Wheelchair Accessible House Plans

I have a pretty big family, aunts, uncles, cousins, and their kids. Two of my aunts (Pam & Debbie) both have houses big enough for us all to gather. The problem is Pam's house has a sunken living room, and I can't get around the house in my chair. I get put on the couch and spend most of the day alone. While Debbie's house isn't wheelchair accessible I can get around by myself. The problem is that they usually decide to have family gatherings at Pam's house.
At Christmas time this year Pam's daughter was/is in rehab, so my family decided to reschedule Christmas so she can be there. But once again they chose Pam's house.
Do I have a right to be upset? I wasn't the first couple years, I'm the only person that has a problem with Pam's house, so it seemed a bit selfish to make a big deal about it. I have mentioned over & over that Pam's house is impossible for me, Debbie's is the better choice...at least for me. But it wasn't til this year that I felt deliberately left out. They postponed the whole holiday for my cousin, but don't even consider my difficulties.

You have a valid reason for being upset. Maybe your family doesn’t realize how big of a problem this access issue is and how isolated and excluded you feel when the family gatherings are at Pam’s house and you’re stuck alone on that couch. Sometimes people just forget to think about this and don’t realize how big of a problem it is because they haven’t been in your shoes themselves.

Have you tried talking to them about this? Maybe if you told them exactly how this makes you feel they’ll try to solve this, either by having those gatherings in a more accessible place or by putting a temporary ramp in Pam’s house or something like that. Discussing the problem is the first step. They may not be aware of your feelings on this matter.

If they don’t take your needs into consideration and try to solve this after you’ve discussed this with them, I’d refuse to go next time and let them know that you might as well stay home rather than spend the day alone on that couch. Sometimes people don’t take things seriously enough until you refuse to put up with things anymore.

Hopefully this matter can be solved though by discussing it with the family. Good luck!

2009-12-27 13:44:36 by Rug B

Learn how to build a wheelchair ramp to make your home more accessible with these step by step instructions from Lowe's. In Part One of this ...

I have a pretty big family, aunts, uncles, cousins, and their kids. Two of my aunts (Pam & Debbie) both have houses big enough for us all to gather. The problem is Pam's house has a sunken living room, and I can't get around the house in my chair. I get put on the couch and spend most of the day alone. While Debbie's house isn't wheelchair accessible I can get around by myself. The problem is that they usually decide to have family gatherings at Pam's house.
At Christmas time this year Pam's daughter was/is in rehab, so my family decided to reschedule Christmas so she can be there. But once again they chose Pam's house.
Do I have a right to be upset? I wasn't the first couple years, I'm the only person that has a problem with Pam's house, so it seemed a bit selfish to make a big deal about it. I have mentioned over & over that Pam's house is impossible for me, Debbie's is the better choice...at least for me. But it wasn't til this year that I felt deliberately left out. They postponed the whole holiday for my cousin, but don't even consider my difficulties.

I feel that yo have every right to make this a point! Especially if special exceptions were made for your cousin. Your family could have also considered your wheel chair (which Im sure isn't new news) when they were considering rescheduling for your cousin! I would make a huge fuss about this and would feel the same as you if not worse. People who have disabilities can not help this and should not be looked over just because its easier for the family at the time.Good Luck to you!

2009-12-27 13:22:40 by Rug B