Every family has needs, and sometimes the children in that family have special needs. When it comes to building a dream home for your family, your children's special needs must factor into your design. Beyond the home's size and physical location, you'll want to construct a space that accommodates your family's needs—special needs included. What are some of the points to consider when building a home for a child with cerebral palsy?

Accessibility

It's important that your new home is fully accessible, allowing your child to easily enter their home and move freely from room-to-room. The width of a standard interior door is 32 inches, with an exterior door ranging from 30 to 36 inches. Given the fact that your child might use a mobility aid (such as crutches, a walking frame, or a wheelchair), internal and external doors should be widened for extra clearance. Even if your child doesn't currently use a mobility aid, your home's design should reflect this future possibility. If a wheelchair is used, remember that a ramp will need to be installed at all exterior access points. 

Floorspace 

Your child's mobility restrictions need to be reflected in the floorspace of their bedroom, and since you might not automatically know which bedroom will be your child's, all bedrooms must have sufficient floorspace. This is needed so that your child can easily enter their bedroom and maneuver their walking aid into a position next to their bed, so that they can independently climb into their own bed. Smaller, easily cramped bedrooms should be avoided in your home's design. 

Fixtures

Custom home builders can incorporate any necessary feature in your home's design, and fixtures must be user-friendly for a child with cerebral palsy. What does this mean? Consider things such as light switches and faucets, which might be difficult to activate for someone without full control of their limbs. Light controls should have a pushbutton or pull activation (which require less precision to turn on and off), and faucets should be activated with a lever, so that no rotations of the wrist are needed to use the faucet. You can also consider automation, allowing certain functions (such as lighting, and even unlocking the door) to be voice controlled via a virtual assistant. The necessary infrastructure to allow this automation can be built into the home's design. 

With a few tweaks and modifications, your new home will exceed your family's needs, including any special needs.