Bathroom Adaptation Options

You may have seen my shock and disgust on Twitter recently, because my council seem to think that I can make £6,000 magically appear in a week to have our ensuite converted into a level access shower (and £9,000 for two curved stair lifts). If we had this sort of money available to us, we wouldn’t have had to fundraise for my SmartDrive! Seriously, how many people can easily lay their hands on £6,000!? That figure is with a grant! So now, Dan and I are looking into alternative bathroom adaptation options.

*This post was sponsored by Mobility Solutions. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. Please see my DISCLAIMER for more information.

I have to say that I was less then impressed with how my council went about things. They tried to schedule the work in at short notice and without telling us how much money it would cost. In itself, having the work done quickly is fantastic and something many disabled people don’t get. But I take exception to them a. trying to schedule the work without giving us a quote and b. expecting us to be able to somehow find a large sum of money at short notice. Hell, even with a year’s notice we wouldn’t be able to afford it!

Then there was the (attempted, because it didn’t work) emotional manipulation. “Oh, but how are you going to manage if you don’t have it done?” Erm… The same way I’ve been managing so far! Which of cause is far, far from idea – otherwise the council’s occupational therapist wouldn’t have recommended one! But without the money to pay for the work, it’s theoretical.

To be completely honest, if a retailer had treated me in this manner I’d have taken my business elsewhere.

Even if we were able to somehow raise the money, by accepting the grant we’d be tied to our house for 10 years, or have to find the £s to pay it back if we moved within this time. This time frame is set by my councils, and differs from area to area.

At the moment, I have a perching stool, shower stool and shower steps in our ensuite. These were provided by an occupational therapist a few years ago. And they do make life a lot easier for me, particularly the shower stool which Dan is also a fan of! We also had the glass of the shower cubicle changed not long after we moved into the house in 2010 – the original glass had a pattern made up of vertical lines on it, which was no good for me with my migraine and photosensitivity.

It’s worth me mentioning at this point that, even if I were able to get in and out of a bath (which I’d really struggle with), I’m not allowed to bath unsupervised. This is because of my basilar type migraine, which can cause me to loose consciousness. Lighting is a trigger for this and ripples on water cause a flickering effect. This also means I’m not able to bath Elise. I can join in with bath time, but I can’t hold her or be left alone with her. We’ve bought a bath chair for her, with the thinking that I’ll be able to pop her in that, in the shower if I’m on my own and she needs a wash. I’ve tried this once, and I was ok – I just need to tweak a few things to make it easier.

So Dan and I are currently researching different options, whether it be additional aids or having some of the work on the bathroom done, but not all of it, through a private company. One of the things the council wanted to swap our toilet and sink round, so I can line my chair directly in front of the toilet to transfer, rather than transferring side on. But I don’t find the side on transfer difficult. Honestly, I think I’d find a 180 degree twist harder than a 90 degree one. I told the council occupational therapist this, but she ignored me and they won’t do part of the recommended work. It’s all or nothing.

There are lots of places to get mobility and daily living aids, but the only place I’ve come across to offer these AND bathroom adaptation options is Mobility Solutions, who are online and have a showroom in Glasgow.

We aren’t sure what our options are in terms of bathroom adaptation options at the moment, but we’ll be starting our search on mobilitysolutions.co.uk – having both aids and bathroom adaptations on one website will make considering our options, in terms of my needs and what we might be able to afford, so much easier.

Do you have any bathroom adaptation options or aids in your home?

What has been the most helpful aid or adaptation for you?