a long way in making a space that truly works for everyone.
Accessible mattresses
For children with sensory challenges, Dr. Biggs shares a few insightful ways to adjust your home's environment to prevent any sensory overload.
Create a quiet, safe place for your child. This can be in their room, or a corner of the house that accommodates their sensory needs. This can look like a corner of their room that has a bean bag, cozy lights, a sound machine, and maybe some fidgets to help keep them more regulated.
We’ve briefly touched on a few smart devices, but let’s take a deeper dive into how today’s smart technology can help to make your home safer with the tap of a button on your phone or a quick verbal command. Most smart devices can be connected to home smart systems; a few common ones are Amazon Alexa, Apple Homekit, or Google Home.
These systems allow you to control multiple devices like lighting, thermostats, appliances, sensors, speakers, doorbells, locks, and more at the click of a button on your phone or through voice activation. These systems allow for a level of flexibility that can be made to fit within the needs and life of your family.
With today’s world, smart devices are ever-changing, so be sure to keep an eye out for updates that could help improve your child’s access inside and outside the home. Also, don’t miss out on our articles on assistive technology that can help children with hearing loss or d/Deafness, vision loss/blindness, writing, or communication challenges, and more!
We know how quickly home accommodations can start to add up. One seemingly small change often snowballs into another, and before you know it, you’re dealing with ten different modifications that all need to be maintained and updated as your child grows. But have no fear because you don’t always have to cover the cost of everything on your own. Below, we’ve compiled a few resources that could potentially help alleviate the financial burden that often comes with these updates.
The best way to start is to reach out to your private insurance and ask what they do and don’t cover. As Loveday-Brown tells us, “Don’t be afraid to ask well before you actually need something. It’s always better to start early and get a sense of the process before you urgently need the equipment because these things can take time.”
For instance, Medicaid/Medicare can be used to cover durable medical equipment as long as it is deemed “medically necessary” by a doctor who prescribes DME. Durable medical equipment can be anything from wheelchairs and walkers to specialized mattresses, bathroom chairs, lift devices, and more.
To get your child’s DME covered, you must receive a prescription for the equipment from the doctor. That prescription is then submitted to Medicaid, where they will approve, reimburse, or deny you.
For those located in Los Angeles, California, there is a Durable Medical Equipment program where you can apply for free items covered under the DME program. For those not in Los Angeles, check whether there is a local DME program near you.
For eligible California families, your next step may be reaching out to your Regional Center or Self-Determination Program (SDP) service coordinator. Regional Center and SDP are typically the payers of last resort, so make sure you have exhausted all other options (and keep track of it all).
Lisa Concoff Kronbeck explains that when certain changes are needed to keep your child safely at home, Regional Center may be able to help. For example, Regional Center could help if you need modifications for your bathroom to be more accessible. You may be able to get that through your insurance (or possibly through Medi-Cal). That said, any modifications approved will be strictly functional and cost-effective. They won’t redesign your bathroom and they can’t improve your home’s value, but they may install things like grab bars or other supports to make the space usable. The goal is feasibility, not perfection.
The Department of Rehabilitation (DOR) in California is a state agency that provides vocational services for individuals with disabilities. One aspect of the DOR that is not widely known is that they also provide assistive technology such as wheelchairs, tactile markings on equipment, specialized wrist splints, and more. According to Disability Rights California, “The ADA does not limit the type of equipment you can ask for. Anything that helps you do your work may be a reasonable accommodation.” That being said, it never hurts to ask to get a home modification covered!
There are many nonprofits around the US that offer various forms of funding for accessibility. While we’ve listed a few below, be sure to check with any local nonprofits that cover home modifications!
Grants can help fund small home modifications or retrofit your entire house. We’ve listed just a few grants below, and be sure to reach out to your child’s care team to see if they have any other good recommendations for grant programs.
At the end of the day, there are many ways to fund your home modifications. For additional insights on seeking funding, be sure to read our article on paying for it all. Regardless of your journey in seeking financing, there are two big takeaways to help get you and your family the proper funding for your home modifications:
First, ask questions! Whether it’s your child’s doctor, Regional Center coordinator, or insurance provider (public or private), reaching out to ask what your child may need as they grow — and what can be covered — is a significant first step toward exploring all of your options.
Second, keep a record of all correspondences, prescriptions, quotes, and denials with any of the programs you are seeking funding from. This will help if you need to appeal or request reimbursement later.
Creating a safe and accessible home is an ongoing journey that we know comes with its fair share of ups and downs. We hope this serves as a helpful starting point for incorporating new ways to make your home more supportive, accessible, and comfortable for your child and your family. Once you’ve explored these home accommodations, be sure to check out our car accommodations for accessibility on the go!
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