what adaptions are best?

[midorimum]

does anyone have any adaptions to their home and what are the best ones?

the reason i ask is i had a visit from the social work the other day regarding a flat the council wanted to offer me, bit out of the blue as the only thing i had heard from the council regarding my application was back in may when they wanted to offer me an upstairs flat ?!?

id only just signed the lease again on the house im staying in at the moment, next door to my mum, so told her i couldnt move just now but i would like to maybe next year as the rent on this place is more than double the council rent.

she seemed very nice and told me to reapply to the housing associations and she would give me a letter of support and also speak to them herself regarding what we would need etc, she told me where all the adapted bungalows in the area are and that the housing association would be building more next year and also said she would work with me to find a ground floor flat in a nice area if i wanted to go for a council property (slightly cheaper than a HA property both in rent and CT but not as new)

so looks like i will be moving again as they cant put in a ramp here as the front steps are too high or a stair lift as it would be a health and safety hazard at the top of the stairs as ds cant independently transfer onto and off it.

she asked what i would be looking for if they were to get a ground floor flat adapted, like tracking or hoists and would i like a bath with hoist or roll in shower etc, not sure of the pros and cons of each so any advice would be grateful!

[needmorecoffee]

depends on what your SN is. We're having a downstairs bedroom and bathroom being put in for dd (CP in a wheelchair). Tracking and hoist from her bed to the bath (she ain't always gonna be little) and a fold down changing thingy over the bath for changing her nappy. Front door is being widenend and the inch drop got rid of. At the back they are going to put a ramp so I can get dd into the garden in her wheelchair.
Downside is they are insisting on a 6 square metre bathroom so a whole wall will have to come down and be moved one foot. This takes us over the 25k budget and when we sell this house we'll have to pay the council back for something we didn't even want. The bathroom would be fine but they insist on turning space for a wheelchair even though dd will never wheel her own chair and I can reverse her out. ho hum.

[midorimum]

cp in a wheelchair too, i know of you and c as im glitteryb of the msn children with cerebral palsy site but i changed my computer and forgot the password for my screen name on here, oh and midorimum seemed more appropriate lately....its lovely with red bull, relaxes you and keeps you alert at the same time, just the thing for when youre up all night

so how will the hoist and the bath work, will she stay in the hoist or be transferred to a bath seat? ds has bugger all head control so im not sure if a bath will be much use and i certainly never have enough time to lounge around in one so thought maybe a roll-in shower as his current bath seat (columbia medical contour tilt in space) is available with a wheeled base but in the bath i can never fill it up too much as either the seat will float or his head will fall in, and he doesnt mind getting hosed with the shower.

i find what you say about the turning space interesting and wonder if i shouldnt just wait for an adapted bungalow rather than having a ground floor flat converted as surely there will probably always be a space issue in a flat if it wasnt specifically built for wheelchair use?

[needmorecoffee]

A hoist can be put on while the child is still in the wheelchair or when lying on a bed. Then you hoist them over to the bath or wherever. One day lifting them out of the wheelchair is going to be too hard. DD will have a special bath seat inside the bath cos she can't sit and has no head control either. R82 does a wondrous seat that doesn't float and is pretty low so you don't need 3 feet of expensive hot water. But if he likes a shower then have one of those. I didn't want a shower cos I didn't want to be in there too. Remember, one day he will be adult sized so you have to think ahead cos they don't like changing things.
If you own the flat you have to stay there 5 years after the adaptations or pay them back. Don't know about council bungalow. Maybe his needs will get you a bungalow?
Must go back on msn.

[midorimum]

is that the r82 manatee, that looks good, i suppose a bath might be better for the future too, as you say he will get bigger and dont think he'll fancy his mum in the shower with him